William Raschke
wraschke@hightechhigh.org
High Tech High International
Biology 2014-2015
International Landscapes Inc.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never
sit in.”
-Greek Proverb
"Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by
your children."
-Kenyan Proverb
Essential Questions
 How can we introduce sustainable landscaping to our local communities?
 How can businesses use science to be more effective?
Project Description
Students will explore and research various methods of replacing non-native and waterintensive landscaping (lawns in particular). They will also explore the benefits and
difficulties of operating as a business as well as research and use local government
programs that support sustainable agriculture.
Students will ultimately use their knowledge to fully landscape a local residential
property that has been donated for our project. As part of this they will be responsible for
acquiring materials, budgeting, designing, and providing the labor for the
landscaping. Students will have to pitch bids to the client (person who donated property)
for approval as well as get their plans approved by local professionals.
Given the scope it will be a semester long project culminating in an exhibition at the
property where they will showcase their work as well as recruit potential clients for future
students to do the project with.
There will be four main divisions within the project and each will emphasize different
responsibilities. However as we will be working as a collaborative group students
working within one division will get a fair amount of exposure to the others and at times
be required to work outside of their own area.
Budget and Incentive Research Team
This team will be responsible for:
 Approving expenses and allocating funds
 Finding potential local businesses for professional advice and support
 Locating cost efficient sources for materials
 Researching and applying for incentives and rebates that apply to water-use
efficiency landscaping
 Potential fundraising should it be required
Marketing, Documentation, and Public Relations
William Raschke
wraschke@hightechhigh.org
High Tech High International
Biology 2014-2015
This team will be responsible for:
 Finalizing any proposals made to the client, will require extensive work with
other teams
 Creating marketing material for acquiring future clients
 Documenting the project with videos and photography
 Reaching out to students, parents, and the community for professional advisors,
future clients, and exhibition promotion
Materials and Acquisitions
This team will be responsible for:
 Researching sustainable materials to use for dryscaping and locating cost-efficient
sources for acquiring them
 Growing, acquiring, and caretaking for native and drought-resistant plants
 Working with other teams to coordinate labor during on-site landscaping
 Creating list of necessary tools and acquiring them
Livescape and Dryscape Design
This team will be responsible for:
 Creating landscaping designs for both livescape and dryscape
 Researching ideal growing conditions for plants and locating them on the property
appropriately
 Researching relationships between native and drought resistant plants and local
animal species, and advising client on which plants will be best for their purposes
and area
 Interacting with client and showing potential design ideas, getting feedback, and
working features wanted by client into the design
 Developing a catalogue of products, design ideas, etc. for use with current and
future clients
Questions/Concerns/Ponderings
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Would like to include lessons involving the government side of environmental
protection, including laws, subsidies, etc. and how they work
Pulling in professionals from various aspects of this for continued feedback
(similar to Dr. Don’s class previous semester)
Timeline and conflict with other projects
Budget concerns, how much cost can be pushed onto the client (for this project,
and future ones)
Go on a local tour to look at various landscaping, followed by students exploring
landscaping in their own area and showing it to the class
Tie in convergent evolution to native plants and other drought resistant plants
More tie ins for plant evolution, cost benefit analysis of adaptations required for
dry climates
Consumer potluck, having students bring in food and speak to the origins of the
plants
ethnobotany lab, kirby-bauer method
William Raschke
wraschke@hightechhigh.org
High Tech High International
Biology 2014-2015