Aims:

1. To design structures that will include buildings, a memorial, and a green area appropriate for the World Trade Center site.

2.  To design structures that invoke emotions of hope and comfort in those who view them.

3. To locate information on the Internet that reveal plans for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site.

4. To use drawing and painting tools to design structures.

5.  To use effective oral presentation techniques in sharing students' World Trade Center designs with the class and with other audiences.

6. To appreciate that the proposed World Trade Center designs must address physical, human, emotional, and ecological needs of the environment.

Materials:

Vocabulary:

Motivation:

Students log onto: Ground Zero: An Empty Pit That Visitors' Grief Cannot Fill," by Robin Givhan, to read  about what is left at the World Trade Center site. What emotions do you feel reading this piece? What can be done to uplift the spirits of the people of New York City?

Students log onto:  http://archrecord.construction.com/news/wtc/archives/wtc1964.pdf  and http://cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/trade.center/index.html to find out what the original Structures at the World Trade Center site were like.

Development:

1. Elicit ideas from students as to what structures they think should be placed at the World Trade Center site?

2. View the following websites to see architects' proposals and proposals by students of architecture:

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/wtc/archives/professprops.asp

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/wtc/archives/studentprops.asp

http://inspiretowermemorial.org/art_discript.html

http://inspiretowermemorial.org/photos01.html

http://9-11peoplesplan.org

http://twinpiers.com

(Note: These sites were also viewed in Lesson 2).

3. How were the heroes and victims of 9/11 honored by these designs?

Which elements of the designs serve as memorials?

4. Log onto http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/2002/wtc.ideas/designs/page.1

There are over 140 pages of proposals contributed by ordinary citizens, including children.

5. Students, working in groups of two or three, evaluate the designs on one of the pages

on the CNN site. The students are instructed to choose the three designs they liked best

out of the twenty four on the page, describe the elements of the design, including any

memorial elements, and explain in detail why they chose those designs. See worksheets.

6. Students share their favorite three designs with the class. As students describe their designs

to the class, they focus on the elements of the design and memorial symbols in the design.

Summary:

1. Students, individually or in groups, plan out their original designs by answering:

2. Students use a drawing and painting application such as Superprint or Kidpix to design

their buildings, memorial, and green area for the World Trade Center site.

3. Students describe the elements of their designs in words, using a word processing application.

Note: The designs were submitted to New York City Mayor Bloomberg and Cnn.com.

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated on:

1. Understanding of what structures occupied the World Trade Center site before

September 11, 2001.

2. Their ability to plan out an original design for buildings, a memorial, and a green area to

be built at the World Trade Center site.

3. Their ability to use a drawing and painting application to draw their designs.

4. Their ability to explain, in words what the elements of their designs are and how

their design memorializes the heroes and victims of September 11.

5. Working as a cooperative group including sharing ideas, materials, resources, and tasks to produced a group project.

See rubric.

Follow Up:

Materials such as cardboard, foam board, oaktag, cereal boxes, shoe boxes, K-Nex, building blocks, and milk containers may be used to construct three dimensional scale models of the buildings designed by the students. See structures built by students at JHS 56.

View slide show of architect's designs. Have students compare and contrast those designs with their own.

Log onto: Newsday's interactive create your own design page. Have students use the interactive drawing tools to create their design.

Related Web Sites:

http://nysm.nysed.gov/wtc/skyscraper.html

Learn about the history of skyscrapers at the New York State Museum web site.