Things have moved on apace since my last post! Since then, having done some research into education techniques, I’ve decided that my first foray into producing materials to trial with small learners is going with a traditional fairy tale format.

Fairy tales are common to all cultures, and often have similar themes in very distant geographical areas. People have used them to pass down information for thousands of years. The repetitive structures of the tales and the familiar narrative style are a place that many adults, reading stories to their children find comforting and reassuring. Using this format to introduce new and unfamiliar subject materials seemed like a good place to start.

From this idea came the 3 Little Pigs and the Mycelium. The ages old tale, retold slightly differently. The wolf is replaced by environmental disruption and extreme weather, and the final house, instead of bricks, is grown from mycelium, a material which is both practical and readily available within the environment. The pigs learn about the material from a scientist who lives in a mycelium cottage, in harmony with the surrounding environment.

The mycelium cottage or dollshouse on display at this weeks PhD pop-up within the DJCAD Masters show was grown for me by Joni Wildman, a PhD student in engineering at Bath University. I’m not a mycologist, and I was unable to find anyone working on mycomaterials in Dundee. I had to set up a mini lab in my laundry room at home. This has come with all the pitfalls of trying to keep a lab level clean space in a busy family home. Joni was very kindly able to offer support to get the first dollhouse grown in 3D molds that I designed. Without Joni’s help, I wouldn’t have managed to grow such a fabulous object in time for the exhibition. Blue mould is my absolute nemesis.

Joni has also shared her protocols for growing the house with me, so hopefully, mould outbreaks notwithstanding, I can start moving forwards with my own production.