Houses around the world

The Ndebele are an ethnic group found in Southern Africa, divided into two main branches: the Northern Ndebele of Zimbabwe and the Southern Ndebele of South Africa. Alongside their distinctive culture, including vibrant geometric mural paintings, elaborate beadwork, these traditional homes are colorful works of art. 

Students will learn how women decorate their abodes with colorful care and ingenuity. Along with an explanation of the construction, decoration, and culture. This program is accompanied by a reading of Maya Angelou's thoughtful children's book to the students, "My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken."

The Stilt houses of Brazil's Amazon River Basin are fantastic examples of using local resources to adapt a shelter to meet the needs of people. Students will learn how geography, climate, and environmental predicaments steer civilizations into inventing new ways of living and thriving. 

A Pueblo house is an apartment-like structure built by Ancestral Puebloan people in the American Southwest. They are typically constructed with adobe bricks that are made of sun-dried clay, sand, and grass. These multi-story buildings, sometimes reaching four or five stories, were designed for defense and community living. They featured flat, earthen roofs accessible by ladders. Learn how these architectural marvels are built and the importance of climate and geography.

Learn how geography, weather, culture, tradition, natural resources, and purpose, all contribute to the design and construction of shelter. With an introduction of houses around the world from Arthur Dorros' This is My House*, students will build their own houses with front or side yards, chimney, doorbell, fences, trees, steps, porch, flowers…whatever they can 'see' in their mind's eye as they walk toward their own front door. Consider what materials are available and build a family. Consider the problems your walls will protect them from: rain, snow, heat, fire, winds, floods, mice, bugs or wolves. 

*© 1992 Scholastic Hardcover by Arthur Dorros.