Architecture Unit Plan Nava Beja

Grade: unspecified

Revised by: Deanna Plested

Architecture Lesson Plan - Pictures

The following pictures are examples of houses from around the world, with a brief explanation.
The pictures can be used for the second part of architecture with natural materials activity, See
document Architecture of Natural Materials. Also, some of the pictures have additional
suggestions for activities that can be integrated into subjects of sciences and social studies.

The pictures
1. Igloo from the arctic
In Inuit language, igloo means "house". This dome shaped
structure is made with deep snowdrift of fine-grained,
compact snow that is cut into rectangular blocks. An
experienced Inuit can build an igloo in 1-2 hours. The snow it
is made of is an available material and gives good insulation,
so, inside the igloo with the fire burning it can be warm and
cozy.
Suggested activities:
-

Igloo and the culture it represents could be integrated into native studies.

Build an igloo with your class as a part of the geometry or physics curriculum, when
learning about dome shape.

Useful web sites: 1. How to build a real Igloo: http://home.sol.no/~gedra/igloo_bg.htm 2.

How to build an Igloo from milk jugs: http://www.members.home.net/kosfam/BuildAnIgloo.htm
2. Earth structures:
Earth is an abundant material, and can be easily dug at little cost.
Earth structures has an excellent thermal storage capacity, it is
durable as well as fire, rot, and termite proof. Appropriate soil for
earth building should contain sand and clay (the amounts vary,
depends if its a rammed earth structure or adobe bricks).
a. Ancient earth palace from Morocco
We can tell this is an earth structure by looking at the colour of the
palace, which is the same as the colour of the ground. The figures
standing near the palace can give an idea of how high it is. The
palace was constructed from mud that was poured into forms
(probably wooden), which were removed when full and compacted.

Architecture Unit Plan Nava Beja

Grade: unspecified

Revised by: Deanna Plested

b. Native mud houses from New-Mexico Sun-baked

adobe bricks are another way of building with earth.
The bricks are prepared from wet, stabilized clay,
and are moulded by hand into bricks. The dry bricks
are bonded with wet earth mortar, and then covered
with mud plaster. Here again, the colour of the
ground is similar to the colour of the pueblos.
c. Modern earth house from New Mexico
The house is constructed with rammed earth, which
was described before.
Suggested activities:
Making mud bricks: this group activity cooperates
individual work (building the bricks), into group activity
(building the structure). It can be integrated into
Physics: when learning about loads; Mathematics: how
many bricks needed for building a wall, or a cubic
structure.
There are optimal measures to the type of soil that should be used for making bricks, but it
varies from place to place. Students can experiment with their local soil and find out.
1. Mix some water and soil together (you can add dry weeds or straw, to make it stronger).
2. Put into square box (wooden or plastic).
3. Pour the mud into the box and let it dry in the sun and leave overnight
4. You should have a mud brick ready in the morning (if the brick is too weak, try making
another one with more dirt students can experiment until they get it right).
5. After getting the right consistency, students can prepare a pile of bricks and build a small
structure (group work). The structure design could be related to a school subject; or be
something students design and then build; or just a spontaneous creation.
Information on mud: http://www.wdatech.org/CSVTECH/mudfacts.htm

Architecture Unit Plan Nava Beja

Grade: unspecified

Revised by: Deanna Plested

3. Cave dwellings from Cappadocia, Turkey

Natural caves are still used for dwellings in
Turkey. In some cases, modern additions
were made (concrete blocks usually). The
caves are naturally cool which is good for
the hot summers.

4. Wind chimneys from Hyderabad, Pakistan

The summers temperature in Hyderabad,
Pakistan can go up to 50C. Instead of air
conditioning (which most citizens cant afford),
they use wind chimneys (which are a reversed version of the chimneys we know). On top, are
the wind catchers, which are directed towards the wind (they know exactly where the wind is
coming from). When the wind hits the wind catcher, it is going down the chimney into the house,
and ventilates it. This is a clever alternative for cooling down a house and it actually works!
Suggested activities:
The following activities can be integrated into environmental studies, or physics:
-

Design and build a model of a house with a wind chimney (for grades 5-7).

If you want the kids to experience how wind chimney feels like, the class can build a
human size; small structure with wind chimney and wind catcher on top, using wood,
cardboard, or whatever available materials.

5. Baobab tree from Africa

People actually use this tree as their home! The baobab tree
may reach a diameter of 9 meters (30 feet) and can host a
whole family inside its trunk. In the heat of the summer, it can
be cool and nice inside.

