Build The City
Class description from the CJ website – what the girls signed up for!
We explore design and architecture through sketching, model-making and more, in a collaborative, creative, city-centric way! Girls learn the basics of urban planning and how decisions are
made when designing buildings and shared spaces. They wrap their heads around proportion
and scale, building techniques and basic construction. Using a variety of materials (wood, foam
sheets, cardboard) they construct a miniature urban environment block by block, each block
working with others to build the entire city!
Table of Contents
Thinking about Building
Engineers Notebooks
Architecture/City Block Field Trip
Drinking Straw Towers
Can you carry the Load? Marshmallow tower challenge
Egg Drop!
Miniature Environments
Elevator
Making spaces
Mapping the City
Clothespin People
Bug’s Playscapes
Dream house plan
House building
Cereal box apartment building
Suspension bridges
Playground building
What’s in a city? Building Bonanza!
Three goals for this class
1. Over the course of the week, girls collaborate to build a city (with one “block” created by
each girl)
2. Girls should learn about basic foundations, structures and engineering principles
3. Play! This is about exploring space and scale, and using imaginations to create 3 dimensional
spaces.
In order to accomplish these goals each day should be divided into two parts: one part will involve the more structured (and structural) lessons outlined above under “Thinking about Building”. The second part will be looser and based more on what the girls want to do, some lessons
are outlined above under “Making Spaces”. By the end of the week, girls should have transformed their room into a miniature city!
Resources for Projects:
• “Bridges: Amazing Structures to Design, Build & Test (Kaleidoscope Kids): Carol A. Johmann, Elizabeth Rieth, Michael P. Kline: 9781885593306: Amazon.com: Books.” Accessed
January 16, 2013. http://www.amazon.com/Bridges-Amazing-Structures-Design-Kaleidoscope/dp/1885593309.
• “Clothespin Dolls.” Accessed January 17, 2013. http://www.instructables.com/id/Clothespindolls/.
• “Elsa Bags: Modern Love/ Playground.” Accessed January 16, 2013. http://elsabags.
blogspot.com/2011/05/modern-love-playground.html.
• “Skyscrapers!: Super Structures to Design & Build (Kaleidoscope Kids): Carol A. Johmann,
Michael P. Kline: 9781885593504: Amazon.com: Books.” Accessed January 16, 2013. http://
www.amazon.com/Skyscrapers-Super-Structures-Design-Kaleidoscope/dp/1885593503.
• “Tiny Stadiums « Applespiel.” Accessed January 16, 2013. http://applespiel.wordpress.com/
category/tiny-stadiums/.
• http://library.thinkquest.org/J002846/terms.htm
• http://www.architecturaltrust.org/outreach/education/glossary-of-architectural-terms
ENGINEERS NOTEBOOK
Intro
This is a good introductory activity for setting the tone of the class. Engineers and architects
draw – a LOT, and spending time creating their notebooks can get the girls into the mind-set of
being architects for a week. The additional drawing activity is a chance to introduce the concept
of drawing to scale.
In this class, pretty much everything is a “model” size, so the concept of scale can be reinforced
throughout the week. A “scale drawing” is a drawing that shows a real object with accurate
sizes except they have all been shrunk or enlarged by a certain amount (called the scale) so
that the measurements remain proportional.
The tricky points to keep in mind for this activity are: explaining scale and birds-eye view in a
way that works. Look up a definition, do your own scale drawing as an example (if you can use
the classroom for this, you can easily demonstrate how you measured everything and drew it to
scale), and if you need other visual aids use a blueprint, map, or something else that’s drawn
to scale. Birds-eye view is easier to explain, (pretend to be a fly on the ceiling) but the girls will
still probably need to be reminded to do their drawing that way.
