Even though Architecture Week is no longer running (last event being 2007), their online resources are still accessible and quite relevant. Billed as ‘activities’, the nine schoolwork units presented on the Architecture Week website are really lesson plans designed to ‘enable young people to connect with their surroundings and develop a sense of place’.
Architecture Week for schools website image © Architecture Week 2007
One activity is called ‘What is our school made of?’. Using step-by-step instructions for teachers of key stages 1 and 2, it invites students to examine the construction materials used in their immediate environment. It culminates in students making a wall of ideas together. For students at key stages 2 and 3, ‘The estate’ offers 15 photographs of life in an inner-city, high-rise housing estate and a lesson plan (linked to the national curriculum) to develop awareness of local buildings and places.
All the activities are downloadable and clear and the site operates quickly and easily.
Key stages: 1, 2 and 3
Key subjects: design & technology, art & design, history, geography
Built environment education: building construction, urban and rural planning, environmental issues, building design, community issues, citizenship and identity
Access from the Architecture Week website