Architecture Unit Plan Nava Beja

Grade: unspecified

Revised by: Deanna Plested

6. Underground dwellings from China

Those dwellings from northern China are built
underground to protect from the strong winds.
The underground dwellings have excellent
thermal performance; the daily temperature
remains stable during the four seasons,
providing a comfortable living environment. Typically, the dwellers do not use cooling systems in
the summer and require minimal heat in the winter. Those man made dwellings are from 2,000 B.C,
and approximately 30 million Chinese still live in them today. Many of those houses are
interconnected by tunnels, and can be accessed by stairs (can be seen in the picture as L shape)
leading down to the underground level.
Suggested activities:
Could be integrated into social studies: China:
- Building an underground world: with tunnels, houses and courtyards. The tunnels can be dug
in the soil outside, or built in the class using mud or any available materials. Kids are very
likely to want to play with a model of such world just let their imagination work.
7. Nomadic structures:
Like a turtle that carries its house, or crab hermit who carries adopted shells with it, some people
also move their houses with them when they move:
a. Movable house from Kenya: When
moving, it is sometimes easier to
carry the house then to build a new
one. The people in the left picture
are carrying the stitched thatch roof,
and the donkey on the right picture
carries the rest.
b. Inside a tent in Afghanistan Tent is
the home of the nomad, it is made
from woven wool, is easy to erect
and easy to fold and move. The
strong sunlight seen from outside pf
the tent indicates that it is very hot.
The tent provides shading from the
sun. In addition, the cloth, which the
tent is made of, is loosely woven so the wind can still go through and provide ventilation.

Architecture Unit Plan Nava Beja

Grade: unspecified

Revised by: Deanna Plested

Suggested activities: Can be integrated into social studies: Bedouins:

Building a tent: Tents are easy to build, and can be a fun group activity. The Bedouin culture has
some rituals such as generous hospitality, baking Pita bread and the art of making coffee
these activities can be done with the students inside the tent.
* Also, woman status in the Bedouin culture, is represented in the design of the tent (the
women have their own compartment and are hidden from the eyes of a stranger), those
aspects can be integrated into woman studies.
8. Straw bale Construction:
a. Straw Bale house from Nebraska
This house was built in the beginning of the
century. Straw is an excellent building material.
It is available in agricultural areas, is cheap
and easy to use. It has excellent insulation
capacity and has proven to be at least 2 hours
fire proof. In this case, the exterior is unplastered so we can see the straw, however,
there are also modern examples such as the
next one:
b. Straw-bale house from around Lethbridge
Straw is an easy material to work with; this house was self-built by its owners, using local strew.
The designer wanted the house to look like a part of the coulee landscape. (Do you think he had
succeeded?)

The next two pictures show the interior of the house; it has many windows looking towards the
river. As you can see, there are no pictures on the walls, so the beautiful view of the coulee from
the window provides the only wall decoration (do you think it is enough?). The materials this
house is made of makes it feel very different from most houses we know; the floor is covered with
ceramic tiles, wooden beams (from Alberta) supports the ceiling, many of the furniture are made
of wood, and the straw gives the walls a rough texture.

Architecture Unit Plan Nava Beja

Grade: unspecified

Revised by: Deanna Plested

Suggested activities:
The following activity aims to make the student aware of the feeling of different materials. It can
also be integrated into chemistry (materials dont only have different molecule structures from
each other, but also feel different to touch).
- Feeling materials:
1. Place different objects made of different materials (wood, metal, plastic, clay etc.) in
opaque bags (place one item inside each bag), so that the students cannot see what is
inside.
2. Each student should put a hand into a bag and feel the material inside. Try to choose
objects with odd shapes, so that it will be hard to recognise what it is, and the students will
have to concentrate on feeling the material.
3. You might want to ask students to draw what they think is in the bag, and try to express
the material visually. Encourage students to use different drawing techniques or textures
for expressing the different materials.
4. Have students try different bags.
- Awareness to materials at home: the previous activity could lead to this one:
1. Ask students to collect and bring to class pictures of interior designs with different
materials. Share the pictures with the rest of the class. Ask students what materials they
like, or dislike and why.
2. Ask students to observe and make a list of materials they have at home (on the walls, on
the ceiling, the floors, furniture, the actually structure, etc.).
3. Ask students to re-design their rooms; using the materials and colours they like. They can
express their ideas either by drawing or by building a model.
* This activity could be integrated when learning about perspectives one point perspective is
an easy way to draw a room.