SUPPLIES
Graph paper
Pencils
Markers & stuff to decorate with
Tape Measure
PREP
Cut yarn in lengths
TIME
30 minutes
PROJECT STEPS
1. Give each girl 3 or 4 pieces of graph paper. Have them fold them in half hamburger style.
Tie the yarn around the middle of the book to keep it together. Give them a colored piece of
paper and fold that in half Talk about how engineers and architects plan their designs, take
measurements, and how they use scale drawings to help the contractor work off of. They need
a plan, and a plan that’s drawn in such a way that everyone can follow it! Because they will be
building a lot of stuff in the class, they will be using these notebooks a lot, to write stuff down,
make plans, brainstorm, record data for some of the building projects, etc.
2. Give them time to decorate the cover of their notebook a little bit, including their name, of
course!
3. Use your visual aids to illustrate the concept of scale as you introduce the drawing activity!
ARCHITECTURE SCAVENGER HUNT
Intro
This project is a good chance to get the girls out of the classroom and learn some architectural
terms. It works best in an urban environment. Be sure to take time before the hunt to go over
the terms you’ve chosen, and make sure everyone’s clear about what they are before you head
out! The girls might need prompting at first, but by the end, they will be pointing and calling
out the different terms when they see them!
SUPPLIES
Engineer’s Notebook
Pencils
Camera
Computer
(Optional)- Markers, poster-board
PREP
Make a sheet of architectural elements with example photos from the internet (or use the one
below).
TIME
1 hour for the hunt, maybe 30-20 minutes for the optional drawing afterward.
PROJECT STEPS
Have your list of terms with example pictures ready to go. Make a sheet for the girls to take
with them on the hunt and use as a reference. Explain that they live in a rich environment
for budding engineers and architects, and that many ideas and inspirations can come from
observing the world around them.
Explain the scavenger hunt. Introduce each item on the list of terms, and make sure everyone
is clear about what they mean/ are/ look like. Then explain that we’ll be walking around the
neighborhood as a group, and when they see one of the terms on their sheet they should let
everyone know so everyone sees it, then they can do a quick sketch. Maybe challenge them to
find a certain number of the most common terms (keystone, arch, balcony, etc). At the end of
the hunt, talk about which things were hard to find, and which were easy.
(Optional drawing activity) If the hunt is over quickly, and the girls are into it, challenge them
to draw a building with as many of the new terms they learned incorporated into the building as
they can. Display the drawings in the room.
Suggested terms:
Arch- An arch is a structure that stretches across a space while supporting weight (e.g. a
doorway in a stone wall.
Columns- A vertical pillar, typically cylindrical and made of stone or concrete, supporting a
structure or standing alone as a monument.
Eaves- undersides of an overhanging roof
Bracket- an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to
support or carry
weight.
Gables- generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof.
Spire- A slender, pointed construction atop a building, often a church.
Balcony- A platform that sticks out from the wall of a building, and which is partially enclosed
on its outer
three sides.
Turret- A small tower that pierces a roof line. A turret is usually cylindrical, and is topped by a
conical roof.
PILE IT ON
Intro
Use this exercise to see which shapes are stronger!
SUPPLIES
5 pairs or thick hardcover books for support (the books in each pair must be the same height)
Stack of paper
Paper clips, pennies, toy cars, or small blocks to use as load
Ruler, glue, scissors
PREP
Gather materials
TIME
30 minutes
PROJECT STEPS
Exploration One:
1. Stand a pair of books upright 6 inches apart
and place a piece of paper on top.
2. Curve a piece of paper upward (upside-down
U) and tuck it between 2 more books
3. Add paper clips (or whatever the load) to the
middle of each bridge: which one can take more
before it begins to sag?
4. Bring the class together and record your
findings (either on the board or large piece of
paper). Talk about which was stronger,
make hypotheses about what might happen with
more than one piece of paper, etc.)
Exploration Two:
(do two shapes together make a stronger
bridge?)
1. Glue 2 or 3 pieces of paper together end to
end to make one long piece. It needs to be as
high as the books when it’s propped up between
them in an arch (like Step 2. From the last
activity but higher).
