Creating buildings that reach hundreds of feet into the sky is no easy task. The third instructional activity in this series begins with four activities that engage young architects in exploring the major challenges that are faced when...

Skyscrapers are amazing feats of architectural design that create the iconic skylines of the world's biggest cities. Young architects explore the defining characteristics of these monstrous towers with the first lesson in this four-part...

The construction of skyscrapers is no simple undertaking, involving the careful coordination and planning of many different people. The third lesson in this series explores this detailed process by first teaching children about the main...

While architects and engineers don't often build with plastic straws and foam board, the same principles still apply. Challenging both the creativity and critical thinking of students, this engaging design project is perfect...

Investigate the growth and development of New York City with the final lesson in this four-part series on skyscrapers. Learners first explore the concept of urban growth by looking closely at a series of three paintings made of Wall...

The sky's the limit when learning about engineering. Future engineers conduct an activity to learn about forces associated with skyscrapers. They design and build a model of a skyscraper from basic household materials, then test their...

The road to a better understanding of engineering lies with bridges and tunnels. A set of four engaging activities teaches learners about engineering concepts related to construction projects. They perform an experiment to find the...

Students build their own newspaper skyscrapers with limited materials and time. They identify several different structural engineering principles relating to skyscrapers. They explain how their towers resisted the wind load.

Students engineer their way through a hands-on science activity. In this architecture lesson plan, students examine dead loads and wind loads as they participate in the Skyscraper Challenge.

How are skyscrapers built? What does it take to make a structurally sound building? How can one work within a budget to complete a building project? These guiding questions will be investigated and answered within a hands-on lesson....

Stretch your teaching repertoire with an experiment on the elongation (stretching) and failure (break) of several materials. The point of the experiment is to design a composite material for chair webbing.

Your young architects use the Internet to research tall structures or sky scrapers to help in the design of their scale drawings. This is lesson one of three in which learners design, build, and test model skyscrapers for seismic safety....

Students examine skyscrapers by conducting Internet research and by creating and interpreting graphs. After reading the book, "Skyscraper," they discuss reasons why the structures are built. Once they have researched the tallest...

Students discover Sky City. In this Asian culture and traditions lesson, students watch "Asia: Culture and Tradition," and then discuss the practicality of building Sky City. Students visit a Discovery Education Web site to research Sky...

Young scholars build three types of towers, engineering them to hold an egg one foot high for 15 seconds. They discover that engineering designs are subject to constraints such as time, money and size specifications. In this activity...

Students consider features of skyscraper using descriptive words, reflect on notion of skyscraper as orientation point in a city, and explore New York Times Building in Manhattan by reading and discussing article, "Pride and Nostalgia...

Students examine photographs of skyscrapers. They work together to design their own building. They must include a list of all of the essential materials and how to deal with problems. They present their completed design to the class.

Class members are challenged to design a device that will move a circus elephant into a train car. Groups brainstorm ideas that use simple machines to load the elephant. They then choose one of their ideas, sketch a plan, and present it...

What do the movies October Key and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone have in common? The fourth installment of a five-part module presents equations regarding projectile motion and how to rearrange them. Scholars view video clips...

Students apply knowledge of stresses and forces by building model structures. In this force instructional activity, students consider skyscrapers and bridges in the world around them and the stresses that these structures endure. They...

Young scholars apply the mechanical advantages and problem-solving capabilities of six types of simple machines (wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw, pulley) as they discuss modern structures in the spirit of the...

Students discover the types of stress that materials undergo. They examine how bridges and skyscrapers are built to withhold the tension. They create their own structure out of marshmallows and spaghetti.

Learners face the challenges of building big, functional structures, like bridges, domes and skyscrapers. They turn their talents to satisfying clients who have hired them to design their new home.

Young scholars build their own tower using concepts from previous lessons. They are given a set of materials to use and general guidelines. They share what they have created with their classmates.