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Dwellings Around the Globe
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Title:
Dwellings Around the Globe
Posted by:
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Date:
8/30/2006
Grade Level:
Middle School
Category:
Architecture
Subject Area:
Arts
Language Arts
Social Studies
Lesson Time:
One or two fifty-minute class periods
Introduction:
In this activity students will explore dwellings across the globe. They will conduct collaborative research on cliff dwellings, igloos, longhouses, and yurts. The students will explore how different dwellings reflect environmental and cultural conditions, and they will create a presentation to share their work with their classmates.
State Standards:
State Standard
National Standards:
Writing
Standard 1. Level III. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process
5. Uses content, style, and structure (e.g., formal or informal language, genre, organization) appropriate for specific audiences (e.g., public, private) and purposes (e.g., to entertain, to influence, to inform)
Reading
Standard 7. Level III.  Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts
1. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of informational texts (e.g., electronic texts; textbooks; biographical sketches; directions; essays; primary source historical documents, including letters and diaries; print media, including editorials, news stories, periodicals, and magazines; consumer, workplace, and public documents, including catalogs, technical directions, procedures, and bus routes)
3. Summarizes and paraphrases information in texts (e.g., arranges information in chronological, logical, or sequential order; conveys main ideas, critical details, and underlying meaning; uses own words or quoted materials; preserves author's perspective and voice)
4. Uses new information to adjust and extend personal knowledge base
Standard 4. Level III. Gathers and uses information for research purposes
3. Uses a variety of resource materials to gather information for research topics (e.g., magazines, newspapers, dictionaries, schedules, journals, phone directories, globes, atlases, almanacs, technological sources) 
Listening & Speaking
Standard 8. Level III. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes
6. Makes oral presentations to the class (e.g., uses notes and outlines; uses organizational pattern that includes preview, introduction, body, transitions, conclusion; uses a clear point of view; uses evidence and arguments to support opinions; uses visual media) 
Geography
Standard 6. Level III. Understands that culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions
1. Knows how places and regions serve as cultural symbols (e.g. Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco; Opera House in Sydney, Australia; the Gateway Arch in St. Louis; Tower Bridge in London)
2. Knows how technology affects the ways in which culture groups perceive and use places and regions (e.g., impact of technology such as air conditioning and irrigation on the human use of arid lands; changes in perception of environment by culture groups, such as the snowmobile's impact on the lives of Inuit people or the swamp buggy's impact on tourist travel in the Everglades)
3. Knows the ways in which culture influences the perception of places and regions (e.g., religion and other belief systems, language and tradition; perceptions of "beautiful" or "valuable") 
Arts Connections
Standard 1.  Understands connections among the various art forms and other disciplines  
Arts & Communication
Standard 4.Understands ways in which the human experience is transmitted and reflected in the arts and communication 
Working With Others
Standard 1.Contributes to the overall effort of a group  
Thinking & Reasoning
Standard 5. Applies basic trouble-shooting and problem-solving techniques 
Visual Arts: Artistic Expression & Communication
Standard 4. Understands the visual arts in relation to history and culture
Objectives:

Students will do the following:

  • respond to writing prompts
  • participate in small-group and large-group discussions
  • conduct Internet research
  • evaluate, analyze, and interpret information from multiple sources
  • synthesize information from multiple sources
  • create an oral and written presentation
Resources:
  • Internet websites
Materials:
  • computer with Internet access
Vocabulary:
Students in this age group should be familiar with all words used.
Procedures:

Building Background 

The purpose of this activity is to provide students with an opportunity to explore the relationship between buildings and culture.

1. Share the following quotation with your students:

"What we're talking about is culture. Buildings and culture developed in tandem. In a traditional society, you wouldn't ask what kind of house to build. That'd be like asking what color is red...You'd build the kind of house that you had seen being built all your life. Housing would be a part of your culture. It would be specific to you.

An igloo, for example, is specific to the environment in which it evolved. Perfect there, it can't survive elsewhere. You can't build an igloo in Miami. Igloos are the result of specific people, in a specific place, sharing experiences. All over the world, traditional building reflects this localized evolutionary process."

-Clarke Snell

Source: https://academic.evergreen.edu/j/jirtas12/history.html

Ask your students to respond to Snell's comments. Encourage students to think about their local environment and dwellings. Ask students to discuss the following questions:

  • What kind of homes are built in the area where you live?
  • How do these dwellings reflect the climate?
  • How do these dwellings reflect the culture?

2. Brainstorm a list of fifty different kinds of dwellings. Post the list in the class and continue to add items to it as students conduct further research.

Steps for Learning   

1. Divide the class into small groups. Tell the students that they are going to conduct research and create a presentation on dwellings. The presentations must include the following elements:

  • a description of the dwelling
  • a picture of the dwelling
  • the location of the dwelling
  • the purpose of the design
  • how the design reflects the climate conditions
  • how the design reflects the culture and society

 

Group One: Igloos

https://www.kstrom.net/isk/maps/houses/igloo.html

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/denali/extremes/survigloo.html

https://www.arcticblast.polarhusky.com/igloo

Group Two: Yurts

https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/culture/dwellings/dwellings.html

https://www.chaingang.org/yurtquest/FAQ.html

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5440921

Group Three: Cliff Dwellings

https://www.nps.gov/gicl/

https://www.nps.gov/glca/dhouse.htm

https://www.nps.gov/meve/cliff_dwellings/cliff_dwellings_home.htm

Group Four: Native American Dwellings

https://www.thewildwest.org/interface/index.php?action=202

https://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/tourFames.cgi?tour_id=14089

https://photoswest.org/exhib/gallery4/tipi.htm

https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/culture/dwellings/dwellings.html

Create a class collection on dwellings. As a class, decide the best way to share what the students have learned about dwellings. Possible suggestions include the following:

  • a poster exhibit
  • a website
  • a slide show
  • a mural


If possible, invite other students to view the presentations.

Assessment:
Reflection 
Create a class rubric with your students that will help them assess their work. Use the following guidelines to help create the rubric.

 

-How effective was your brainstorming in generating ideas?
(Excellent, Good, Adequate, Poor)

-Rate how effectively you collected, analyzed, and synthesized information.
(Excellent, Good, Adequate, Poor)

-Rate the overall quality of your presentation.
(Excellent, Good, Adequate, Poor)

-Rate your creativity.
(Excellent, Good, Adequate, Poor)
Enrichment
Extension Activities:
Patrick Dougherty Dwellings
Have your students explore the art of Patrick Dougherty, who creates dwellings using materials from nature. Have them use the following websites to begin their research:

 

https://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.03.03/dwelling-0314.html

https://www.villamontalvo.org/va_dougherty4.html

https://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/apr/04-14-98/arts/arts2.html
Teacher Reflection:
N/A.
Related
Files:
No related files are necessary.
 
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