2. Rest a piece of paper on top. Can this hold
more paper clips than the first two?
3. Talk about it!
Exploration Three: Folding paper, no arch!
1. Accordion-fold a piece of paper lengthwise. Place it across the top of the fourth pair of books.
2. Fold another the same way. Glue pieces of paper to its bottom and top. Try not to squish the
folds! Make
a fifth bridge with this one!
3. Guess which might take more load, and test by gradually adding things (instructor should
model at the very beginning how to do this gradually).
4. Talk about it: Which was stronger? What could you do to make it even stronger? If you
thought of any ideas during the activity, now is your chance!
Drinking Straw Towers
Intro:
Fun and challenging! This can teach about:
Team building through hands-on problem-solving
Successful completion with limited resource
Meeting time-constraints under pressure
Following project planning steps through completion
Learning about the use of geometric shapes in architecture.
Supplies
Straws
Blueprint template
Construction paper (“money”)
Masking tape
Paper clips
Project Steps
1. Introductory Discussion: How many of you have seen a tower or skyscraper? What was the
name of the tower you saw? How big was it? How did they make it that big? Can you think
of any other towers from earlier in history? Let’s have a discussion about the structures and
shapes necessary for a good tower, especially the triangle.
2. Instructions: Today you are going to be engineers. You will be put into teams and together
you will design a tower on paper, this design is called a blue print. Remember the structures we
talked about. Each team will receive a certain amount of “money” and you can use it to purchase drinking straws, paper clips and yards of masking tape. You will then follow your blueprint to complete your tower. You may find you have to make changes to your original design.
You have twenty minutes to complete your tower. At the end we’ll all look at each other’s towers together.
3. What worked for you when you were constructing the tower? What didn’t? Whose tower
is the tallest, the strongest, the prettiest? What was your goal for your tower? What shapes
helped you make the tower? How was your experience working with the people in your group?
Can you Carry the Load?
MARSHMALLOW TOWER CHALLENGE
Intro
This is a short exercise that breaks up the day pretty well and gives the girls a short activity to
be able to
tinker. The marshmallows sometimes get melty the more they’re handled, so if possible keep
them in a cool place (like the fridge) before they start so the melting is cut down to a minimum.
The girl’s will explore different shapes that can be used in building.
SUPPLIES
50 marshmallows per student
100 toothpicks per student
Measuring tape or ruler
PREP
Divide the materials.
TIME
30-45 minutes
PROJECT STEPS
1. Begin by asking how many different shapes the students can think of with four equal sides.
What about three equal sides? How about if you made them 3-dimensional? Which shapes seem
strongest?
(Demonstrate the superiority of the triangle as a strong building shape by making a
2-dimensional square and triangle out of the marshmallows and toothpicks, and pushing on one
side or joint... the square will wobble a lot, and not hold it’s shape as well as the triangle.)
2. Then, explain the challenge (or just let them explore what they can make with a certain
number of marshmallows and toothpicks) : Build the tallest structure out of a limited number of
given materials.
(This can be done in groups also.)
3. Say that they can begin by brainstorming designs, or just jumping in and building.
4. Ask follow-up questions about whether or not they felt that planning ahead helped or not.
Which shapes were easier or better to build with? Record their observations in their engineer’s
notebook.
5. Give everyone some marshmallows to munch on.
Egg Drop Experiment
Intro:
The idea of this project is for campers to learn about mass and momentum. Although physics
has had a reputation of being difficult and boring, this project will allow campers to explore
an aspect of physics while having fun and being creative. Campers will create a “container” of
some sort to protect an egg while it drops to the ground. They can work in groups.
SUPPLIES
Tissue boxes
Plastic air cushions from delivery boxes
Cotton balls
Balloons
Plastic containers
Masking tape
Eggs
Any materials that campers would like to use to make their individual containers
PREP: Collect materials, find a place to drop the eggs
TIME 1.5 hours
PROJECT STEPS
1. After campers learn about mass and momentum, ask campers to use the supplies given
to create an “egg drop container”.
