Students engage in observation, drawing, and math exercises to build the skills crucial to being an architect: model-making, architectural drafting, and communication. During the program, students will also visit one of the Museum's exhibitions as an introduction to the work of architectural creation. Students will not visit the PLAY WORK BUILD exhibition as in previous years.

In this hands-on investigation, students will learn how buildings can be built to withstand the force of an earthquake. They will experience the engineering design process by exploring the Museum's Designing for Disaster exhibition, then working in groups, students will design, construct, and test model buildings using a shake table. After analyzing how their structures performed, students will consider how they could improve their designs.

In the Museum's House & Home exhibition, students have an opportunity to look closely at photographs and models of past and present American homes. This exploration continues in one of the Museum's classrooms where students learn about the process of building a house through a hands-on demonstration with real tools and materials. These young builders then create their own houses out of color craft materials to take home.

Students learn about green roofs: the practice of growing plants on a building's roof to absorb rain water and to make buildings more environmentally friendly. After looking at photographs of green roofs, students build a model house with craft materials and a roof using real dirt and grass seeds. Students will take home their houses to watch their green roofs grow.

Students will become architects and "meet" their client: a family in need of a new house in American southwest. The family wants an environmentally sustainable home that can take advantage of the dry and sun-drenched environment. After investigating the climate and geography of the Southwest, green homes from the past and present, and green technologies and materials, students design and construct a model green home. Students will take home their designs.

What is a geodesic dome? Why did Buckminster Fuller think that the dome was such an innovative structure? How are engineering and math principles combined into this unique structure? Students investigate these questions while working together to construct a 6.5' x 13' geodesic dome. Prepare your student for this program with pre-visit lessons.