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Architecture Week for Schools:

Make Buildings

Classroom activity
Key Stage: 2
Materials: building resource sheets (supplied), scissors, glue, white background paper, blue and green display paper
illustrative image of activity
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Activity summary:
  • An introduction to the evolution of architectural styles
  • A simple activity to consider how building techniques and materials have changed over time and have revolutionised how buildings look
  • Using worksheets of famous buildings pupils can create their own by using collage techniques to mix styles
  • Links can be made with National Curriculum schemes of work:
    History: What were homes like a long time ago? (Unit 2) What was it like to live here in the past? (Unit 18)
    Science: Characteristics of materials (Unit 3C)
    D&T: Homes (Unit 1D)
    Art: A sense of place (Unit 6C)
  • Extension tasks:
    Art: Pupils can create an environment for their buildings and add drawn or collaged scenes or people. Create original designs using the local architecture as a primary source
    History: Pupils could investigate their local environment, record and analyse the range of architectural styles and investigate how styles and the use of materials have changed over time
    D&T: Pupils could develop collages/drawings of the local area into models and combine them to make a new city
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Lesson Plan:
1. Introduce architectural styles of buildings
How buildings look has changed over time according to the needs of people and the evolution of building techniques and materials.
Refer to resource sheets:
Identify the buildings, historical context of when they were built, their materials, consider their range of uses.
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2. Discussion
Consider the local environment and how the building styles and materials reflect time, change of uses and materials. Do the architectural styles provide an identity for the local area? (Look out the classroom window for any local examples)
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3. Demonstrate activity
Demonstrate collage technique: carefully cut out sections of the buildings, position and glue onto white background paper Refer to stimulus:
4. Review ideas
Gather class and review collages.
Consider uses for the new building designs, materials.
5. Extend activity
Cut a landscape for the buildings out of green display material
Position onto blue display paper for a sky
Cut out the collaged buildings and position onto the landscape
Add magazine cuttings of trees, people, animals, vehicles
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Recommendations:
  • Use white background paper for collages so that edges of photocopied images blend. Cut out neatly, taking care when cutting edges once glued together.
  • Set photocopier on photo option and darken if necessary.
Make Buildings Demonstration
demontration image 1 demontration image 2
Cut out selections from photocopies Position and glue onto white paper
demontration image 3 demontration image 4
Cut out final building composition Review class work
Compile class work into a scene. Use blue and green paper to create an environment.
Rescale buildings to create depth. Add details from magazines to create a place.
 
building 1 building 2
building 3 building 4

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"The children thoroughly enjoyed the project and got so much out of it. It fulfilled aspects of the D&T curriculum and there were lots of opportunities for cross-curricular links. The children loved working as a team and had to collaborate at every stage of the process."

Year 5 Teacher
BUILD A STRUCTURE