Overview
This lesson explores the influence of geography on adobe architecture in New Mexico. In groups, students investigate one of three types of New Mexican adobe architecture - Pueblo, Territorial or Northern New Mexican. An interactive media piece allows students to design a floor plan and calculate the area of the rooms.
Student Pages
Introduction
This lesson explores the influence of geography on adobe architecture in New Mexico. In groups, students investigate one of three types of New Mexican adobe architecture - Pueblo, Territorial or Northern New Mexican. An interactive media piece allows students to design a floor plan and calculate the area of the rooms. A major objective of this activity is for students to serve as teachers or class experts.
Student Outcomes
After completing this lesson students will be able to:
- Explain the influence of geography on the architecture of New Mexico.
- Explain the characteristics of Pueblo, Territorial, and Northern New Mexican styles of adobe architecture.
- Use a variety of sources, including technology, to gather information on architecture of New Mexico.
Technology Usage
- Internet Access
- Scanner
- Printer
- Camera
Preparation:
- Prior to beginning this lesson, ask students to bring in three pictures of adobe buildings. Encourage students to take pictures of buildings in your local community.
- As students bring in pictures of buildings in New Mexico, post on a bulletin board or a display area.
Tasks
- Instruct students to identify landforms and physical features on a blank outline map of New Mexico. Encourage the use of textbooks, Encarta 2000, or the Internet as references.
- Introduce Pueblo, Territorial, and Northern New Mexican styles of adobe architecture in New Mexico using pictures.
- Introduce vocabulary. Put the vocabulary words on a large sheet of paper. Post on a wall where students may refer to it.
- Have students locate areas within New Mexico where each type of architecture was traditionally located.
- Brainstorm why these different styles may have been located in each of these areas. (i.e. metal-pitched roofs were used in Northern New Mexico because it allowed the snow to melt off the roofs). Have students refer back to the maps they filled out with the different landforms and physical features in the state of New Mexico.
- Discuss the availability of materials and the difficulty of transporting materials during the time period when each type of architecture originated.
- Using a Venn diagram, students compare the three different types of architecture.
- Students, in groups of 4-5, choose one type of architecture to research.
- Show students examples of a PowerPoint™ presentation. Encourage the use of a variety of media such as the Internet, Encarta, books, or magazines to incorporate into presentations.
Presentation
Students use MS PowerPoint™ to make a visual presentation that explains a style of adobe architecture.
Assessment
Students' PowerPoint presentations and advertisements will be assessed using a teacher created rubric. The rubric and a checklist of items are given to the students before they begin the activities. See attached rubric.
Extension
Groups then create an advertisement to sell a house typical of the style researched. Brainstorm with students various purposes and audiences the advertisement. (What is the target for the advertisement: the Sunday classifieds, a magazine?) Students are given checklists and rubrics to be used in assessing presentations.
Students may create small adobe bricks by mixing straw, dirt, and water. Once the adobe bricks are formed, they should be sun-dried. Recipes for making adobes in a school setting may be found at: Building Community: The roots of adobe
Resources
Online
- adobe architecture.
- New Mexico CultureNet
- Encarta Online Encyclopedia
- A slide show of adobe buildings.
Offline Southwest Architecture and Children, posters from The University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning. Spears, B. (1986). American adobes: Rural houses of northern New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Bunting, B. (1964). Taos adobe: Spanish Colonial and Territorial architecture of the Taos valley. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press. Dickey, R. F. (1949). New Mexico village arts. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Downloading and Printing Files
These pages can be downloaded to your computer as files. Files can then be opened and printed. Choose from two file formats:
Microsoft document format opens the files in Microsoft Word. You can make changes in the pages before printing them.
Acrobat Reader or Portable Document Format (pdf) opens the files in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Pages cannot be edited in this format. However, .pdf files are less likely to be distorted. Pages that contain graphics or large images look better in .pdf and print very nicely. For your convenience, Acrobat Reader can be accessed from this page.
Microsoft Word (.doc)
New Mexican Architecture-includes all materials and student pages.
Acrobat Reader (.pdf)
New Mexican Architecture-includes all materials and student pages.
About Acrobat Reader
Files in the .pdf format can be read using Acrobat Reader. Acrobat Reader is a free software. You can download and install it by clicking on the link below.
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Standards
- New Mexico Content Standards
- Social Studies
- 3) Students will know, understand and apply the language, tools, and skills of social studies.
- 5) Students will know and understand relationships and patterns in history in order to understand the past and present and to prepare for the future.
- 11) Students will know and understand the diverse, dynamic, and ever-changing nature of culture.
- 12) Students will know and understand physical environments and their relationships to ecosystems and human activities.
- 13) Students will know and understand the impact of science and technology on societies.
- Language Arts
- 1) Students will understand and use Language Arts for communication.
- 2) Students will understand and use Language Arts as a learning tool.
- 4) Students will use a variety of listening and reading strategies appropriately skills.
- 5) Students will speak clearly and write effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes.
- 10) Students will use state-of-the-art computer and other technology to gather, use, and synthesize information, and to create and communicate knowledge.