Units

Three weeks. The lens you use for every other unit. OPVL, the AI Documentation Protocol, and the Source Dossier summative.

Five weeks. Habitability and systems. Earth + Mars + a student-chosen exoplanet, all evaluated against a student-built habitability framework, defended in a peer NASA Stakeholder Q&A.

Nine blocks. Reading the Landscape. Students choose one of nine Chennai-area locations and write a Landscape Biography (past → present → 50-year projections) for a planning audience. Field Geologist AI partner introduced.

Twelve blocks. Tectonic City Builder simulator. Two assessments: City Hazard Profile and Engineering Design Portfolio + Final Defense.

Twelve blocks. Climate science + policy. Students learn the physics (greenhouse, carbon cycle, IPCC, models), then write a 4-page Chennai Climate Brief on one of 8 adaptation challenges for the Greater Chennai Corporation, defended in a peer Policy Panel. Climate Modeler + Policy Aide AI partners introduced.

Nine blocks. Water, stakeholders, and position. Students take a stakeholder perspective in one of 8 water-rights disputes (Cauvery anchor + Indus, Colorado, Nile, Mekong, Aral, Cooum, Bangalore), write a Position Paper from that perspective, and defend it in a multi-stakeholder Roundtable. The Hydrologist + Stakeholder Voice AI partners introduced. Matthew's trial unit: three pedagogical arms running concurrently.

Ten blocks. The 15-minute neighborhood. Students redesign a Chennai area across 8 urban land uses, quantify the trade-offs (access, housing, green-blue, heat, flood, equity, mobility), and present at the school's environmental showcase to a real municipal audience. The Urban Planner + Equity & Resilience AI partners introduced.