National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., has developed Educator Resource Packets, which it makes available for download free of charge from this website. The three packets available at the time of this report were: Patterns that Thump, Bump, and Jump; City by Design; and Bridge Basics. The first packet is intended for students in pre-kindergarten through second grade and aims to increase students' awareness of patterns, their ability to predict patterns, and understanding of ways "to examine and interpret patterns that are found in the built environment." The City by Design packet is intended for kindergarten through sixth-grade students and aims to increase students' awareness of the communities in which they live, promote an understanding for how people's use of land and buildings affects the environment, and to explore the implications of various transportation options. Finally, the packet on Bridge Basics provides instructional ideas for teaching students in grades four through eight about bridge construction and the environmental impact of bridges. Each packet offers a review of key concepts, suggests a few activities and offers some resources for further exploration, along with information on visiting the National Building Museum. Hard copies of the packets are available upon request.
Comments