Classroom Teaching: Connecting curriculum to Main Street

by Sarah Blankenship; updated 2020 by Cara Lowrimore

The Goal: Apply classroom knowledge to the real world, teach kids about the built environment AND connect generations!

Strengthen math skills by making math games out of the age of buildings.   It is difficult for young children to get the concept of 100 years or more. So do a walking tour with kids, where 1 jump = 10 years.. 

Teach the kids about forces that buildings must survive: the pressure of an arch or dome - have the kids lean together!

Combine a downtown tour with a SCAVENGER HUNT: give each student 5 historic details to locate along the route. Back in the classroom, they cut out the details and glue them in the correct place on a map and timeline of downtown.

Other examaples of architecture and math in forms of worksheets: Word Problems, geometry, graphing, measuring