UNIT 4: STRUCTURES & FORCES

1.0 | Structures in Everyday Objects

 Section 1.0 | Structures in Everyday
Objects
GUIDING QUESTIONS:
1. What are EXAMPLES of natural and human made
structures?
2. In what ways are the form of a structure CONNECTED
to its function?
3. How do you DESCRIBE shell, frame, solid and
combination structures?
 Learning Goals Section 1.0 Plan
I can… 0.0 Pre-Unit Activity
★ IDENTIFY natural and human 1.1 Structural Form and Function
made structures in the world 1.2 Structural Strength + Stability
around me 1.3 Identifying Structures: Solid, Shell,
★ EXPLAIN how a structures form is Frame
CONNECTED to its function 1.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of
★ EXPLAIN how to make a structure
Solid, Shell and Frame structures
more strong and stable
1.5 Design Considerations
★ DESCRIBE and CATEGORIZE shell,
frame and solid structures 1.6 Post-Section Activity: Comparing
Everyday Structures
0.0 Pre-Unit Activity | Think, Pair, Share
Learning Goal: I can begin to
make demonstrate my
understanding of structures and
forces from my experiences and
previous knowledge.

Instructions: With a partner,

discuss your ideas for the
following questions and record
your answers in the appropriate
box. .
Brookfield Place is Calgary’s
tallest tower. It is 56 storeys (247
m) tall!

Here are some pictures of

incredible structures found
around Calgary. Do you
recognize any?
The Bow Tower is Calgary’s second tallest building with 52
storeys and 236m! Found at its base is a sculpture called
Wonderland which was created by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa.
This sculpture is 39m tall and resembles the head of a young
girl.
 The Peace Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that crosses The Bow River
connecting the Bow River Trail to Downtown. The bridge is designed to
withstand Calgary's one-in-100 year flood cycle and does not have barriers
which would prevent some people from being able to cross. At least 6000
people use this bridge every day!
The Calgary Tower was constructed in
1968, cost 3.5 million dollars
(approximately 30 million dollars today)
and is 191 m tall. The column of the tower
was built from an uninterrupted
continuous pour of concrete which took
24 days. This is considered an “amazing
feat” by industry professionals.
The Calgary Central Library
has four floors and is a library
open to the public. It took over
four years to build, completing
construction in 2018. It is 240 000
square feet and it has free
recording and production studios
for audio and video projects, a
performance hall, 30 meeting
rooms that can be booked for
free, several pieces of public art,
a cafe, a restaurant, lots of free
programming and more.
Studio Bell | The National Music Centre is the first centre of its kind in North America! It is a non-profit museum and
performance venue and is in East Village, Calgary Here are some fun facts:
1. The architecture is inspired by Canadian landscape and resonate instrument vessels. In certain areas you can
see light fixtures that look like clouds and walls will like mountains or have resemblance to the shape of a guitar.
2. It was purposely built with empty spaces throughout the building so people can hear music everywhere in the
facility. The building was designed to allow sound to move in the entire building perfectly.

Click HERE to watch a video to learn more about Studio Bell! Click HERE to explore the virtual tour.
The BMO Centre is located next to the Saddledome in downtown
Calgary.

The expansion is currently underway and expected to be

completed in 2024.

The value of the project is $500 million.

Here are some pictures of what it will look like once completed.
 VI󰉍󰉋󰈭 |
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Cal󰈇󰈀󰈹y
St󰈸u󰇸t󰉉󰈸󰇵󰈼:
Tim󰈩󰈗󰇽󰈦se 󰈡󰇾 󰉄h󰇵
Cal󰈇󰈀󰈹y B󰈲O
Cen󰉃󰈹󰈩

Sit 󰇼󰈀󰇸k, 󰇽󰈝󰇶

en󰈑󰈡󰉙!
1.1 THINK | How are these objects alike?

