Attention all Minecrafters. It’s that time of year again to get your thinking caps on and your Minecraft blocks on the move. INTERFACE and School-gen have teamed up for the 2018 Minecraft Eco-house Student Competition.

Last year, we received some awesome designs – but we want more! We want you to come up with the most eco-friendly, sustainable homes you can.

Use your skills to design and build an eco-house, and make a video showing how it:

• Has low environmental impact
• Uses sustainable materials
• Is energy efficient

Choose from three age categories:

• Primary (Years 1-6)
• Intermediate (Years 7-8)
• Secondary (Years 9+)

Win fantastic prizes

Each category winner will receive a Sphero SPRK+ Edition robotic kit for their classroom. PLUS, the top three in each category get a $50 Prezzy Card.

This is the fifth year we’ve run a Minecraft competition for students. It’s proved incredibly popular and we’ve received some fantastic entries … and we’re hoping for even better things this time!

Come up with a plan, create your design and submit your details below. Entries close 28 September (end of Term 3).

How do you put ‘Eco’ into a Home?

So, what are we looking for in the perfect Eco-House? Some of the key elements will be:

• Low environmental impact: How does it fit with the world around it? We want to see a minimal impact on the environment – both in construction and on-going use.
• Sustainable: We want to see use of sustainable materials in the construction.
• Energy-efficiency: How energy efficient in the house? Construct is so that it makes best use of renewable energy resources, for heating and lighting, etc.

Overall, you need to create us a building that’s friendly to the environment around it – and explain why you think it is.

How to enter

Choose the category and talk through the requirements with the student(s). Discuss what makes a house eco-friendly and how it can be constructed in Minecraft. Build the entry in Minecraft and record a video of their creation. Complete the entry form below, including an explanation of why the building is eco-friendly.
Entries will be judged equally on:

• Accuracy and neatness of construction
• Creativity of the design
• Complexity of design
• Appropriate use of materials

All entries require both teacher and student details – incomplete entries will not be accepted. Please submit one form per entry. Entries can be from individuals or groups/classes. For individuals or small groups, enter all names. For large groups or classes, enter a group or class name. You can enter more than once but you must make a separate entry for each.

Thank you and good luck from INTERFACE and School-gen.

Entry Form

Thanks to everyone who entered this year’s competition. Entries have now closed. 

The results will be announced in the next issue of INTERFACE.

If you have any questions about entering, please contact Greg Adams, INTERFACE Editor, at greg.adams@interfacemagazine.co.nz

PLEASE NOTE: This competition is open only to students at New Zealand schools and is subject to our terms and conditions (interfaceonline.co.nz/terms-and-conditions/).

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