The Built Environment: Hands-On Education Activities
Summary
Participants build structures that they feel are strong and stable. They will test the strength of
their structures in two different ways.
Learning Goals for Everyone
Cognitive Goals
Affective Goals
Define structure.
Recognize that triangles and/
or diagonal lines strengthen a
structure.
Recognize that a foundation
“anchors” a building.
Create connections between
structure, form, and strength.
Explore how structures are
made.
Demonstrate engagement by
asking questions, responding
to questions, and looking
alert.
Behavioral Goals
Collaborate to build a
structure, beginning with
an anchor/foundation.
Collaborate to test the
strength of a structure.
Document session experiences
and thoughts by adding to the
family sketchbook.
Learning Goals for Caregivers
Cognitive Goals
Affective Goals
Behavioral Goals
Practice serving as a coach
and scaffolding learning.
50 Minutes
Blower (e.g., leaf blower, hair dryer, or reticulating fan—the more powerful the blower,
the better)
Cameras
Small paper cups (e.g., bathroom cups)
“Bending” drinking straws
Loaf of Italian bread (or other unsliced, hard bread that has the top portion cut off) or
Styrofoam to serve as foundation
Masking tape
Pencils and other drawing materials
Photos of internal structures of buildings (e.g., Eiffel Tower)
Plastic wrap
Sketchbooks
“S” hooks
Unit of weight, such as pennies
Anchor
Brace
Diagonal
Depth
Framework
Foundation
Strength
Triangle
Something that serves to hold an object firmly or that gives a feeling
of stability
A structural support
Having a slanted or oblique direction
The distance from top to bottom or from front to back
A basic supporting part or structure
The support upon which something rests
Power to resist force
A plane that is bounded by three straight lines and has three angles
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The Built Environment: Hands-On Education Activities
Space Requirements: Space for participants to spread out and build their structures. The
room must have outlets for the blowers.
Staff Requirements: 1-2 facilitators
Prior to the Session:
Gather necessary materials
Introduction:
5 Minutes
Materials: N/A
ACTION
SAMPLE TALK
Review the highlights of Session
3: Push and Pull (Make a Tent).
If you were here last time, you
might remember that we built tents
using many different materials.
We looked at our tents to see
where we could find examples of
pulling, or tension, and pushing,
or compression. We talked a
little bit about what keeps a tent
upright—structure and foundation—
and we’re going to talk more
about that today.
Introduce today’s session, which
is focused on foundation and
structure.
Today we are going to think
about how most tall buildings are
built, especially about some of the
parts of buildings that we don’t
see when we walk by them. We’re
going to look at the parts of the
building that are inside the walls
and below ground—the parts that
make them strong and keep them
standing upright.
Show photographs of internal
structures of buildings (e.g.,
Eiffel Tower) and discuss the
relationship between strength,
structure, and form.
Has anyone ever seen a picture of
the Eiffel Tower?
It is a famous
structure, or
building, in
France. The
Eiffel Tower
is unique in
that much of
what could be
considered an
internal structure
is visible.
TIPS & TRAPS
For a quick review of tension and
compression, have parent-child
pairs show pulling, or tension, by
holding hands and leaning away
from each other. Have them press
their hands together to act out
pushing, or compression.
People come from all over the
world to visit the Eiffel Tower. It
is beautiful, but it is also strong.
Today we are going to build
our own structures, and then we
will talk about what makes them
strong and what keeps them
standing upright.
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The Built Environment: Hands-On Education Activities
Activity:
Building with the drinking
straws:
Connect the straws by
inserting the end of one into
the opening of another. Note:
folding or pinching the straw
being inserted will make the
action easier to complete.
Fold the straws at the bends
to create two right angles.
Connect additional straws to
form either a square or
triangle, and apply a piece of
masking tape at each
insertion point. To build out/
up from this, use masking
tape to attach straws
perpendicularly (much in the
way I-beams are used to build
a skyscraper).
Insert additional straws into
these to add height to your
structure (remember to tape
each insertion point)
Create additional squares/
triangles to tape to the inside
of your structure to create
“floors” and additional levels
20 Minutes
Materials: Drinking straws, tape, “s” hooks, cups, a unit of weight such as pennies,
foundation (loaf of bread of Styrofoam)
ACTION
Introduce the activity. Families
will use straws and tape to build
a structure. They will begin by
creating a foundation (either loaf
of bread or Styrofoam). Later,
they will perform two different
tests of strength on their structure.
SAMPLE TALK
We are going to use straws and
tape to build structures. We will
test the strength of our buildings
in two different ways, and we’ll
talk about what makes buildings
strong.
TIPS & TRAPS
Younger learners might be
introduced to this activity with
a quick review of the structures
in the classic “Three Little Pigs”
story, focusing on the different
building materials and how
these structures were not equally
strong.
See the sidebar for instructions
on how to build with the drinking
straws.
Distribute straws, tape, and the
foundation (either a loaf of bread
or a Styrofoam base) to the
participants.
We’ll start by building a
foundation, which serves as the
anchor for a building.
Foundations serve as the “root”
or “anchor” of a building. Just as
trees have roots, so do buildings.
Connect to participants’
experiences. Adults may be
familiar with basements, crawl
spaces, and other usable
foundations of buildings.
We usually think of buildings
going up, but often we need to
start by going down. Foundations
go into the soil or ground to
connect the building to something
solid or hold the building in place.
