| Building Art |  |
| Building Art | |
Architects, engineers, and decorators design building sand other spaces. You can have fun learning about how museums, airports, railroad terminals, and other structures are designed and built and decorated by doing this Try-It!
#1. Building for the Future
Choose a public building like a hospital, police station, library or
school. Make a model, poster, or sketch of what you think it might look like 100
years from now. Imagine what there will be instead of cars. How will people move
about in the building?
#2. Create a Neighborhood
Your neighborhood has special features - a park, garden, or playground,
for example. Maybe the buildings have terraces or unusual windows. What's
special about your neighborhood? What would you change to make it better?
Get a large piece of heavy paper or cardboard. Using pictures, small toys, clay
models, and other materials, come up with a neighborhood that you would like to
live in. Don't forget to include places like police and fire stations, a school,
a hospital, and a library.
Compare your neighborhood with the ones created by other girls. How are they the
same? How are they different? Did you forget to include anything important to
the health and safety of the people who would live in your neighborhood?
#3. Discovering the Strengths of Shapes
Making sure that a building will not crumble is an important part of
what engineers and architects do. They experiment with materials and shapes to
see how much weight they can hold> Use these steps to try it yourself.
You will need:
1. Hold a single sheet of paper by an edge so that it is
straight over the floor. Place a small stone or coin or button on the paper.
What happens?
The flat piece of paper does not have enough strength to hold the object.
2. Fold the paper in quarters like a book. Place the object on
the paper. What happens?
The paper has more strength because you have changed its shape.
3. Make a fan out of your paper. Balance the objects on the
fan. What happens?
The fan should support the objects.
4. Experiment with other shapes. Can they hold the same stone, coin or button?
#4. Put on Your Hard Hat
Using only tape, paper, and a scissors, make a model of a house, a
store, or some other kind of building. Make a bridge, too. You might want to do
this with your troop. Each girl can work on one building, or you can make the
model together.
#5. Designing an Ideal Girl Scout Meeting Place
Imagine the perfect meeting place that would allow you to do all the
things you'd like. Draw a picture or sketch or make a model that you can show
others.
#6. Designing Space for Someone with Special Needs
What would change about where you live or go to school to make them safer and
easier to get around in form some with a disability? You might make the doorways
and halls wider for people who use wheelchairs. You could make a light flash
when the telephone rings for people who do not hear too well. What else could
you do?
Other Helpful
Links:
Cardboard Castles - good group project. Use cardboard boxes and paper towel
rolls to create a beautiful doll house castle.
Architecture for Kids:
Info on different types of houses built throughout American history. A work in
progress, but has a lot of info already.
Exploring
Architecture: Features architecture activities for kids, as well as info
on famous architects & architecture.
Spaces & Places: An entire lesson plan for an elementary age (3-5 grades)
unit
on architecture. Good resource for explaining the basics!