City Planning - Survival Roads

Student Activities

Begin by loading the attached Minecraft world for Survival City Roads. It is recommended that students work in small groups of 3-5 people. For additional instruction setting up, visit our Minecraft Helpdesk article on How To Set Up a Multiplayer Game.

Step 1) Survey the Land

Open the world and have students explore the world and figure out where they would like there road to go. This should not take long and students can also talk about what kind of biomes and land structures they see.

Step 2) The Worksheet

Hand out the worksheet and work with students on how to write equations for each step. Begin with the problem of how many blocks we need to collect to build a road that is 0.2 kilometers long.

1 meter of the road will be made out of 2 whole blocks and 3 slabs. 1 whole block can be crafted into 2 slabs so slabs are a ½ a block.

Blocks could equal 2 times meters.

Slabs could be equal to the product of 3 times meters divided by 2

At the end of the worksheet the students must compare their equation to a fictional characters equation. The characters equation is correct so you can use that to help you understand how to write the equation for a road. (m=200 meter)

R= (2xM) + (3xM)/2

Step 3) Get the Blocks

Now that the equation have been written and solved, your students will now know they need to gather at least 700 blocks to build a road that is 0.2 meters. Students will get into groups of four and chose to be a lumberjack, a miner, or a sandman. Click the buttons on the NPC named Jude Washington and get your gear.

Lumberjacks collect lots of:

• wood
• flowers dye
• dirt

Miners collect lots of:

• Stone or all kinds
• Ores
• Gravel

Concrete Workers collect lots of:

• Sand
• Gravel
• Sandstone
• Dirt
• Flowers

Step 4 Build Roads

All teams will be called to their village and groups will begin to make their 0.2 kilometer roads. The jobs are Block Placers, Slab Pavers, Land Levelers

Land Levelers:

• Make the land in front of the road flat:
  • a) Use shovel to dig out bumps in the land that get into way or the road.
  • b) Make sure the land is always flat at least 5 blocks wide, so the road will fit on it.
  • c) Fill in the land with dirt if there is a whole or dip in the land.

Block Placers:

• Will place the outer curb blocks always leaving an space of exactly 3 between blocks so the slabs can be filled in.

Slab Pavers:

• Will fill in 3 slabs between the curbs.