For skyscrapers, it often takes
months of digging to get down to
bedrock—hard rock—to connect.
So, if this loaf of bread is the
ground, what do we need to do to
make a foundation?
Try using this loaf of bread
(or block of Styrofoam) as the
base for your building. Build
into the foundation so that your
structure has an anchor. If you
were here last week, you might
remember that we built our tents
into foundations by sticking the
poles into a loaf of bread (or
Styrofoam).
Allow participants time to build
their structure.
Once you have your materials,
start building!
Families work together to build
drinking straw structures.
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The Built Environment: Hands-On Education Activities
ACTION
Mother and sons begin work on
their straw building.
Child assists family members in
strengthening the structure.
SAMPLE TALK
Distribute “S” hooks, cups, and
weights to each family. Ask
families to attach the “S” hook
to the cup by punching a hole
in the side of the cup with the
hook (so that it forms a makeshift
bucket). Hang the other end of
the “S” hook to the side of the
structure. Then, 1) challenge
them to gradually add weights
(pennies) to the cup until the
structure begins to bend or break,
and 2) ask the families to count
the number of weights that were
added to the cup.
When we think of a how strong
a person is, sometimes we think
about how much weight that
person can lift or hold. A building
has the same concern—how much
can it hold up? This is called a
building’s “load.” What are some
things that add to a building’s
load? Furniture, people, other?
Ask participants to discuss the
structures they made.
What happened during your
strength test? How much weight
could your structure hold?
Use the results of the weight test
to draw conclusions about what
made the structures weaker or
stronger.
TIPS & TRAPS
Create your own straw and tape
structure to demonstrate this
portion of the activity.
(Demonstrate each step as you
explain.)
Let’s see how strong our structures
are by seeing how much weight
they can take. First, take an “S”
hook and attach it to a cup.
Next, hang your hook from the
bottom of the structure. See how
much weight you can add to your
cup before your structure starts to
bend or even break.
Were you surprised by how
much or how little weight your
structure could hold? Let’s look at
the structures that held the most
weight and see if we can figure
out what made them strong.
Use this opportunity to reinforce
positive coaching techniques,
encouraging caregivers to let
the children take the lead in
describing their structures.
Show the photo of the Eiffel
Tower again and point out the
triangular bracing in it.
One way to make a building
structure strong is to use triangles
or diagonals as braces. A triangle
is a strong shape because it
spreads a building’s load evenly.
Take some time to reinforce your
building with triangular braces.
Ask families to test the strength
of their buildings again—this time
with the blowers. Have each
group use plastic wrap to wrap
around their buildings.
We’re going to test the strength of
our buildings a second time. We’ll
use the plastic wrap to create
walls and see how our structures
stand up to the wind by using a
blower. Just like in real buildings/
skyscrapers, our plastic walls
don’t really help our structures
stand up. They just protect us from
the elements/weather outside.
These types of walls are called
“curtain walls.”
Use a blower to test each group’s
building.
Which structures stand up? Which
ones fall down? What are the
reasons?
Make sure that only adults
are plugging in any electric
equipment.
Many factors contribute to a
building’s strength: the materials,
the foundation, the existence of
braces (triangles), and more.
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The Built Environment: Hands-On Education Activities
Closure:
5 Minutes
Materials: Sketchbooks, pencils and/or other drawing materials
ACTION
A completed structured wrapped
in plastic.
Ask participants to spend
two minutes adding to their
sketchbooks. Ask them to focus
on one thing that made them
smile or laugh, one thing that
surprised them, or one thing they
question. They can add to their
sketchbooks in the form of writing
or a drawing.
SAMPLE TALK
Now we are going to think about
all we have done today. We
conducted two tests—one with
weight and one with wind. What
did you learn about building from
these tests? Did anything surprise
you? What questions do you
have? Did anything make you
laugh?
TIPS & TRAPS
Encourage parents to serve as
coaches and scribes as children
complete their pages.
Be sure to collect the sketchbooks
before participants leave for the
day.
We’re going to use our
sketchbooks to write and draw
about what you did and thought
while you were working together.
Caregivers: You can help by
asking questions and being the
scribe. Work together to figure
out what you want to draw and
write.
Distribute and describe
the homework. Encourage
participants to do the activity but
remind them that it is optional.
Will the building withstand a burst
of wind?
At home, try building a structure
out of things around the house.
If you have your own building
blocks, that’s great, but you
don’t need blocks to build. You
can use tissue boxes or paper
cups—whatever you and the adult
in your house think would be fun.
Think about how to make a
structure that is stable and one
that can stand on its own. How
could you test it to see how strong
it is or what would happen in a
strong wind?
Ask participants to name some
objects they have at home for
this building activity. Encourage
them to find ways to connect to
a foundation (using a table, the
ground, etc.).
For the After-School or Classroom Teacher
Try this with things you have at
home.
In the Introduction, students can share the homework they have completed and their
thoughts about the process of completing it.
This activity can be done in pairs or small groups.
This activity provides an opportunity to connect to mathematics. Use 1-gram or 1-ounce
weights, and make a data table comparing the amount of weight each structure can
withstand (corresponds to the NCTM Measurement standard).
The activity can be done as homework, but it also provides an opportunity to include the
school art teacher in the project.
Acknowledgments
The Built Environment was made possible thanks to a grant from the National Science
Foundation.
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