About the National Building Museum

Transcription

1 NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM EDUCATOR RESOURCE PACKET GRADES 5 9 BE A GREEN BUILDER This lesson was created as a supplement to the Be a Green Builder program at the National Building Museum. It is designed to be used in your classroom independently, or as an activity before or after a school program at the Museum. For more information about and to register for the National Building Museum s school programs, visit The Be a Green Builder school program helps students, in grades five through nine, understand the the process of home construction, including: the hidden features that support houses, the steps in the process of house construction, and sustainable design. About the National Building Museum The National Building Museum is America s leading cultural institution dedicated to advancing the quality of the built environment by educating people about its impact on their lives. Through its exhibitions and educational programs, including innovative curricula for students, as well as online content and publications, the Museum tells the stories of the world people design and build. The Museum is an independent, non-profit institution and is located in a historic landmark structure at 401 F Street NW, Washington, D.C Connect with the Museum online at on Twitter and on Facebook at

2 Design Basics: Design Drawings National Standards of Learning: English 4, 7, 8; Math Geometry D; Tech. Literacy 8, 9, 11; Visual Arts 1a, 1b, 6a, 6b Duration: 50 minutes Overview Architects and engineers plan buildings by making many kinds of drawings of their buildings. Each drawing or drawing set has a purpose that can include showing the client initial ideas, indicating the design of the landscape, or showing where the electrical and plumbing systems will be installed. This lesson teaches participants how to communicate information and ideas through three of the basic design drawings: plan, section, and elevation. These drawing types are universally recognized throughout the design community and enable a project to move from design to construction. Objectives Students will: explain the importance of universally recognized drawing types; and identify and create basic plan, section, and elevation drawings. Materials Pencils and colored pencils Blank paper Bell peppers Historic Plans of the National Building Museum Plan, Section, Elevation Student Handout Teacher Prep Photocopy the Basic Design Drawings Student Handouts. Purchase bell peppers. Cut some of the bell peppers in half vertically (i.e. top to bottom) and cut some of the bell peppers in half horizontally (i.e. from left to right). Each student group should have one whole pepper, half of a pepper cut horizontally, and half of a pepper cut vertically. Request professional presentation and technical drawing examples of basic drawing types plan, section, elevation from local architects or use the examples included of the historic plans for the National Building Museum. Vocabulary Architect Elevation Plan Section Client Teacher Tips This can be a great lesson for an artist or architect to teach. An artist can demonstrate the different drawing techniques, or an architect can explain and demonstrate the basic design drawings. If an artist or architect leads the class, ask him or her to give students a brief professional career synopsis. See a list of professional organizations in the resource section. 42

3 Lesson Plan 1. Importance of Basic Design Drawings (10 minutes) Post examples of design drawings on a white or black board; you may use the plans of the Be a Green Builder House or the National Building Museum included in this packet. Introduce the students to the idea of design drawings. Explain that a blueprint is an old method for copying these design drawings and the term is no longer commonly used by architects and design professionals. Have a discussion with students about the need for design drawings using the following series of questions: An architect is an individual who designs buildings and advises in their construction. How do you think architects use drawings? Answer: To sketch out ideas, to show others what a building will look like, to communicate ideas. Who uses the drawings architects create? Answer: Clients, engineers, construction managers, other individuals in the building trades. Be sure to discuss who these people are and what role they have in the construction process. Why is it important for architects to use the same basic drawing types? Answer: To communicate uniformly to individuals involved in the design and construction process. Using the same types of drawings and symbols is like speaking the same language. Why are there different kinds of design drawings? Answer: Each drawing contains only part of the information, to fully understand the final building the drawings needs to be used together, some drawings provide information for specific professions (carpenter, electrician, plumber) What might happen if every architect had a unique drawing style? Answer: On-site construction workers might misinterpret design; clients might not understand ideas. It would be hard to communicate ideas with someone who used a different visual language. 2. Introducing Plan, Section, and Elevation (5 minutes) Using a simple house as the subject or the included plans for the National Building Museum, show examples of each of the following drawing types while explaining each drawing type in simple terms: Elevation: the outside of a building being viewed from the front, side or back Plan: the top view of a building cut horizontally by an intersecting plane (i.e., birds eye view) Section: the inside of a building as it would appear if cut vertically by an intersecting plane (i.e., dollhouse view) 3. Sketching Plan, Section, and Elevation Drawings of Green Peppers (25 minutes) Post three pieces of chart paper. Each piece of paper should be labeled with a different type of design drawing, Elevation, Plan, or Section. Pass out the cut and whole peppers to each table of students. 43

4 Using the peppers, model drawing elevation, plan, and section on the chart paper as the participants sketch each one. Instruct participants to complete each drawing on a separate sheet of paper. Participants should only use pencils, erase if necessary, and take their time. Complete the drawings in the following order: Elevation: Demonstrate an elevation view by drawing the whole pepper from the side. Model how to sketch the whole pepper as an elevation. It is important to emphasize that elevation drawings do not include any perspective. Allow students five minutes to draw an elevation drawing using their whole peppers. Plan: Show participants a whole pepper, and then slice it in half horizontally. Ask if this represents plan, section, or elevation. Model how to sketch the half pepper as a plan including details like the seeds, shadows, etc. Allow students five minutes to draw a plan drawing using their horizontally cut peppers. Section: Show participants a whole pepper, and then slice it in half vertically. Ask if this represents plan, section, or elevation. Model how to sketch the pepper, this time as a section, continuing to use line weights and details. Allow students five minutes to draw a section drawing using their vertically cut peppers. 4. Closing (10 minutes) When participants have completed their pepper drawings, use these drawings to review with the class the characteristics of elevation, plan and section, and write these on the board. Which might be the most useful drawing for a client? For a construction worker? For a site supervisor? Why is it important to have all of these drawings? What other types of drawings might you need? Taking it Further Have students draw a plan of their classroom or a room at home. Compare a painting, elevation drawing, and a photograph of the same building. What is the main reason for each type of image? What was the creator trying to show? Students can write about what they think the designer was trying to achieve. 44

5 1883 Plan for 2nd Floor of the National Building Museum (Formerly the Pension Building 45

6 1882 Elevation National Building Museum (Formerly the Pension Building) 46

7 Section of the National Building Museum (Formerly the Pension Building) 47

8 Student Handout Basic Design Drawings Elevation: the outside of a building being viewed from the front, side or back Plan: the top view of a building cut horizontally by an intersecting plane (i.e., bird s-eye view) Section: the inside of a building as it would appear if cut vertically by an intersecting plane (i.e., dollhouse view) 48