This study examines teacher-student interactions and selected student gender differences with volunteer boys and recruited girls in a technology class. The participants were teachers and triads of girls and boys in single-gender sections of a technology course where the students built, designed features for, and programmed Lego robots. We analyzed…

Study of trends in financing public library buildings reviews data on federal, state, local, and private funding sources since the Carnegie era, and discusses statistics on expenditures by category, including construction, equipment, and site. Data are presented in 12 tables and graphs. (30 references) (MES)

As the leaders of the construction team, owners should (1) become knowledgeable about the construction industry, or hire someone who has that knowledge; (2) use familiar, tested, and fair contract forms; and (3) hire the most competent architects and engineers, and pay them fairly. (MLF)

Step-by-step instructions are given for constructing terrariums as a class project. (SJL)

Kindergartners, second, and fifth graders made repeated trips through a large- or small-scale model town, and then constructed from memory the layout of buildings in either large- or small-scale space. (JMB)

Presents two construction activities that address both state and federal science standards and encourage students to consider career options in mathematics and science. Includes floating concrete and paper bridge activities. (YDS)

Presents learning activities such as planning and building a sailboat, manufacturing cellular phone cases, and designing and building emergency shelters. Includes the context, the challenge, resources used, objectives, materials needed, and an evaluation. (JOW)

Home-built adventure-education courses exhibit refreshing creativity but almost always fall short of their potential due to inadequate construction techniques and materials. A ropes course inspector for the adventure education industry discusses the most common mistakes made in home-built ropes courses and how to prevent or fix them. (TD)

Examines the planning, renovation and enlargement, and funding of a new University of Utah football stadium that would also be used in the 2002 Winter Olympics. Contractor selection, solutions to construction challenges, and the steps taken to minimize risk and guarantee success of the projects are discussed, including the fact that the stadium is…

Describes a classroom activity that explores the strength of spaghetti. Provides students an opportunity to explore a common substance in a scientific way; measure the strength of various sizes and amounts of spaghetti; gather, record, and translate quantitative data; use calculators; and present data. (YDS)

Discusses the early use of straw in Africa and Europe as a building material. Provides background information and a basic framework for the straw bale project, and recommends supervision for young students. Lists objectives for building a straw bale bench and provides the building instructions which consist of three sessions. Includes four…

Recently one of the authors challenged her third-grade students to use their imagination and travel with her to Egypt. As they were exploring the Great Pyramid, she encouraged the students to speculate how ancient people could have built such a massive structure without the sophisticated machinery they have at our disposal today. This article…

This article describes a joint effort between a mathematics educator and a middle school art teacher who wanted their students to experience first hand how construction works in the real world. It starts with students designing and building scale models for a large inflatable item in which they display their art and extends to building the…

The Construction Trades Foundation, a nonprofit corporation of business, industry, and school leaders, provides high school students in Montgomery County, Maryland, with unique hands-on experiences in construction, home design, marketing, public relations, and other fields. (SK)

Postoccupancy evaluation is a careful, systematic, and reliable process intended to ensure that findings can be applied to future buildings. Some of the important issues about postoccupancy evaluation are explored using questions that are often asked about this new component in the building delivery system. (MLF)