Landscape Architects: Teacher Project

I am always looking for ways to introduce lifelong skills to my math classes. Being able to see things in perspective and to use scale drawings are skills that students need in any walk of life. Instead of my typical lesson plan using their bedroom and furniture to illustrate ratios and scale, the Landscape Architects movie gave me a better idea. I used the Landscape Architects movie to introduce a "Design a New Entrance to Ludlow High School" project for my honors and regular geometry classes. We had been studying ratios and scale factors, both of which are important when making scale drawings. The group project included:

1. Measurement of the outside area to be redesigned
2. Creation of a 1/4 scale drawing of the existing space
3. Design of new entrance with scale representation of benches, bushes, etc.
4. Presentation and explanation of design to class.

I liked the movie since it talked about geometry as the language of space. In addition to meeting math standards, this project helped the students to master the skill of creating a drawing to illustrate a space.

Julie Stengle
Ludlow High School
Ludlow, KY

Landscape Architects Now Playing

Meet two landscape architects who tell the story of competing against top firms in the world to win the opportunity to design a one-of-a kind botanical garden for the city of Chicago: the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park.
Running time 6:45 minutes.

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