The Book of Ideas

Listen to Oli talk about innovation and the ​Book of Ideas. 

Want to take your invention to the next level? Here are some suggestions:

• Build a prototype
• Find and talk to some experts 
• Research what other kid entrepreneurs have done next
• Do some research to see if anyone else has invented their idea before
• Look for location invention competitions
• Reach out to your friendly neighborhood CreositySpace contact.

Sustainable Design

When you think about sustainable design you must consider two major things:

• What am I building?
• How will what I am building fit in with everything else around it?

The first question generally falls within the realm of architecture while the second is generally addressed by urban planning.

The following video has a lot of interesting and easy-to-implement ideas on how to design neighborhoods for both people and wildlife. ​ (~7 min)

This next video discusses food deserts and how neighborhood design can help solve that problem. (~ 3:30 min)

---

Meet Some Entrepreneurs ​

Jason and Jared at ZILA Works

A short interview with June

You can read a longer article about June here in the Sierra Club magazine.

---

Additional Resources

Here are some of of our favorite online resources

Green Architecture

• ​http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/index.htm This website has a lot of good information on green architecture strategies and styles. It isn’t flashy but presents the information in a succinct fashion. 
• https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/slideshows/9-alternative-building-materials-to-consider-for-your-home?slide=6 Slide show of different building materials. It has good pictures.
• https://www.epa.gov/green-building-tools-tribes Additional resources for green architecture and Native American communities.
• http://pulse.seattlechildrens.org/building-hope-part-3-sustainable-and-green-architecture/ Article about green architecture practices being used at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. 

Videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyIOtsx3wDs (1:16 min) A video from the Green Building Council on what defines a green building. 
• https://www.ted.com/talks/bjarke_ingels_floating_cities_the_lego_house_and_other_architectural_forms_of_the_future?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare#t-507289 A great TED talk about LEGO, floating homes, and unique green urban planning. (15 min)
• https://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_mohr_builds_green?language=en (~ 3 min) A short TED Talk about building a green home, Very fast paced—best viewed with a study buddy.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESIHwiV8l6k (~5 min) Video from the US Green Building Council. It focuses on public buildings versus homes but has a lot of good information. 

Native Plants

• https://www.thespruce.com/native-plants-1403565 Easy-to-read blog post on why it is important to grow native plants
• https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native_Plant_Materials/Native_Gardening/alternatives.shtml A short, fun, and informative article on native plant alternatives to nonnative, and often invasive, plants. It also lists some more subtle reasons to use native plants.
• https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native_Plant_Materials/Native_Gardening/index.shtml A short, well-organized post on the advantages of using native plants. This webpage also has some great additional resources.

 
Figuring out which plants are native to your area.

• https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/about This is a cool native plant finder from the National Wildlife Foundation that specifically suggests plants that will attract various bird and insect pollinators. The flowers and grasses specified by this finder are good options if you’d like to use a native plant for the living wall experiment.
• http://www.plantnative.org/index.htm This is a helpful website for information on native plants and has a regional native plant finder to help identify plants, trees, and shrubs that are native to your area.
• https://www.audubon.org/native-plants This is another native plant database provided by the Audubon society.

Living Walls

• https://www.ambius.com/green-walls/ultimate-guide-to-living-green-walls/ This FAQ page is a helpful background resource for teachers and students although may be best read with a study-buddy.
• https://freshome.com/living-wall-vertical-gardens/ This article has some amazing pictures of living walls.
• https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/gardens/garden-styles-and-types/how-to-create-a-living-wall A shorter article from Home and Garden TV about living walls.
• https://www.dwell.com/article/living-green-walls-101-their-benefits-and-how-theyre-made-350955f3 A short article on living walls.

Videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7FQd7DXdWc 4:23 min video. It contains a lot of information on the benefits of living walls and is best viewed with a study-buddy so you can discuss. The last five seconds are a promotion for a company, so you may want to stop ahead of that.
• https://www.sfmoma.org/watch/the-living-wall/ 2:45 min video. This video focuses on the living wall at the SFMOMA. The video talks a lot about the idea of using native plants.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdBDtP1mcxU (2:49 min, short ad you can skip after 5 sec) This video features a young innovator talking about the living wall he has set up in Wyoming. 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNtF_KYRtSc (3:10 min) A neat time-lapse video of grass seeds growing. Good perspective on how long things take to grow. 

​Here are some short videos about the plants in the Amazon Spheres:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=104&v=OYPvVqxNn-w
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqdwsIFjMjU