“The Cardboard Cathedral”, Connected – How do you know?, level 2, January 2014
10 January 2014
The Christchurch Cathedral was so badly damaged after the February 2011 earthquake it had to be rebuilt. The architect, Shigeru Ban, was asked to design a temporary cathedral that could be built quickly out of light materials. Ban modelled the cardboard cathedral. A team of technologists, engineers, and scientists worked together to test materials, ensuring the cathedral was strong enough, waterproof, windproof, and flameproof.
Find the article and teacher resources on Literacy Online "The Cardboard Cathedral".
Related resources
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Nests for the school production
Year 6 students model and make nests to accommodate four year 1 “baby chicks” in their school production. Designing and creating the nests for the year 1 students required lots of thinking about functional modelling to ensure the nests were the right size to fit the children, looked like a nest, and lasted the length of the performance.
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Buttercup the duck receives new 3D printed foot
Buttercup is a fluffy duck who was born with a backwards foot, causing her to hobble around the other ducks. Creating her new prosthetic foot required modelling to ensure a perfect fit, and to outlast wear and tear as Buttercup walks around.
Discussion starters
- Technological modelling: Use this and other examples to describe the sorts of things that functional modelling can be used for in technology (level 2).
- Technological products: Use this and other examples to describe the performance properties of a range of materials, and use these to suggest things the materials could be used for (level 2).