Fun Activities

On The Job

 Houses & Buildings - ARCHITECT

Online

Responding to the Vernacular?

High SchoolSecondary

CriticalAustralian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

NumeracyAustralian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Australian Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities: Sustainability Priority

 

 

1. You are to read the following article from The Conversation 17 June 2014: Sublime design: the Reading Queenslander

The Conversation

2. Draw up a table with two columns. In the first column, under Queenslander use the headings: Veranda and roof; Windows and doors; Stumps; Building materials; and, Decorative features.

List all the characteristics of the Queenslander in this column and how this particular design suits the Queensland climate. Compare with a partner.

3. In the second column, describe your home, under the same headings. List all the characteristics of your home in this column and how this particular design suits the climate (or not).

4. Can you estimate the additional cost of converting your home to suit the climate?

5. Design a home that is suited to your climate. What is essential? Include at least 3 sustainability aspects in your new home.

6. Discussion

Discuss as a class the designs and their suitability to the climate.

Are these designs as good as the Queenslander?

 

 

A multigenerational home: a new design

High SchoolSecondary

CriticalAustralian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

NumeracyAustralian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Australian Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities: Sustainability Priority

 

1. Read this article from Better Homes and Gardens Reading

Is a multigenerational home the way of the future?

In 2011 the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that 531,000 people were living with ‘other related persons’ in the family household. The ABS predict that number will grow to 781,000 or more by 2036. Other studies indicate that one in five Australians currently live in a multigenerational household, and the trend is on the rise.

Once the norm in many households, where the young help care for the older generation, the custom of multigenerational homes experienced a downturn in past decades. It seems that what once was old is now new again, and it’s resurged at a time when the average Australian is struggling the most......

The negatives of multigenerational homes
•Lack of privacy.
•Noise transference.
•Everyone runs on a different schedule and those schedules can clash when it comes to the use of facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms.
•Feeling as though you are living in someone else’s house.
•Lack of space.
•Lack of independence.

What are some of the things needed for a successful multigenerational home?
•Ensuring everyone has a private space they can call their own, whether that be to decorate it as they see fit or have friends over.
•Consider a separate small residence on the same block of land, such as a ‘granny flat’ or ‘tiny home’.
•Open plan homes tend to be the worst for noise transference, and this can be solved by an architect or building designer at the building stage, or during renovations.
•Alternatively, investing in rugs to reduce the noise of foot traffic can help.

2. In pairs, you are to design a multigenerational home for a family consisting of:

  • Grandparents aged 60 and 62 (one still working full time)
  • Parents aged 37 and 39 (both in full time work)
  • Children aged 4, 10, and 12

Multigenerational

3. The design is take into account the negatives stated in the article and eliminate these negatives as much as possible. You are also to add as many sustainable features as possible including solar paneling and water tanks.

4. Share your design with the class.

 

 

 

Websites, Games & Apps

Wrecking Ball Lite (Free Mobile App)

MiddleMiddle  High SchoolSecondary

ICT Capability Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability


Price: FREE
Developer: Alternative Visuals
TeacherTeacher: A physics game that involves strategy in taking down buildings - before the Architect builds something else!

 


  Wrecking Ball
Children and Architecture

PrimaryPrimary MiddleMiddle  High SchoolSecondary

TeacherTeacher: This is a project of the Australian Institute of Architects that delivers information for primary and secondary schools on the human-made environment and it can include town plans, roads, buildings, sculpture, and even parks
Children and Architecture
Build a Pyramid

PrimaryPrimary

ICT Capability Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability

TeacherTeacher: This is a game where you get to build the Great Pyramid of Giza!
Need Shockwave!
  
Build a Pyramid
World's tallest skyscrapers

PrimaryPrimary



TeacherTeacher: This is a timeline of all skyscrapers holding the title of the tallest building in the world from 1890 to the present.

Click on the red buttons to see details of each building
Tallest Skyscrapers
ArchKIDecture

MiddleMiddle

ICT Capability Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability




Has lots and lots of activities to explore and do.
ArchKIDecture
Architect Studio 3D

MiddleMiddle

ICT Capability Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability



TeacherTeacher: This is a site where you can design a house, walk through it in 3D and then share it with the world.
You can also learn more about architecture and explore the work of the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Architect Studio 3D
Building Big

PrimaryPrimary

Literacy
Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy



TeacherTeacher: This is another site all about skyscrapers, with lots of interesting facts
Skyscrapers

 

WebQuests

Where did my house come from?
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ICT Capability Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability


WebQuest - Where did my house come from?

You are an architect (USA)

MiddleMiddle

ICT Capability Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability
 

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