Architecture Lesson Plans

This Architecture Lesson was created to assist teachers in helping their students learn to identify and become familiar with, architecture in their neighborhood.

From the time that pioneers settled the state, architecture has been changing and evolving nationally to accommodate changing lifestyles and tastes in style.

These plans will provide you with the basic information that you will need to look at, evaluate and discover the architectural style of most homes built in Salt Lake City.

The Architecture Lesson includes:myarchbook1

  • pdfArchitectural Styles in Utah: Background for Teachers(2.12 MB) – Includes a breakdown of a wide variety of styles found in Utah. Also included are the basics of identifying styles of architecture by evaluating different elements of the home including roofline, entry style, windows, and other identifying features.
  • pdfArchitecture Lesson PowerPoint (10.11 MB) – Includes slides to show the students the different styles and to learn the elements of architecture. It also has a "quiz" at the end that allows students the opportunity to use their skills.
  • pdfThe Story of Your Neighborhood (84.05 KB) –This is the script and key to the PowerPoint and quiz.
  • pdfHow to Conduct a Survey (1.32 MB) – Instruction for teachers to educate students on conducting their own building survey.
  • pdfSurvey Form (18.3 KB) – The form needed to collect information about buildings and is intended to be used as a walking field trip for students to get out and explore the neighborhood around the school.
  • pdfArchitecture Workbook (224.56 KB) – Using this template you can create a workbook to draw and identify architectural styles. This is intended to be used as a walking field trip for younger students to get out and explore the neighborhood around the school.

Plan a day to take a short walking tour of the neighborhood surrounding the school. This will allow the students to put their skills of identifying architecture to the test. It will provide students the opportunity to see their neighborhood in a whole new light. Students will start looking at the homes they walk by every day and be able to talk about the cool features they see that are similar to a lot of houses, or completely original to a certain house. They should also try to estimate the year the homes were built and see how styles are continually changing.

Field Trip Options:

  • Some kids/classrooms might enjoy an inventory style walking tour that allows for critical analysis of homes on the spot. Taking notes and writing down the information in the Survey Form.
  • Others might enjoy a more artistic approach that would involve drawing the different houses from either a walking tour or from a photo and identifying the characteristics and style of architecture using the Architecture Workbook.

If you have any questions about the lesson plans or implementation, please call Preservation Utah at (801) 533-0858.

The Architecture Lesson was funded in part by a grant from the George Q. Morris Foundation.