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Architecture Week for Schools:

The Street

Investigate a street
Playground/classroom activity
Key Stage: 1
Materials: Chalk (or paper, crayons and masking tape), street plan resource (supplied)
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Activity summary:
  • To consider what elements make up a street
  • To allow pupils to create a street and participate in considering the needs of a community
  • Links can be made with National Curriculum schemes of work:
    Art: A sense of place (Unit 6C)
    D&T: Homes (Unit 1D)
    Geography: Around our school - the local area, Improving the environment (Units 1, 6, 8, 12, 19, 21)
    IT: Finding information (Unit 2c) - (For resource CD Panorama of Kingsland Road, Hackney email: mail@buildingexploratory.org.uk)
    History: Homes, Living in the past (Unit 2, 18)
    Science: Habitats (Unit 4B)
    Citizenship: shared environments - What makes a community?
  • Extension tasks:
    Art: Draw the structure
    D&T: make small-scale models of the buildings
    Geography & IT: children could investigate aspects of a local street and assemble data e.g. types of buildings, materials, types of homes, number of shops, crossings, bus stops, cars parked etc.
    History: Identify evidence of where the use of buildings has changed in a local street e.g. house into shop
    Art & Literacy: children could draw or cut silhouettes and make their own panorama of a street and write a story about it
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Lesson Plan:
1. Introduce the street
A street comprises a number of different elements: road, pavement, road markings, shops, houses, terraced houses, flats, places of worship, offices, hospital, areas for recreation, street furniture, people. Some are to organise the use of the space (cars, street furniture e.g. bus stop & people), some are to serve the needs of people (buildings, street furniture e.g. telephone box, bins) Relate to a street pupils know near the school. Identify how the different elements these reflect the needs of a community which may change depending on the location of the street.
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2. Visualise the street
This can be realised as a chalk drawing in the playground or on large paper indoors. Draw the elements stage by stage (go to plan supplied). Show children the different styles of buildings that can make up a street- use as hand out or work from imagination.
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3. Extend the activity
Consider different viewpoints of 3 dimensional structures, what can be seen from different locations on a street. Consider the smells and sounds of a street. Consider the range of building materials used. Consider the different roles of people using a street: shopkeeper, policeman, construction worker. Consider the means of navigating a street: walking, cycling, car, bus, scooter. Make structures to place on the street map
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Recommendations:
  • Ensure the initial plan is large enough for children to work within.
  • Take photographs of a street near school to support the activity.
  • Use cardboard boxes as an alternative means of introducing buildings - these could be decorated with different architectural facades.
  • If using paper rather than playground surface, tape down with masking tape before drawing.

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Feedback

"The children thoroughly enjoyed the project and got so much out of it. It fulfilled aspects of the D&T curriculum and there were lots of opportunities for cross-curricular links. The children loved working as a team and had to collaborate at every stage of the process."

Year 5 Teacher
BUILD A STRUCTURE