2. There is no specific type or style of container that campers must follow when creating
their individual container.
3. The goal is to create a container that will keep an egg safe while you drop it to the
ground from a high area.
4. When creating the container, make sure that campers create a place for the egg to sit
while it’s dropping so that it’s not rolling around.
5. After campers finish creating their containers, give each person an egg to place into
their containers.
6. Tape the egg securely to the container.
7. All of the campers will move to a high area (3rd or 4th floor of a building with windows or
balcony).
8. Each camper will take turns dropping their containers to see which eggs break and which
eggs stay protected. Or a counselor can drop the eggs from a higher and higher perch.
The girls can also make cheers and names for their eggs and cheer them on.
Miniature Environments
Intro
It’s lots of fun to work ‘in miniature’ and these mini environments are a great way to introduce
girls to the concept of “scale” and “proportion.” We have some different examples below, and
feel free to add any twist to this project that you like. This can be done the day of, or instead of,
the Dream House drawing projects.
PREP
Make an example
TIME
2 - 4 hours
SUPPLIES
Instructor should please specify supplies - based on what type of enivornment project the girls
will be doing!
Please focus on nice / sturdy supplies that are limited in choices - such as foam core, colored
papers, small but sturdy boxes, model wood, wire, fabric, etc. The girls should plan their houses
on paper and “curate” their materials before start to work on the project. Please stay away from
using flimsy paper boxes, craft foam, feathers and pipe cleaners. Focus on the DESIGN aspect
and QUALITY rather than a large environment with a huge quantity of materials.
PROJECT STEPS
1. Show the girls your environment and tell them they will be making their own miniature
environments (or houses, or bedrooms)
2. This is about exploration and play as much as it is about planning. Let the girls think about
who will live in their environment, and what they will do there, and let them play.
Mapping the City
Intro:
This is the beginning of the collaborative city and can be done collaboratively or individually.
Brainstorm about what is in a city: rivers, buildings, trees, parks, houses, etc. During this
beginning time, the entire city is planned AND the girls get their “blocks” which can be 2”x2” or
vary depending on room size, and what size you make your “little inch people” (next exit).
Supplies:
Pencil
Engineer Notebooks
Large piece of foam core
masking tape
sharpies
construction paper
large pieces of paper for group planning
Prep: none
Time: variable
Project Steps:
1. This can change based on your group and your vision
for the city but here are some ideas:
2. Work together to brainstorm what is in your city, your
neighborhoods, or other cities they know about.
3. As a group, draw a general plan of your city (does a
river run through it? Are there bridges? Is there a giant
park? is it on a hill?)
4. Give each girl a 2x2 block.
5. Ask each girl to choose one of the city buildings you
came up with to include in her city (maybe one girl has a
school, one has a post office, one has a pet store, etc.)
6. Tell the girls that they should each plan to have a
couple of buildings and some green space on their block.
7. Have each girl add a 3 inch black border around the edge of her square, that way, when you
put them all together, there will be streets.
8. Let the girls plan their blocks for a while in their engineers notebooks. This is just an initial brainstorming session, as the week goes by and they learn new structural techniques, they
made change what build
Build an Elevator
Intro:
Without elevators, there would be no skyscrapers! We had the technology for skyscrapers for
many years- but no one wanted to climb all those stairs. The invention of the elevator is what
made the dream of a skyscraper a reality. A elevator rides on rails like railroad tracks inside a
shaft in the skyscrapers core. The elevator car hangs on cables attached to a pulley like device
called a drive sheave.
SUPPLIES
Small cardboard box, open on one side
Ruler, pencil, poster board, scissors, tape, string, large empty thread spool, washers, hole
punch
PREP
This project has lots of cutting and measuring, so plan for that!
