Integrating The Built Environment Into The Curriculum

The Built Environment can be readily adapted into the various subjects at the elementary, junior high and high school level; there is also a mathematics component that looks at how information is presented in graphic form. Teachers will find it simple to adapt the material to younger students studying their own communities and to older students seeking to understand how their communities fit within the larger global context.

Art

• creating an illustrated timeline
• analyzing how artists of other times and places have looked at landmarks and understanding the historical context for this work
• looking at artworks cross-culturally
• looking closely at a chosen work of art
• considering the philosophical ideas behind why it is important to people to preserve places, peoples, and ideas
• determining the form their exhibition will take, considering multiple solutions for presenting information about the landmarks they have chosen to represent
• gaining a deeper appreciation for their own values and the values of others
• learning photographic skills to convey ideas and feelings
• photograph, sketch or paint area architecture
• digitize images
• manipulate digital and traditional images
• produce an aerial photograph of structures
• study history or architecture

Language Arts/English

Literature and reading teachers can use Built Environment education as a way of exploring storytelling and personal and community stories. Links can be made cross-culturally as students learn to explore their own values and those of others. The Built Environment unit can encourage limited English proficiency students to explore their experiences both in their places of origin and their new homes.  A number of activities within the Built Environment unit encourages students to research, read, and write, including:

• writing a short essay or a story about a place that is special to the student
• using interviews and research to discover more about landmarks in the students' and in the class's lives
• recording a story told by someone else in his or her own words
• writing a letter to a member of the community about why a landmark should be preserved
• locating, evaluating, and synthesizing information to tell the story of places, peoples, ideas, and activities, drawing on many sources and technologies
• comparing and analyzing alternative perspectives on an issue found in literature and other sources and evaluating a variety of solutions
• examine the role of architecture and built heritage in regionally significant literature

Works of literature that pay particular attention to ideas of place, community, and/or landmarks include:

• Bibliographies

Math

• developing, using, and interpreting tables and graphs that describe everyday situations
• collecting, organizing, and displaying graphically
• drawing conclusions supported by given data
• map the community
• measure buildings and other community features e.g. sports field
• map the community using measuring techniques from trigonometry and co-ordinate geometry
  Social Studies (History, Geography, Native Studies)
  Teachers of social studies can mesh the Built Environment unit into the studies of local and world history, particularly in the study of their communities and their links with larger global issues. Evaluating historical information reflecting a diversity of ideas, values, behaviors, and institutions, using multiple sources, in order to better understand history from different points of view.
• select a range of the most significant structures in a community. Research what makes them significant e.g. battles, tragedies, inventions, notable individuals
• examine the influence of historical periods, trends, immigration and religion on the design of buildings and the development of community
• gathering, identifying, questioning, and evaluating different ideas, values, behaviors, and institutions to construct interpretations
• analyzing and explaining events, trends, issues, historical figures, and movements
• inventory community gathering places e.g., religious halls, sports venues, and fair grounds
• study classic architecture as represented in the community
• develop web pages for buildings and structures that have been analyzed
• create a detailed map for the location of buildings from photographs. Add this to the community map on the school's site
• compare the design of building in a First Nations community to that in a nearby non-native community. How are the building designs influenced by lifestyle, geography, beliefs, etc
• work with Aboriginal communities to inventory locally significant landscapes
• work with local historical society/town planner to inventory historically significant buildings and sites
  Science (Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics)
• inventory hazards and other considerations surrounding buildings
• summarize long-term effects of erosion on buildings and inscriptions on monuments
• propose a way to slow down or prevent further damage from erosion
• examine conservation policies with respect to preserving heritage structures
• examine impact on and threat to heritage structures or sites from nearby land uses
• measure community buildings
• study building acoustics and what features contribute to good sound reproduction

Business Studies

• inventory community industrial sites
• inventory other land uses

Computers/Technology (CTS)

