Click
here for a brief description en Espanol
AIE:
Who We Are
AIE
is a program of The AIA Philadelphia Chapter
and was established in Philadelphia
in 1981. We believe that students who learn how cities are made,
how design affects human behavior, how the natural and built
worlds affect each other, and how individuals can influence
their environments will become competent leaders of tomorrow's
world.
AIE
is acknowledged internationally as a model for built environment
education for K-12 students. The
program uses architecture as the basis for hands-on, interactive
projects that connect, integrate and deepen student learning
across the curriculum. In AIE, students explore their world
through drawing, writing, model making, neighborhood walks,
field trips, research, observation, and class presentation.
They become active learners and problem-solvers.
The core of AIE's work is an 8-week, classroom-based program,
made possible by Philadelphia
area architects and architecture students who so generously
volunteer their time to teach with us. To extend the program's
reach, AIE creates publications, maintains this Web site, and
offers workshops for teachers, children and families.
AIE is a program of The AIA Philadelphia Chapter,
a non-profit, as part of the effort to
advocate excellence in the design and
development of Philadelphia and the region. The AIA's
education and advocacy programs bring together people from all
sectors to discuss, debate and champion design issues that affect
the area's quality of life and rich architectural heritage.
Eight-Week
Classroom Program
Each year, AIE offers an Eight-Week
Classroom Program for kindergarten through
12th grade, throughout the Philadelphia area. Each program is
custom-designed and taught by a three-person team, which consists
of the classroom teacher, a volunteer architect, and a university
architecture student who receives course credit for his or her
participation. The architect and the architecture student visit
the classroom once a week for a one-and-a-half hour period for
eight weeks.
The teacher integrates the program with the curriculum and helps
communicate and clarify the new ideas. The architect connects
the children to a new domain of knowledge and to the world of
work, and offers ideas for hands-on projects that build upon
what the children are studying that semester. The architecture
student connects the children to the world of the university,
and acts as a bridge between the classroom students and the
architect.
The AIE advisory committee assists each team in the design of their program,
suggests resource material, supports them in the classroom,
and evaluates the outcome. Click here for ideas
on getting started with using architecture in the classroom.
AIE
Bookstore
AIE's publications have been sold across the U.S. and more than
30 other countries. Architecture
in Education: A Resource of Imaginative Ideas and Tested Activities,
now in its fourth printing, is a compilation of more than 200
classroom-tested activities for students, kindergarten through
12th grade. Curriculum connections and grade levels for each
activity are indicated.
The
Structure Poster, now in
its second printing, communicates basic concepts of structure
"through definitions, diagrams and illustrations from world
architecture."
With support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the
Graham Foundation, AIE is creating a new series of publications
and products.
Resource
Center
This
invaluable collection of teaching materials includes more than
1,000 books, many of which date from the early years of environmental
education. The collection also includes 4,000 slides; selected
film strips and videos; a teaching kit and annotated slide set
on structure; and a rowhouse model which breaks apart to show
the relationships between the three-dimensional form and the
architects' drawings for its plan, section and elevation. The
Center is open to the public by appointment only. Send e-mail to AIEphiladelphia@aol.com
to make arrangements.
AIE Web Site
The
AIE Web site was established
in partnership with WHYY, Inc. with support from the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting. The site offers selected classroom
projects, a gallery of student work, lesson planning information,
and additional resources. "The Forum" provides Opportunities
for interaction among teachers, architects and students.