PROJECT STEPS
1. Measure each side of the box and add up the measurements. Add 1 inch to the total and
mark that measurement on the poster board. Cut off that section
2. Fold the measured piece in half lengthwise. Open it and fold the edges into the center fold.
Open the piece.
3. Cut a piece of poster board that’s 1 inch shorter and 1 inch narrower than the larger sie
of the box. Trace around it several times along one side of the poster board, separating each
tracing by about 1 inch. Cut them out. These are the elevator doors on different floors.
4. Fold the poster board to form a long square tube (the shaft) and tape the edges together.
5. Cut a strip of poster board that’s a little narrower than the shaft and 2 inches shorter. Tape
it inside the shaft near the back opposite the cut out doors, so it’s flush with the bottom This
strip will separate the car and the counterweight.
6. Make the car: if necessary, trim the box so it fits inside the shaft. Cut a piece of string (the
elevator cable) that’s about one and a half times as long as the shaft. Attach one end of the
string to the washers (the counterweight). Attach the other end to the top of the box.
7. Assemble the elevator: Drop the car into the front setion of the shaft so it resets on the
ground and drape the string and washers ove the top of the shaft.
8. Punch one hold on each side of the shaft at the top just above the inside strip. Use a
pencil to position the spool (the drive sheave). The spool must fit tightly on the pencil (wrap
tape around it if necessary). Wrap the string around the spool a few times and then drop the
washers behind the strip. Turn the pencil to lift and lower the elevator car.
First thing’s first: Little Clothespin People
Intro:
Scale is crucial for a model city or model house. Establishing scale will start the house on the
right foot. In this scale, 1” = 5’, but you can choose to change that, maybe you want to make
2” people representing 5’, etc.
Possible things to talk about throughout the week:
- Dollhouses that fit the size of the dolls (listing toys with houses, bedrooms, etc.)
- Different houses in different cultures (internet photos!)
-“Dream houses” in different movies and books. Remember in Beauty and the Beast
how Belle’s favorite room is the library? What’s your favorite room of your house? How about
an imaginary house?
-Examples of books where the size of the house or type of house is important: Clifford
books (he’s bigger than the humans’ house!), The Borrowers (they’re small and use found
objects from around the big house to furnish their tiny house, etc.
Supplies
A round clothespin/doll pin
Scraps of cotton fabric and felt
yarn or felt for hair
embroidery floss
ball point pen
school glue or tacky glue
scissors
drill
pipe cleaner
needle and thread (optional)
Project Steps
1. You want to draw the face first thing so
if you mess up you can turn the doll over
and use the other side. Be sure to use a
ball point pen. Sharpies and ink pens run
in the wood grain.
2. For the arms, center an approximately
6 inch long piece of pipe cleaner in the
doll and wrap it around once. Bend the
arms forward. Fold back a bit at the ends
to cover the sharp point and make hands.
Bend at elbow into desired position.
3. For a straight skirt, use pinking shears
to trim a rectangle of fabric to desired
length and run a bead of glue along the
top edge. Wrap around clothespin just
below arms.
4. For the top wrap a bit of ribbon, ricrac
or felt around the shoulders criss crossing
at the front and glue in place.
5. Attach hair: felt and yarn work equally
well for hair. For felt, cut a piece of felt
the shape shown below. Pinking shears
make a nice bottom edge. For yarn, take
about 1 yard of narrow yarn and loop back
and forth several times as shown. Smear
the top, back and sides of the “head” of
the doll with glue. For felt, press felt in
place and smush it to the head as much
as possible on all sides. For yarn, arrange
yarn in a single layer and press in place so
loops are off to each side of head. Once
glue is dry, for felt, use embroidery floss
to tie yarn into a ponytail or trim yarn to
a bob hairstyle. For yarn, trim loops and
braid on each side. Tie off ends of braids
and trim ends.
