Building and Buildings

COVID has lots of ripple effects in unexpected parts of your life.

One of them, I think, is that I'm much more open to doing a topic based on a child's request than I ever was before. It is a bit hard to say to a child, you don't get any control over your own life at all. There have been so many restrictions placed on childhood these past few years, from a lack of playdates and family vacations, to masking and weekly testing. And I know they are carrying a lot of worries around with them. I always felt like the loving adult chooses the topics in response to a child's inner needs. Maybe one of the child's inner needs right now is to have something go their way for once!

So in addition to topics like Horses!, Amazing Animal Facts, Jokes for Reluctant Readers, Dragons & Grammar, and Foods of the World, I am making up a list for "Building and Buildings." I have a student who really wants to learn about famous buildings from all around the world. Meanwhile, I think she should be doing a block on Math. So, we can take our Linear Measurement activities in that direction!

Note: this is deliberately buildings that are not houses, since Wonderful Houses Around the World is its own topic in the Waldorf 3rd grade year.

I always begin my brainstorm for any topic with a list of the books I already have on my shelf that I think might work. It is NOT meant to come across as a to-buy list for anyone else! It's just part of my process, and you should feel free to look around your home or your library to see what would be interesting. If you find a great title, let me know and I'll add it to the list!

After my initial brainstorm I'll go back and put these structures in chronological order. Note to self: find a story for the Trojan Horse!

Pharaoh's Boat
by David Weitzman
2581 BCE - Ancient Egypt
Oct 14 & 15

String, Straightedge & Shadow: The Story of Geometry
by Julia Diggins
Ancient Egypt
chpater 5 "The Rope-Stretchers"

Oct 15
make a rope with 12 evenly spaced knots
read pp.36-41

Oct 18
make a model of an Ancient Egyptian level
(sheets of paper, tape, scissors, string, binder clip for the weight)
read pp.42-43

Oct 19
read pp.44-46

Pyramid
by David Macaulay
2470 BCE - Ancient Egypt
Oct 19 & 21

Pyramids vs Tombs: Which Did King Tut Choose?

House
by Albert Lorenz
1250 BCE - Trojan Horse - Siege of Troy
Oct 22

chapters 10 "Fairy-Tale Gods" and 11 "A Fairy-Tale War"
from A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer (1951)

An Undone Fairy Tale
by Ian Lendler
riff on the Trojan Horse
Nov 29

Knights and Armor
by A.G. Smith
Roman Legionary, AD 100
Roman Auxiliary Infantryman, AD 100
Oct 25

City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction
by David Macaulay
26 BCE - Ancient Rome
Oct 25, 26, 27

What Did People Do Before Toilet Paper?

Study: Archimedes Set Roman Ships Afire with Cannons

Naval Battles in the Colosseum

chapter 2, "Fidenae Stadium Collapses," from The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters by Sean Connolly would work well here too

Mistakes That Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions & How They Came to Be
by Charlotte Foltz Jones
Leaning Tower of Pisa
begun 1173 and completed 1372
Oct 29

Tower of Pisa Historical Facts

Stabilizing the Leaning Tower of Pisa

chapter 3, "The Leaning Tower of Pisa," from The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters by Sean Connolly would work well here too

Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, Vol. 2
by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer
Leonard of Pisa / Fibonacci (1180-1250)
Oct 29

Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, Vol. 1
by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
we didn't read this but it also relates to the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Built to Last: Castle, Cathedral, Mosque
by David Macaulay
1223 Cathedral
Nov 1, 2, 5

Mauna Kea Adz Quarry

look up pictures of gargoyles

true or false: < gargoyle > is related to < gargle >

Rose Windows and How to Make Them
by Helga Meyerbröker
Nov 22

chapter 4, "The Collapsing Cathedral," from The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters by Sean Connolly would work well here too

1283 Castle
Nov 8, 9, 11, 12

Knights and Armor
by A.G. Smith
Teutonic Knight, 1240
Hochmeister of the Teutonic Order, 1250
Knight of the Order of St. Jon of Jerusalem, 1250
Nov 12

This Is the Way We Wash-a-Day
by Mary Theines-Schunemann
"Kitchen Cries" track 35
Nov 12

A Medieval Feast
by Aliki
1400
Nov 12

Turnspit Dogs: The Rise And Fall Of The Vernepator Cur

Pippo the Fool
by Tracey Fern
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446)
Nov 15

experiment 31, "Why a Dome?," from The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters by Sean Connolly would work well here too

Leonardo and the Flying Boy
by Laurence Anholt
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Nov 15

Tick Tock Banneker's Clock
by Shana Keller
Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)
Nov 19

make a drawing on 1 cm graph paper, then enlarge it using 1 in graph paper

Ice! The Amazing History of the Ice Business
by Laurence Pringle
1800s
Nov 16 & 18

look up whether there was an ice industry in Hawaii

Shave Ice in Hawaii
by Mariko Merritt

Samuel Morse, That's Who! The Story of the Telegaph and Morse Code
by Tracy Nelson Maurer
Dec 3

Going Up! Elisha Otis's Trip to the Top
by Monica Kulling
1853 - New York World's Fair
Nov 29

The Secret Subway
by Shana Corey
1867
Nov 30

Locomotive
by Brian Floca
1869
Dec 2 & 3

All Aboard! Elijah McCoy's Steam Engine
by Monica Kulling
1872

John Henry
retold by Julius Lester

Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge
by Rachel Dougherty
Brooklyn Bridge
begun 1869 and completed 1883
Dec 6

make a scale drawing on graph paper of the base of the caisson (30 squares x 40 squares = 1200 squares, each square represents 14 square feet), measure your own height and add yourself to the drawing (1/3 square high)

Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing
by April Jones Prince
Brooklyn Bridge
May 1884
Dec 7

Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
by Linda Glaser
written in 1883 and added to statue in 1903
Dec 7

A Race Around the World: The True Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland
by Caroline Starr Rose
1889
Dec 9

Mr. Ferris and His Wheel
by Kathryn Gibbs Davis
1893 - Chicago World's Fair
Dec 9

The Firehouse Light
by Janet Nolan
1901
Dec 10

visit the Centennial Light Bulb webcam

Queen of the Falls
by Chris Van Allsburg
October 24, 1901 - Niagara Falls
Dec 10

Mother Jones and Her Army of Mill Children
by Jonah Winter
1903
Dec 13

Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock
June 6, 1930
Dec 13

The Big Book of the Blue
by Yuval Zommer
"How Deep?" pages 54-55
Dec 13

The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
by Hildegarde Swift
Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse
George Washington Bridge
begun 1927 and completed 1931

"Smelly" Kelly and His Super Senses: How James Kelly's Nose Saved the New York City Subway
by Beth Anderson
Dec 14

Toilet: How It Works
by David Macaulay
Dec 14

Underground
by David Macaulay

Crossing on Time: Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to the New World
by David Macaulay
1950 - SS United States

Rain School
by James Rumford
Dec 16

The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid
Jeanette Winter
(1950-2016)
Dec 16

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
(1987- )

Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering with 25 Projects
by Donna Latham

Architecture for Kids: Skill-Building Activities for Future Architects
by Mark & Siena Moreno

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