• produce digitized images
• create/manage a database of local heritage properties
• digitize or maintain a photographic library
• create a web page using project materials
• research built heritage in other communities using the Internet or computerized archives
• research change in building materials, environmentally friendly buildings, conservation techniques
• undertake a local restoration or stabilization project

Dance/Drama/Music

• record information relevant to community dance halls or performance venues
• interview local dancers about the importance of environment during performances
• record information relevant to community performance venues
• interview local musicians. Find out what local buildings have good acoustics and what contributes to this

ESL/French/Health

• study architectural and social trends relevant to the community and their developments
• explore the styles and features of architecture that exist and why
• identify sacred spaces in communities around the world
• examine the architectural styles of local residences.

 How are they influenced by culture?

• Explore careers in architecture, landscape design, urban and rural planning, building trades and historical preservation

PhysEd

• map sports venues in the community
• examine the architectural features of a community sports venue. How is its design influenced by the sport(s) played there?

Adapted Sources:

http://www.getty.edu/education/for_teachers/
(not available at this time) http://academy.pointofview.cc/initiative_BH.htm

Assessment

Evaluation

Each day of the project provides opportunities to evaluate students on different components of the subjective list. "On the fly" evaluation is an effective method of documenting the problem solving, teamwork, and employability indicators that students display. Some of the following subjective evaluations have checklists that provide a handy method for teachers to keep track of student progress. Others can be noted with anecdotal comments.

Types of Evaluation

• Problem solving
• Teamwork skills
• Work ethic-How much time does each student spend on task? How much time is spent doing off-task items?
• Cultural appreciation-Do student comments and body language suggest that the student appreciates the cultural aspects of the study?
• Artistic appreciation-Have students write a paragraph describing their observations about the themes present in the architectural style of a particular period. Ask students to compare and contrast two architectural styles, such as Gothic and Neoclassicism.
• Historical appreciation-Do student comments and questions show that they understand the historical aspects of what they are learning? For example, how and why did a particular landscape develop? How are particular landscapes linked?

Quizzes

• Architectural styles quiz-After students have viewed a number of examples of different styles, ask them to write down a list of features common to one of the styles.
• Create a land use map from an air photo quiz-Ask students to create a map for a new area, using the procedure they have practiced.
• Measurement quiz-After practicing on several buildings, give students a test building to measure using the established protocol.

Assignments

• Data collection sheets-Collect and check data collection sheets from trial runs. Give a mark for completeness and accuracy.
• Checking data to actual-Check that the Building Portrait Field Record is correctly filled in. Provide a group mark for records. Flag missing information. Expect students to fill in missing data before being awarded marks.

Teacher Observation

• Low impact data collection-Provide students with a mark in this area. For example, you may decide that low impact skills are worth 5 marks. You can assign this mark one of two ways.

Option A

Provide the 5 marks to all students. Subtract 1 mark each time you observe a particular student doing something that is contrary to guidelines. The advantage of this is that it is easy for teachers to track. The disadvantage is that you may not notice students failing to observe guidelines.

Option B

Provide a maximum of 5 marks for this area. Give students 1 mark each time you observe them practicing low impact data collection guidelines. The advantage of this is that it is an accurate record of what students do. The disadvantage is that it is time-consuming for teachers to track. Teachers may miss examples of students practicing the correct skills.

• Information synthesis-Listen as students discuss what they have learned during the project. Provide marks for their ability to synthesize what they have learned.

Adapted Source:
(not available at this time) http://academy.pointofview.cc/modules/

[Top]

Built Environment Overview

Integrating The Built Environment into the Curriculum

Built Environment Lessons (8)

Built Environment Reference Source for Lesson Plans

Areas of Significance

Types of Burial Places and Associated Features

Architectural Styles

Buildings, Structures, and Objects

Built Heritage Websites

Built Heritage Bibliography

Supplementary Resources Listings

Download Integrating the Built Environment  in Word Document format.