Lego Architecture

I have my grade 10 students to thank for a great idea:  LEGO ARCHITECTURE!

We've been taking a look at Gothic architecture, and I had asked the class how they thought they'd like to demonstrate what they've learned.  For a short time, we had considered a visual timeline and then we thought about trying Minecraft to build virtual cathedrals.  The timeline seemed a bit boring, and we're still ironing out the hiccups that come with new programs on school computers.

While discussing our options, some students began trying to convince me to use Lego in the class because it's so much fun.  They talked about how many Lego pieces they still had at home and how, if they had the chance to create their own buildings in class, they could incorporate the Gothic architectural features we were learning about.

Why not?

This took a bit of planning (as we slowly realized that our structures would need more Lego pieces than we had), but as we asked our friends and families for help collecting more pieces, our structures grew larger and larger.

The students attempted to use some of the following architectural features:

• pointed arches
• stained glass windows (especially rose windows)
• buttresses
• flying buttresses
• relief sculptures beside the entry

We will be setting up our cathedrals for our volunteer judges who have been given a list of criteria to consider while ranking all of our groups.  Winning groups will be announced on Tuesday!

Thanks to the generosity of area sponsors, students who took part in our Lego architecture competition will be presented with prizes!  Check back for our next post to see our winners along with a list of the wonderful people who donated prizes.