Can your pupils build a roof that stands the test of time? Use an insightful engineering design project to highlight both materials science and architecture. Scholars either team up or work as individuals to design, create, and test a...

An award-winning architect speaks about the need to rehabilitate underused parking lots, past-their-prime shopping malls, and other structures. She gets us to take a look at successful retrofits and proposes plans to give others a...

Sixth graders design and draw a model playground to scale. They configure the layout to include a sandbox, slide, baseball field and other equipment. Their design includes adaptations for students with disabilities. Their designs are...

Here is a challenge for those who have grasped the concept of unit cube volume. An odd-shaped building is drawn on the top of the page for junior architects to analyze. They have to determine how many stories tall the building is, and...

Learners work in small groups to investigate a variety of art and architecture forms common during the Old Kingdom epoch in Ancient Egypt. Learners then evaluate how these art forms reflect a culture's beliefs and values. And, finally,...

Read on if engineering interests you. Instructors peruse a set of narrative STEM lessons for grades K-6. All activities are based on reading a children's book and then solving a problem using the engineering design process.

How are so many medieval buildings still standing today? And, how did ancient builders learn such skills? Discover the amazing feats of medieval engineers with part 11 in a 15-installment History of Science series. The narrator describes...

How did the vast Roman society contribute to science? See the wonders of the Appian Way all while examining the Roman thought process during video six in the History of Science series. The narrator compares the Roman view of doing...

Visitors to Machu Picchu, especially those who hike the 1,600 feet and climb the over 3,000 steps, are forced to consider how the Incas constructed this engineering marvel without the benefit of iron tools or wheeled carts. Introduce...

Do domed structures have advantages over their less-than-spherical counterparts? Junior architects explore the pros and cons of domes through a design challenge. Teams work together to plan, sketch, build, and test domes created from an...

The episode from the "Art/Architecture" playlist examines the paintings of the famous Nineteenth Century German romantic landscape artist. The narrator focuses on Friedrich's belief that art can teach us about the importance of suffering...

The design principles of 16th Century Italian architect Andrea Palladio are the focus of an episode in the "Art/Architecture" School of Life playlist. The narrator points out how Palladio's belief that the purpose of architecture was to...

Bombarded by the loud, the flashy, the larger-than-life glamorous, class members are asked to consider the beauty and value in everyday events through a video about Johannes Vermeer. Part of the "Art/Architecture" playlist, the episode...

Davina Pardo's documentary Minka asks viewers to consider that value of preserving traditional dwellings and traditional building techniques by examining how American journalist John Roderick and Japanese architect Yoshihiro Takishita...

Liquefaction is when the soil behaves like a liquid due to stress, such as an earthquake. Pupils see this in action when they observe liquefaction and the impact on buildings in the fourth part of a unit of five. Then they must determine...

Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Cambodia, is the focus of a instructional activity that asks class members to consider factors that could result in the destruction of these archeological treasures. Pupils listen to a...

What features mark a building as belonging to a particular culture, time, and place? Class members investigate the architectural movements represented in structures built in Forsyth County, North Carolina from 1880-1980 by examining...

Take young mathematicians' understanding of geometry into the real world with this upper-elementary math lesson. Given the floor plans of a historic building in Tennessee, students are asked to calculate its area and perimeter as...

Make young mathematicians' dreams a reality with this fun drawing project. Given the task of designing their dream home, students create drawings and physical models that demonstrate their understanding of proportion and scale.

Young citizens construct an understanding of urban planning in this cross-curricular unit. Covering every aspect of city development from the political, economic, and social influences to sustainable building practices, this 10-lesson...

Take young scholars on a trip through history with this unit on the mathematics and architecture of the Mayan civilization. Starting with a introduction to their base twenty number system and the symbols they used, this eight-lesson unit...

Investigate the growth and development of New York City with the final lesson in this four-part series on skyscrapers. Learners first explore the concept of urban growth by looking closely at a series of three paintings made of Wall...

The construction of skyscrapers is no simple undertaking, involving the careful coordination and planning of many different people. The third lesson in this series explores this detailed process by first teaching children about the main...

Creating buildings that reach hundreds of feet into the sky is no easy task. The third instructional activity in this series begins with four activities that engage young architects in exploring the major challenges that are faced when...