Learning Objectives

1. To understand the meaning of basic physical and emotional human needs and how these needs can influence housing needs. (PSVS)

Students are to define basic physical and emotional human needs and give examples. (Responses should include: basic physical needs such as food, clothing, shelter, safety, etc. and emotional needs such as love, safety, belonging, success, etc.) How has housing evolved to satisfy needs such as privacy, interests, hobbies,

2. To recognize how emotional needs have influenced housing. (COM).

Ask the students to create a list of emotional needs. Identify which of the needs on the list relate to housing needs. Needs that may appear on the list could include: love and belonging, identity, safety, creativity, and privacy. Examine the emotional needs listed by the students and discuss how the needs would affect housing. How would these emotional needs be reflected in the appearance of the home? Discussions could be focused around: privacy - how the need for privacy can affect space; safety - ways that housing could be built to become more secure (home security systems, housing plan, materials used).

How can the rooms inside the home and the yard outside of the house bring delight, beauty, spiritual awareness and increase self-esteem and creativity?

Discuss ways that housing may be built to accommodate:

• security needs - home security systems, housing plan, materials used
• belonging needs – similar values, stages in family life cycle
• similar lifestyle and housing costs, common interests, income and status
• creativity needs - housing design, colour, and landscaping.

3. To appreciate the evolution of housing and to show how it evolved to meet human needs using available materials. (CCT)

Discuss nomadic Aboriginal peoples and how their home choices related to a way of life of hunting and gathering food. Include in your discussions tepees, straw huts, and collapsible frameworks of bones or wood. Discuss the use of caves as shelters for these people. List some of the types of materials used for their homes.

Discuss examples of today from wilderness trips and camping.

Discuss the evolution of permanent shelters and why they emerged. Include in the discussions the formation of communities, the associated way of life, and how that brought about changes to housing. How did housing needs change?

4. To understand how an individual’s values can affect the perception of housing. (PSVS, COM)

Define values and ask students to give examples of values. Define the meaning of house, home, and housing and note the differences. Students will describe the "ideal home" and "ideal setting" for a home. Have the students list the values that are reflected in their descriptions.

Walk students through a day in the life of their "ideal home." What makes it ideal?

Students may compare their definitions of home to determine the values they have used. Students will make a list of values that are associated with the terms house and home. Values associated with privacy, prestige, love, security, freedom, and safety will probably be a part of their definitions. Discuss how values relate to emotional needs. Write a description for a home that would suit your present lifestyle. Be as descriptive as possible in the write up. (COM)

5. To determine how values affect how housing needs are met. (PSVS)

Collect and examine real estate ads to determine if the housing ad describes a need or a value to market the house. Students may prepare a one minute presentation about the housing ad. Describe how values can affect the design of a home (e.g., an artist who likes solitude while working may have a quiet studio on the top floor of his/her home that overlooks a neighbourhood park). Other values that could be discussed are prestige, equality, etc.

Ask students to create a rough sketch from memory of the plan of their home. Label the rooms. Discuss their favorite room and why it is their favourite. Identify values and needs that are reflected in their sketches. Sketch or describe this room in more detail. If you could make changes to any room in your home what room would you select? What changes would be made and why?

6. To understand how the family life cycle can bring about changes in needs related to housing. (COM)

Describe the stages in the family life. (References do not often include single parent families. Include a single parent family as a stage in the life cycle.) Outline housing needs at each stage of the family life cycle. Discuss needs for elderly persons and those with disabilities. Explain briefly how a physical disability can affect housing needs. Point out similarities and differences in the needs at various stages of the life cycle and explain how these needs may be accommodated by housing.

Optional:
Students may select real estate ads (that suit family needs at different stages of the life cycle) from newspapers or the Internet. Students should state what needs are met in each ad. Are values evident in the real estate advertisement as part of the marketing scheme to sell the house?

Ask students to re-examine the housing ad they have chosen for the previous exercise on values and ask them to determine the size of family that could live in the house, the lifestyle of the family, and how the home might meet other family needs such as location, services within the neighbourhood, etc.

7. To identify cultural influences on housing. (IL)

Define culture. Explain how culture affects the type of homes built, the style of the home, the arrangement of rooms, and the style of decorating used.

Optional:
Ask students to research and report back to the class how cultural views and values have affected housing in terms of size, design features, family size, customs and traditions, and way of life.

Examine different kinds of families that exist today (nuclear family, extended family, and the single parent family). Define each of these and ask the students to explain how needs for each of these families may impact on housing.

Discuss how privacy and status relate to cultural needs in housing.

8. To identify the factors that influence the type of shelter that is provided by housing. (TL, CCT)

Outline some of the factors that affect shelter such as: climate, protection, natural resources, historical influences, lifestyle, and architectural styles.

1) Climate determines the kinds of materials that are suitable for housing. Discuss how climate and seasons in various countries may influence housing. Compare the materials used to build a house in Africa with those used in Canada. How are they different and why? How are housing features different in various regions in Canada and why? Discuss differences in climate between Saskatchewan and British Columbia. How is housing constructed in a different way because of the climate? Provide picture illustrations of early forms of housing such as caves, sod houses, houses on stilts, various kinds of tents, adobe houses etc. This could be given to students as a cooperative learning project. Create models of primitive dwellings for display. Discuss some of the building materials used and their functions.

2) Protection from enemies and intruders such as animals was necessary in more primitive times as is protection from burglars today. Discuss ways that housing has been constructed throughout history to provide security. In discussions about the past include castle moats, drawbridges, layers of walls built around dwellings, trap doors built into the floors of early settlers’ homes, etc. In the discussions about the present, include walled communities, underground parking, alarm systems, etc.

3) Resources that are available in a country or region help to determine the materials that are used in housing construction. Discuss how housing is constructed in various regions of the province based on availability of materials, land, and soil conditions.

Discuss the use of new technology and how it has changed the kinds of building materials used for housing in Canada. Explore the changes in natural, manufactured, and recycled building materials today. Look at the advances in tools and the changes that have resulted in housing design and setting. Tools such as pneumatic hammers, electric drills and saws, as well as excavation equipment that has permitted building on hillsides and mountains should be examined.

Invite a building contractor to the class to discuss the use of new materials and techniques in housing construction, where they are used, advantages, and a comparison of cost and maintenance. Explore ideas such as steel framing, poured concrete walls, straw bale, straw board, construction, the use of mortar bricks, clay and metal roofing, fiber cement siding, vinyl siding, plumbing, high density materials for floors and ceiling, and plastic pipes.

4) Historical influences affect the type of housing today and in the past. Examine the styles of early humans and Aboriginal peoples.

5) Lifestyle is described as a living pattern or a way of life. Discuss the following lifestyles and how they can influence housing. Individualistic: one who prefers to do one’s own thing. Supportive: one who likes to help others and may work away from home helping others. Basic: one who can live simply without a lot of conveniences. Community: one who enjoys group living and a community lifestyle. Prestige: one who likes to have some control over people or events. Emerging trends: one who chooses to work out of one’s home instead of the office.

6) Architectural styles from the past have inspired new housing styles today. These styles will be discussed in Module 2.