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Design and the built environment are subjects of concern to Maine communities. State mandated town planning, new school construction, and the Department of Transportation plans to rebuild roads and bridges elicit public discussion. The study of design encourages elementary students to enter this public forum as informed citizens. The study of design in the built environment requires use of mathematics, scientific, reasoning, visual, spatial, and verbal skills, and provides opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. This sampler describes four projects resulting from a 1992 Design Education grant intended to promote design awareness in the public schools. The projects took place over the course of a year and involved collaboration among community architects, planners, engineers, and the school. Each project presented includes a description of the school/community culture, the framework or plan for the entire course of design study, and a sample lesson. Projects represented include: (1) "Marada Adams Community School Playground: A School and Community Design Project, 1992-1993"; (2) "Hiram Elementary School Bridge Project"; (3) "Young Designers: Dresden Elementary School"; and (4) "Bowdoin Central School Students: Design A New School." Each project concludes with a bibliography. (MM)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert