Architecture in Education [Paperback]

Marcy Abhau (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Foundation for Architecture (January 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962290807
• ISBN-13: 978-0962290800
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #987,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great 1-8 grade resource, June 9, 2011

By 

Pattipeg S. Harjo "Spanish teacher" (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Architecture in Education (Paperback)

I teach a unit on architecture to my Spanish 4 students--mostly vocabulary, famous buildings (emphasis on mudejar and modernismo), and famous architects (especially Calatrava, Gaudi, etc.) I bought this book for ideas for mini-projects. Most of the units presented in the book are for elementary and middle school. I taught kindergarten for many years before switching to high school Spanish, so I feel I can evaluate the units/projects as they apply to elementary students, and this is an EXCELLENT resource for architecture (if anyone has time to fit such a unit into their curriculum these days). The section that is most useful to me, and would be extremely useful to elementary teachers, is the chapter on structures. Many students learn kinesthetically--I used to teach solid/liquid/gas by having my students become atoms and cling tightly to each other, then move around holding hands, then dance around the room by themselves without touching anyone else. In this book's chapter on structures, there are suggestions for acting out different types of structures: two students stand apart supporting a board on their heads to demonstrate "post and lintel," two students, feet spread, push on the shoulders of a third student to demonstrate "flying buttress." There are also ways for students to experience the forces that act on bridges: for example two students pick up a third student by the shoulders and feet, and counteract the downward thrust by leaning back--demonstrating the forces that act on a suspension bridge.

The material on structures would be an invaluable aid to any elementary teacher's science curriculum, helping to demonstrate concepts they must already teach. Teachers that can work an architecture unit into their curriculum (e.g. in art/design, learning about the city (social studies) etc.) will find this an incredible resource. The only difficulty is finding a copy, but it is well worth buying if you can.