Ancient Egyptian Architecture

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

There are so many different kinds of buildings in the world, and people have used all kinds of styles and materials to construct them.

• How can you even classify them all?

“Classify” means that you put objects in groups that seem to have something in common. If you were to classify the objects in your bedroom, for example, you might put the socks, t-shirts, and pants all in one group, because they are clothes. Then you might put the books, magazines, and comics together because they are things to read. You could put the LEGOS®, model cars, and the action figures together because they are toys.

In the same way, we can classify buildings into different types.

1. First, list all of the buildings you can think of. Don’t worry about classifying just yet. Just write down all the buildings you can picture, starting with your house, the local store, the tool shed in the neighbor’s yard, and other structures.
2. Once you have a list of at least ten of them, come up with a way to classify them. Write down at least three groups you could put these buildings into, then write the group down next to each of the buildings you chose.

You could have chosen many different ways to classify the buildings, including:

• the size of the building
• the shape
• the materials from which it was made
• the age of the building
• the purpose for which it is used
• and other possible groupings

• Did you come up with other ways to classify the buildings?

Share your groups of buildings with your parent or teacher, then discuss the following questions together:

• Why is it useful to put things into groups?
• How do you know how to group them?
• What groups did you choose to classify the buildings in your area?
• What other choices could you have made?

Classifying can be useful because it makes us think about the most important qualities of the things, people, and situations around us.

In the Got It? section, explore some of the coolest buildings from Ancient Egypt and figure out how best to classify them!