Architecture Quest- Summary and in-depth explanation

We’ve reached the end of the second session, and the quest that the Eagles went through was the architecture quest. I take this festive opportunity to better explain through this specific example what a quest is and what its characteristics are.

The goal of a quest in Acton, is to take practical challenges from everyday life,pack them in a package that includes personal and group activities, thus letting the Eagles experience real world skills that motivate. Each quest always ends with an exhibition in which the Eagles’ products are presented in a way that’s especially suited to the subject of the quest. Each quest has a main question, with which the Eagles experience different aspects of its investigation throughout the quest.For example, a behavioral economics quest will try to answer the question of,”Do we make rational decisions regarding our money, and if not – should such decisions?” In the quest, the concept of learning “how to do”, “how to be” and “how to learn,” will be implemented through an experiential and fun activity, that’s connected to the real world as much as possible.

Let’s look at an example of an architecture quest:

Guiding narrative: The Eagles in the quest become the architects, recruited for the task of planning their dream Acton.

Detailed description: The Eagles in the quest work in pairs and go through the entire process of an architect’s work: starting from researching, through planning (including a draft and final planning) to building a three-dimensional model.

The goals of the quest are to expose the Eagles to the world of architecture, introduce them to the worlds of design and planning, and give them a better sense of the planning process and the importance of knowing when to follow instructions and when to follow your own path. The Eagles experience a variety of important practical daily skills such as measuring, working with scales, drawing and more.

General structure:

First week – Research week:The Eagles learn about measurement, working with a scale, and study famous buildings and architects by themselves.
Second week – Design: The Eagles plan how they want their Acton to look and prepare an initial draft of division into floors.
Third week – Design: The Eagles prepare a detailed design of their structure on graphic paper.
Fourth week – Building a three-dimensional model
Fifth week – Packaging and presenting the products in the exhibition.

The packaging stage in our studio included three different events: the first is the architect’s visit to the studio, the second is the exhibition of the products to the parents and the third is a visit to an architectural firm (planned to take place in two weeks). This experience is so enriching for the Eagles, and it completely closes a circle of doing meaningful work that is connected to the real world.

In the different posts of the last few weeks, I have described what happened in the studio each week. I won’t repeat everything now, but it’s important for me to convey my personal perspective on this quest:

The first significant point is that this quest was quite difficult for the Eagles. This is a very ambitious project, in a short time, and in pairs,and each of these parameters was not obvious for them. Measuring abilities and working with scales, as well as drawing accurately, seem very simple to us adults, but for elementary school Eagles, they are very complex, and the Eagles have attained a very high level within a very short time. Working in pairs also raised some challenges, which the Eagles faced along the way: What happens when I want something, and my partner doesn’t? How to decide? How to make an easily-distracted-Eagle work better with me? etc.
The Eagles got into the project completely: they worked on it enthusiastically, enjoyed almost every moment, and during the time we worked on the quest, the studio was a noisy place and there was really a strong sense of action and progress.
The fact that a real architect came to examine the Eagles’ products,was super meaningful. They were very excited about this visit and it totally connected their experience to the real world, which is so meaningful to me!
The materials of the challenge are prepared at the highest possible level. The basic document includes 50 detailed pages, which include precise instructions for the opening circles, the daily challenges, the closing circles, special preparations required and even a shopping list. This document contains links to dozens of other documents that contain the challenges themselves, the various guidelines for the Eagles, etc. I am surprised every time by the finish level in Acton, and here, too, the super high and impressive standard continues to be preserved.

That’s it for this time. I hope you are as enthusiastic as I am.