Education Resources
Search DiscoverIT’s educational resources on the subject of architectural style by grade and subject.
In your own neighbourhood or community you can begin to examine individual buildings more carefully and discover previously overlooked details and elements.
You can identify the architectural similarities and differences that distinguish your neighbourhood from others.
Adopt a Building (Grades 4-8)
Students will identify historic buildings in their community that have been adaptively reused.
Through “adopting” a building, they will learn that recycling of buildings is an environmentally and economically sound practice for communities.
Architectural Study of Your Neighbourhood (Grades 4-6)
Students will survey their surrounding residential community and observe and discuss the architectural styles found in the neighborhood, listing typical construction features characteristic to the architectural style. Afterwards, students will sketch individual homes or architectural details.
Architectural Styles 01
The class will explore various styles of architecture. Together, the class will create clay buildings that come together to make a small town. There will be discussion on maps, layouts, and structure of
buildings.
Architectural Styles 02
Studying architectural styles is an exciting way to make history come alive and to help students feel a part of their community. Styles provide clues to what people were concerned about during previous time periods, and how people adapted to new ideas and environments.
Building Uses (Adaptable for Grades 7-12)
Students will differentiate among building uses: residential, commercial, industrial, public, and community services. And show how building uses on a street influence the size, shape, and life of that street. For example, commercial buildings generate heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Climate and Construction (Grades 4-8)
Students will learn to recognize three primary structural forms of architecture: post and beam
constructions, rounded arches, and Gothic arches. They will look for these forms in their community buildings and will set up experiments to test the strength of these forms.
Compare Winnipeg History Maps
Students will recognize changes that have taken place over time in their community. Students will
speculate on why transportation routes, businesses, industry, and homes are in given locations.
Historic Sites (Grades 4-8)
Students will identify historic and modern landmarks in their town.
Map Skills
In this unit, using materials close at hand–the city map from the telephone book and road maps of Winnipeg, students develop a basic orientation to map skills. A series of cooperative enrichment
activities reinforces skills.
Restoration and Renovation
Students prepare a bulletin board that shows the changing identity of downtown.
Timelines
Timelines are a resource we use in different parts of our lives to understand events and their cause
and effect. This lesson can be taught separately or used as part of a Heritage Unit. Students will
demonstrate an understanding of chronological order of historical events.
Additional resources
Winnipeg and the Transcontinental Railroad
This lesson helps illustrate the importance of the railroad in the settlement of the west.
Senior Citizen’s Interview
As students learn about everyday life in Winnipeg’s past, they can make this study more personally
relevant and exciting by interviewing parents, grandparents, and possibly their great-grandparents.