The Topic: Architecture Easier - Architecture is the activity of designing buildings. Architecture can also mean the style in which buildings are designed.   Harder - The term architecture can be used to mean several things, all related to buildings. It may mean the art and science of building, practiced by persons called architects. Or, architecture may mean the actual buildings. Architecture can also be the building style of a particular culture or artistic movement.   Architectural Styles  http://www.uwec.edu/Academic/Geography/Ivogeler/w367/styles/index.htm This website can help you identify modern house styles.   Built in America from Historic American Buildings Survey & Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/hhhtml/hhhome.html The projects at this site document achievements in architecture, engineering, and design in the U.S. and its territories through a comprehensive range of building types and engineering technologies including examples as diverse as windmills, one-room schoolhouses, the Golden Gate Bridge, and buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.   Carmine's Introduction to Architecture  http://www.sanford-artedventures.com/play/arch1/index.html The website uses photos and brief text to show the connection between art and architecture. It also links to some good beginning architecture activities.   Great Buildings Collection  http://www.greatbuildings.com/gbc/buildings.html An excellent international and historical directory for built architecture. Over 750 buildings and their architects are available, complete with brief biographical information, sometimes the designers words, descriptions of the buildings, and a short resource list. Each building has construction date, location, building type, and other fields, all searchable.      Explore several of the websites below; then complete a project or activity:   Develop an Architecture Timeline. After looking at sites like Architecture Through the Ages and Architecture Through the Ages, put together a timeline that identifies the most important events in the history of architectural development.   Inventory Your Community's House Styles. Identify the different house styles represented in your community. For assistance, visit Architectural Styles. Put your findings into a database that includes the house location, identification of its style and main features, along with a digital photo.   Design Your Own Home. First, study examples of modern styles found at the architecture websites, then sketch out a floor plan of your dream home. You may want to draw it on the computer. Add room sizes. After you have the floor plan(s) completed, you can draw a roof plan or a perspective view. Find pictures of unique features that you wish to include and put them with your drawings.   Identify What It Takes to be an Architect. Find about becoming an architect at FutureScan's I Want to Be An Architect. Investigate a career as an architect and other related fields. List the required attributes for the field; group those things that can be accomplished before entering a university and those to be gained by completion of a degree. You may want to visit a university program in architecture like MIT's School of Architecture and Planning or UCLA's School of Art and Architecture.   Complete an Architecture WebQuest. Adapt or follow the directions to complete one of the following:  1) The Architect's Chair (Grade 10-12) 2) Shapes in Architecture (Grade 10-12)   Websites By Kids for Kids Architecture Through the Ages (1998 ThinkQuest Junior Project)  http://tqjunior.advanced.org/3786/ Study the development of architecture throughout history. The site has pictures showing examples of architectural elements.   Architecture Through the Ages (ThinkQuest Project)  http://library.advanced.org/10098/ Here you find discussion on the many types of architecture throughout history and the ways they have shaped our lives.   Architecture Through the Ages (ThinkQuest Project)  http://library.advanced.org/18778/ Website discusses all types of architecture from around the world and time periods. Enjoy your trip through architecture's history, and learn a thing or two.   Inside Architecture (ThinkQuest Project)  http://library.advanced.org/11114/ Architecture is a building art with many styles, and it has been with us since the beginning of time. The historical time line at the site starts at 2700 BC with Egyptian architecture. Learn about styles such as the architecture of the Chinese, Roman, Inca, Renaissance, and Victorian Eras. Click anywhere on the world map and you can see and read about the architecture styles in that area of the world. Similar Website: 2) Inside Architecture http://library.advanced.org/16545/   More to Explore Architecture  http://architecture.about.com/ This links-site connects to a variety of architecture articles and information.   Architecture Virtual Library  http://www.clr.toronto.edu/VIRTUALLIB/arch.html This is an excellent, searchable architecture virtual library.   Digital Archive of American Architecture http://www.bc.edu./bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/ An overview of the history of American architecture with many images, beginning with the earliest colonial structures of the 17th century including houses, churches, and industrial buildings.   Wright Web Guide  http://www.cypgrp.com/flw/ This website has information about 20th century architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, and links to tours, photos, and links to related sites.   Websites for Teachers Architectural Education Resource Center (AERC)  http://www.ncounty.net/aerc/ The AERC mission is to enable children to appreciate and make informed decisions about the built environment, to encourage children to use the architectural design process to express their ideas, and to provide teachers with the support and training to build community-based, multidisciplinary design projects into their curricula.   Geometry and Architecture in Your Community from PBS Teachersource http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/concepts/architecture/activity2.shtm Help students to see the mathematics in the shapes and designs of the world around them.   Spaces and Places (Grade 3-5)  http://www.artsednet.getty.edu/ArtsEdNet/Resources/Sampler/b.html Children engage in a range of activities including interpreting the expressive qualities of architectural spaces, collecting and displaying photographs that depict many types of buildings, drawing floor plans, studying influences of geography and environment on architects' plans, and constructing their own model buildings with paper forms. The first two lessons are written for third graders, lessons three and four are for the fourth grade, and lessons five and six are intended for fifth graders.   Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse! (Grade 1)  http://curry.edschool.Virginia.EDU/curry/class/Museums/Teacher_Guide/General/Need.a.House.html Students will discern shapes and patterns in architecture and identify specific building materials according to color, texture, and its use or need.   Our Architectural Heritage  http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/Arts/Architecture/ARC0001.html This lesson introduces learners to historical architectural characteristics and leads them to analyze building styles & materials in regard to geographical location    house foundation style builder architect traffic patterns appearance function durability Frank Lloyd Wright office building school material architecture building space contractor drawing arch column pediment shape opening plane 'prairie' style construct design residence high-rise design engineer designer shelter construction church bridge building        Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, Updated by Nancy Smith 10/01