Recently, over the holiday weekend, I had an experience in nature. Although it wasn't a typical experience, as it was at a shopping mall, I feel it really ties in to our classroom content. For instance, Tanger Outlet Mall in WI Dells is an outdoor outlet mall, in that aside from being inside the stores, the customers are walking around outside. Aside from having a roof, Tanger's customers must be prepared to dress for the weather. I traveled to this outlet mall on Thanksgiving evening, with temperatures in the 20's.
I think a construction like the Tanger Outlet Mall can be analyzed in the context of our class. One connection is that the mall will save money and energy. During the summer months, the outdoor portion of the mall will rely on the sun for its heat, rather than indoor heating. As a result, this saves money, not just on heat, but on lighting, air conditioning during the summer, etc. Although it has its disadvantages, such as not attracting as many customers during the brutal Wisconsin winters, I feel the positives outweigh the negatives for places such as Tanger Outlet Mall.
As a teacher, I feel I could use this to make a connection to my students. One task that I could use to relate to them is to discuss their feelings of a construction such as this. Also, I could incorporate small group work by having students discuss the pros and cons of an outdoor shopping mall. In the end, we could make a class list of the positives and negatives on the board, and talk about both categories.
No comments:
Post a Comment