2026 Lesson Plans
THE BEDFORD & MONROE DAYLIGHTING LABORATORY
Class Type: AP Computer Science Principles
Grade: 9-12
Overarching Focus of Lesson: Week-long “Brooklyn Intersection Laboratory” unit built around the Bedford Avenue & Monroe Street daylighting simulation.
Objectives:
- Define “daylighting” and distinguish no daylighting / sign-only daylighting / hardened daylighting in their own words
- Trace at least two real NYC data or policy sources that motivate daylighting
- Practice the evidence-confidence habit (verified / estimated / unknown / prior literature) that the simulation itself uses — the same habit they will see live inside the app on Day 3
CST LAB: DIFFERENTIAL LEVELING WITH THE SMART SURVEY NOTEBOOK
Class Type: Certified Surveying Technician - Level 1
Grade: 12
Overarching Focus of Lesson: Students use professional surveying equipment and digital field documentation tools to collect, organize, and communicate elevation data through a differential leveling survey. Students apply Certified Surveying Technician (CST) Level 1 concepts while using the Smart Survey Notebook as a digital field book to document their fieldwork.
Objectives:
- Operate surveying equipment to collect accurate field observations
- Use the Smart Survey Notebook as a professional digital field notebook
- Create a Differential Leveling Loop containing more than 5 turning points
- Record professional field documentation including:
- Point identification
- Survey Type
- BS and FS observations
- Distance measurements
- Point descriptions
- Field notes
- Photos
- Perform manual Height of Instrument (HI) and elevation calculations
- Generate a professional survey deliverable using the Smart Survey Notebook PDF export feature
STRAIGHT OR CURVED? RIDING THE MATH OF THE FIVE BORO BIKE TOUR
Class Type: Algebra I or Algebra II - Quadratics
Grade: Mixed 9 - 12
Overarching Focus of Lesson: Differentiating between linear and quadratic, and reviewing their equations.
Objectives:
- Students will demonstrate how to mathematically represent and analyze sports involving quadratic relationships.
USING CLAUDE TO DESIGN SAFER, KID-FRIENDLY NYC PARKS
Class Type: Computer Science / Educational Technology
Grade: 8
Overarching Focus of Lesson: AI as a Design Tool: Using Claude to Prototype Safer, Kid-Friendly NYC Park Streetscapes. Part of a broader unit on artificial intelligence, digital design, and civic problem-solving.
Objectives:
- Students will use Claude, a generative AI assistant, as a digital design tool to draft and iterate on a redesigned streetscape concept for a real NYC park
- Students will practice writing, testing, and revising prompts, documenting each iteration and how peer/user feedback shaped their revisions
- Students will critically evaluate AI-generated design ideas for bias, feasibility, and whose needs (age, ability, language, culture) are and are not represented
CHEMISTRY AT THE CROSSWALK: ENGINEERING DAYLIGHTING TREATMENTS FOR NYC
Class Type: Chemistry
Grade: 10
Overarching Focus of Lesson: Students will use scientific investigation and engineering design to determine how the color of an NYC daylighting treatment affects surface temperature and visibility. They will apply their experimental evidence to develop a proposal that improves intersection safety while helping reduce the urban heat island effect and addressing accessibility, durability, and community needs.
Objectives:
- Measure and record surface temperature of six colored panels under a heat lamp
- Construct a temperature-versus-time graph for all surfaces
- Compare the visibility and temperature change of different surface colors
- Explain results using the concepts of absorption, reflection, and energy transfer
- Make an engineering recommendation supported by evidence using a CER framework
CAN YOU STOP IN TIME? THE ALGEBRA OF DAYLIGHTING
Class Type: Algebra 1
Grade: 8
Overarching Focus of Lesson: Using real NYC crash and infrastructure data to build and apply an algebraic decision model for whether a specific intersection needs a pedestrian-safety treatment called “daylighting.”
Objectives:
- Define and identify different types of daylighting treatments
- Explore publicly available crash data by geographic area (zip code) on the interactive webpage
- Rank real intersections by a defined safety criterion
- Identify the two intersections in a chosen zip code most in need of further investigation, and gather the real-world measurements (posted speed, curb clearance) needed for Day 2’s algebra