PBI: Greenbush

This is a great example of Place Based Inquiry.

The Greenbush was an old neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin that, in the 1960s, the city felt was 'run-down' -- so they bulldozed it, replaced it with sterile cheap apartments, and called it 'urban renewal.

A class at a local elementary school has focused on the study of the Greenbush neighborhood as the center of their curriculum -- math, reading, writing, etc. They worked with historians, ethnographers, and urban planners, residents of both the "old 'Bush" and the new one. These kids are now experts about the neighborhood, and because it's a tangible place outside their doors -- they care about it. They are invested. They even helped create the website. They also worked with Kurt, Mingfong and I to build an AR game. We hope to have a working prototype by the end of May. Here's a teaser.

A local Madison example of Place Based Inquiry, and our vision to make it an AR game.