Bug’s Playscapes:
Intro: This activity is a great way to stretch the girls’ interpretation of scale, and/or to
introduce scale. The premise is that scale is relative. The girls will build a playscape or habitat
for a small plastic toy like a bug or frog, and then turn that world upside down by exploring it
as a their Little Clothespin Person.
Supplies:
Small toy bugs, frogs and animals (must be at a different scale than the clothespin people)
General recyclables and building materials: straws, ribbon, boxes, pipe cleaners
Pool Noodles
Prep: Build a model. Also, you may
want to cut the pool noodles in advance.
N.B. This has to be done after the
Clothespin People.
Time: 1-2 hours
Project Steps:
1. Talk about scale with the girls. How
big is their bed in comparison to them?
How big is a room, and a house? What
sizes make them comfortable? It may
be interesting to show the shrinking
scenes from Fern Gulley, Alice in
Wonderland or other movies where
scale changes on the main character
suddenly.
2. Explain that the city they live in
is built to human scale, but today we
are going to build something to BUG
SCALE!
3. Show them the materials and give
each girl a toy.
4. Allow time to build, create and play!
5. Now, tell the girls to take out their Clothespin people and introduce them to the bug’s
habitat. Have the Clothespin person explore. How does the world change when it is not to
scale?
6. More play time in the habitats!
Dream a dream: Planning out your dream house!
Intro:
This brings the room planning one step
further, by planning an entire house. Remind the girls of what they found on the
architecture scavenger hunt! Be in the planning stages of an amazing house! This activity
can be repeated at home and if the girls like it
they will definitely do it for fun on their own.
SUPPLIES
Engineers notebook
pencils
scissors
colored pencils
PREP
Show the girls an example of a cut-away
or cross section of a house.
TIME
1.5 hours
PROJECT STEPS
1. Encourage girls to think of their favorite rooms or activities to make a room for
those activities. Or they can dream up a
castle or really any kind of dwelling!
2. Before using the graph paper (or perhaps instead of) sketch and make a
blueprint of your place on the blank paper! Make sure that you try to keep your
furniture to scale if you can (furniture is
directly on it)
3. Repeat on graph paper if necessary, although this could be complicated! It might
just be more fun to just dream and not
worry about the graph paper
Milk-Carton or Cereal Box Apartment buildings
Intro:
Create an apartment building and room for a character that stacks up, and explore by
using any materials we have!
SUPPLIES Milk cartons or cereal boxes, glue gun, fabric scraps, glue, scissors, tape, blank paper,
construction paper, modeling clay, anything!
PREP Make one ahead of time to show your class!
TIME
2 hours
PROJECT STEPS
1. Cut one side away from the milk carton or cereal box, SAVE THE SCRAPS always!
2. Create a character. Could be you, could be someone else. Think of what this character likes
and would want in their house (write some things down!)
3. Section a cereal box or milk carton into two rooms - add furniture and a window—pretty
much anything is ok! You will build this character an apartment out of the materials we have in
class! Anything goes! The instructor can help make furniture.
4. The fabric scraps can be used for the furniture, the students can decide what parts of the
apartment they will show.
5. Then we stack them all on the wall together! When these are finished, stack them on top of
each other against a wall! Now they’re an apartment building.
6. Have students write a paragraph about who lives in the apartment and what they are like.
Attach that to the side of the building!
su s pension br i dge
You can be an engineer at home, build your
own suspension bridge and see how it works!
Famous suspension bridges:
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
The Brooklyn Bridge in New York
PLACE the two chairs facing away from each
other about four feet apart. Make sure it is in a
place where it can stay a while! CUT a box (or
any corrugated cardboard) so that it fits from
seat to seat.
you will need:
cardboard about 1’ x 5’
twine or thick yarn
two kitchen chairs with
a space between the seat
and the back
a pile of heavy books
scissors and a hole punch
masking tape helps!
HOLE PUNCH each long side of the
cardboard, about three to four inches
apart. This is a tough task!
