Playing Student Esme Builds a Sand "Castle" in Minecraft

During this module of my Games and Simulations class (sometimes called Teaching and Learning in Virtual Worlds), my students entered the Marlboro MinecraftEdu Server for the first time. We met synchronously on the college server to explore the training world that TeacherGaming offers. After the class ended I moved the Spawn block to The Neighborhood and created an assignment that students receive on logging into the server.

The assignment. Respawn in The Neighborhood. Visit Esme's home and pick up supplies. Explore the area and build a structure to serve as home.

Today I logged in as a student and completed the assignment. I went to Esme's (my) home and picked up only tools. I admit that I took advantage of my prior knowledge and chose two each of Iron tools (eschewing the wooden and stone tools). My home is positioned at the corner of three biomes.

The sand dune will serve as the back wall of my "castle."

Since my goals was to build something new for me I headed to the desert to build a sand castle. With my shovel I dug and leveled a sandy area. I began to build my castle with one wall being the dug out side of a sand dune.

A good sand castle has windows. I have plenty of sand to make glass, but I need wood for a crafting table, rock for a furnace and coal to cook the sand. In a nearby biome I found trees. Using my Axe I chopped some wood, made wood panels, then built a crafting table. Pick axe in hand I located some rock with which to make a furnace.

Once I mine this coal I will be able to make Glass blocks
for windows

I located some exposed coal near my sand castle. Sand plus Coal in a furnace makes Glass blocks. Because sand falls, I could not leave open windows.

Who's there? Pansy has arrived to work on her beautiful home. It's always a good time to take a break and get inspiration from another builder.

Pansy's home is built of cobble stone and wood. I love her
inlaid wood panel flooring.

After a nice visit, I return to my labors and complete my castle. A little more mining was necessary. It is not possible to make a sand roof - again because sand falls. Under packed sand a careful miner can dislodge compressed sandstone - an excellent building material. I actually found some under the floor of my castle. After filling in my floor with pure sand I positioned the sandstone roofing.

Here you can see my sand, sandstone and glass structure.

A welcome sign finishes the job.