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Unit Plan
American Institute of Architects

Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying special attention to...
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Printables
abcteach

Neighborhood Buildings

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Educate your youngsters about the buildings in your neighborhood and the professionals they hold with a small book. Kids learn about fire stations, courthouses, and more, and then add in another building in the neighborhood that isn't...
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Handout
US Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Construction and Building Inspector

For Students 9th - 10th
This site explains what construction and building inspector's jobs entail. Learn about such topics as working conditions, employment, pay scale, training, job outlook, and related jobs.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Shake It Up! Engineering for Seismic Waves

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students learn about how engineers design and build shake tables to test the ability of buildings to withstand the various types of seismic waves generated by earthquakes. Just like engineers, students design and build shake tables to...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: The Stress That You Apply

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students learn about contact stress and its applications in engineering. They are introduced to the concept of heavy loads, such as buildings, elephants, people and traffic, and learn how those heavy loads apply contact stress. Through...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Skyscrapers: Engineering Up!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Skyscrapers are one of the most glorified products of Civil Engineering and contain an interesting history of progress and development. In this lesson, the students will learn about the history of the world's tallest free standing...
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Website
Other

North Carolina's Lighthouses

For Students 9th - 10th
Check out descriptions and photos of North Carolina's lighthouses, as well as maps, directions, and historical notes on selected lighthouses.
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Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Working With Watermills

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Teams of students design, build, test, and evaluate a working watermill made from everyday materials. Lesson explores how watermills generate energy from water, while students gain an understanding of the structural engineering design...
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Website
Other

Tour of the Forbidden City

For Students 9th - 10th
This photo slide tour offers images of important sites within the Forbidden City and historical information regarding the images shown.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Natural Frequency and Buildings

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students learn about frequency and period, particularly natural frequency using springs. They learn that the natural frequency of a system depends on two things: the stiffness and mass of the system. Students see how the natural...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Learning Lab: Building Up, Breaking Down

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Smithsonian in the Classroom presents Building Up, Breaking Down. Teachers can download this comprehensive teaching package in which students investigate how buildings weather. See what happens to a building once it has been erected....
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Graphic
Other

Nrao: Observation

For Students 9th - 10th
A download that allows you to take a panoramic virtual tour of the Array structure area.
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Handout
Other

The Collection: Chicago Architects Oral History Project

For Students 9th - 10th
Choose from an extensive list of Chicago area architects and learn information about their lives and their work. Includes links to interviews and biographies.
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Website
Other

Arup: National Aquatics Center (Water Cube)

For Students 9th - 10th
A description and facts about the award winning Water Cube, the aquatics center built for the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008. It also includes a six-photo gallery of the center.
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Article
Other

National Institute of Building Sciences: Whole Building Design Guide: Building Science Concepts

For Students 11th - 12th
This resource page is the first of a series on relevant topics in building science. It is aimed at explaining the key concepts involved in building science, as well as the relationship of this discipline to the architecture / engineering...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: American Treasures of Library of Congress: Imagination

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is on an unusual exhibit at the Library of Congress that focuses on the American imagination in the realm of the arts. Here you can find original documents and drawings in architecture, music, literature and more.
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Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Tall Tower Challenge

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and evaluate the tallest tower they can build with just straws, pipe cleaners, and paperclips that can support the weight of a golf ball for two minutes....
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Interactive
PBS

Pbs Kids: Curious George: Build a Bot

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Use your engineering skills to help build a robot with Curious George and equip it with the correct accessories for different tasks.
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Website
Other

Hellenic Ministry of Culture: The Palace of Knossos

For Students 9th - 10th
The Hellenic Ministry of Culture offers basic background information about the Palace of Knossos and the frescoes inside. A bit of information about the excavations by Arthur Evans is included.
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Article
Then Again

Then Again: Web Chron: Mediterranean Basic Chronology: The Palace at Knossos

For Students 9th - 10th
This short article concentrates on the Minoan culture within the Palace at Knossos and how the art on the walls reflected the Minoan culture.
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Website
Careers New Zealand

Careers Nz: Architectural Draughtsperson (Drafter)

For Students 9th - 10th
This site describes the career components needed to be a drafter in New Zealand. While the some of the information is specific to New Zealand, it does offer some valuable information about drafting that does apply to the career in...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Which Roof Is Tops?

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
When you walk or drive around your neighborhood what do the roofs look like? What if you lived in an area with a different climate, how would that effect the style of roof that you might find. This is an introductory activity to explore...
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Article
Read Works

Read Works: City Life and Country Life

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage compares and contrasts country life to city life. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition are also included....
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Website
Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning: Crafts for Kids

For Students 3rd - 5th
Choose from dozens of simple crafts including activities for the holidays, animal crafts and much more.