STACK two heavy books on each
seat, and sandwich each end of
the cardboard between them, so it
spans from one chair to the other.
CUT two pieces of twine that are about
twice as long as the span. WRAP one piece
around the books on one side (to anchor
it down) then UP and OVER the back of the
chair and around the other set of books.
Make sure there is slack (a droop) in the
twine between the two chairs.
Do this a second time with the other piece
of twine. These are your cables!
SECURE them where needed with tape.
CUT many lengths of yarn or twine about two
feet long each. With each piece, TIE one end to
the cable above each hole and the other end
through the hole. Don’t pull too tight!
WEIGHT your bridge with
more books or any other
objects you have at hand,
and see how much holds!
suspension
cables
vertical
cables
tower
deck
How
it works –
A suspension bridge is a kind of bridge where the deck (this is the road, ours is cardboard) is
hung below suspension cables (your yarn or twine). These long suspension cables are anchored
by towers (here, the chairs!) on either end of the bridge. Smaller vertical cables are hung from
the long cables and these hold the deck up.
This type of bridge can support a lot of weight!
A
few bits about the Brooklyn Bridge –
We think of the Brooklyn Bridge as a suspension bridge, but it is actually a hybrid: a combination
of a cable-stayed bridge and a suspension bridge. When it was built, it was an engineering feat!
It was completed in 1883, well over a hundred years ago, and it was then the longest suspension
bridge in the world. It is still used by millions of people, but now the longest one is in Japan!
When it opened, the bridge charged a toll depending on the traveler...
It cost a penny to cross by foot, 5 cents for a horse and rider and 10 cents for a horse and wagon.
Farm animals cost 2 to 5 cents, depending on the kind. Now it is free for everyone!
See how much it holds...
you will be surprised!
“You must do the things you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
What’s in a city? Building Bonanza
Intro:
Once the city is planned, the girls can get to work on their “blocks”! This can be ongoing
throughout the week. We can now combine things we did with bridges, skyscrapers and homes
to create a giant city made out of recycled materials. We want to understand how many things
people need and the basic idea of how cities provide these things. We also want to Cooperate
together in building a city with everything special in it.
The first thing to do today is go over things we’ve already learned, and talk about cities. What
are cities? What do they need? What have cities needed throughout history? How big is the
biggest city? How big are towns? The instructor can really decide how to talk about cities, with
the goal being that the students think about what cities need. Some things that they might
need are:
park
fire department/police department
City Hall
Homes for people
Reservoir
Schools
Community center
Stores
Car repair shop
But the girls can come up with their own lists as a class!
Show students pictures of cities from different time periods on the internet and other things like
this.
The major challenge for the day, as well as building an awesome city, is building an awesome
city with as much recycling as possible! That means finding creative ways to use the scraps
and discarded things from the whole week and make them into something beautiful and new.
Girls can also have jobs (as were talked about with bridges and skyscrapers). As a group, we
will decide on the scale (it should be small) of the city. If they want to use things (like the
elevator) and they aren’t to scale, that’s ok.
SUPPLIES
foam core blocks
recycled materials
foam core
adhesives
decorative elements (colored paper, colored masking tape, sharpies, paint)
PREP
Make your own small model of a couple buildings
using creative materials!
TIME
As long as we want
PROJECT STEPS
Planning the City:
Figure out what our city is going to have in it, figure
out the scale, a name for the city. Show all the
girls ALL The materials they can use! Think about
creative ways to use things together as a class.
Show the model that you’ve made.
Divide the different buildings up amongst the girls.
Then, take a huge sheet of paper and plan out the
city together, drawing bird’s eye view what it might
look like at the end. All girls get their own section
of the city, and we’ll plan out the roads and water
and whatever else all together. Make sure to label
your buildings! This planning part can take a long
time or a short time depending on the girls—just
make sure they all know what their buildings are!
Start building your buildings! They can be as creative and cool as you want! This is why the model
at the beginning is so important.