Structures do NOT need to be buildings, so all of the

images show STRUCTURES!
VI󰉍󰉋󰈭 | Wha󰉃 󰈎󰈼
St󰈸u󰇸t󰉉󰈸󰇽󰈘
En󰈇i󰈞󰈩󰇵ri󰈝󰈈?

Wha󰉃 󰉓󰈀s
so󰈚󰈩󰉄h󰈏󰈝󰈈 t󰈊a󰉄
yo󰉉 LE󰉝󰈤󰈯󰉈D
f󰈸o󰈛 t󰈊󰈎󰈼 v󰈏󰇷e󰈡?
OP󰈜󰈾󰈭󰈯AL 󰈐󰈾󰉌󰉈O
| Bil󰈗 󰈰󰉙󰈩 -
St󰈸u󰇸t󰉉󰈸󰇵󰈼

Wha󰉃 󰉓󰈀s
so󰈚󰈩󰉄h󰈏󰈝󰈈 t󰈊a󰉄
yo󰉉 LE󰉝󰈤󰈯󰉈D
f󰈸o󰈛 t󰈊󰈎󰈼 v󰈏󰇷e󰈡?
 1.1 KEY VOCABULARY

Structure (struc-ture)
Is something made of many parts that are put
together to serve a function. Every structure has a
function, and the form of a structure depends on its
function!

i.e.) human skeletal system (bones)

Discuss non-examples as a class.

DISCUSS → What is the function(s) of the human skeletal

system?
 1.1 KEY VOCABULARY

Function (func-tion)
The purpose of a structure, the reason why it was made, or a
structures job. Most structures have many functions that support
the main purpose of a structure.
e.g.: the function of the human skeleton is to give our bodies shape,
protect or internal organs (e.g. lungs) and store minerals!
THINK: Do structures only have one design to
achieve a main purpose? E.g. is there only one
type of chair?
1.1 Key Concept | Structural Form and Function

Every structure has a FUNCTION (or a purpose)

meaning that it was built to do something. For
example, the function of a chair is to support
your bodyweight so that you can rest!
The FORM of a structure is how the materials of
a structure are organized in order to
successfully serve the function, in other words it
is the design of a structure. The form of a
structure is very important because it changes
the structural strength and stability! Would a balloon make a good chair?
Explain.

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION!

 1.2 KEY VOCABULARY

Structural Strength (str-e-ngth)

A structure’s ability to support
itself, and the weight of anything
added to it.
i.e.) A bridge needs to be strong
enough to support its own weight
and the any weight added to it (the
cars).
Discuss non-examples as a class.
 VI󰉍󰉋󰈭 | Wha󰉃
Mak󰈩󰈻 󰉗󰈹󰈏d󰈇e󰈼 s󰈡
St󰈸o󰈞g?

How 󰇹󰈀󰈞 y󰈢u

de󰈻󰈎󰈈n 󰇽 󰇼󰈹id󰈇󰈩
to 󰈚󰈀󰈕󰇵 it
s󰉃󰈹on󰈇?
 1.2 KEY VOCABULARY

Structural Stability (sta-bil-i-ty)

A structure’s ability to keep the
same position, even when a FORCE
is applied.
i.e.) Tall buildings keep their same
position, even in a strong wind storm.
Discuss non-examples as a class.
 1.2 KEY VOCABULARY

Centre of Gravity
A imaginary point on a structure where the downward force of
gravity acts. If a structure’s centre of gravity is supported the
structure will stay balanced.
e.g.) see diagrams →
NOTE: Gravity is a force that acts on ALL
parts of a structure, not only the centre of
gravity. But when designing structures it is
the centre of gravity that is necessary to
consider to make a structure stable.
1.2 Key Concept | Structural Stability

Which can you do for longer? Which structure will be

more stable? Why?
a. Stand on one foot (without changing to the
other foot), or
b. Stand on two feet with you feet spaced
shoulder width apart?
Structures are more STABLE when they have:
● A LOW centre of gravity
● Creating a structure with a WIDE base size
lowers its centre of gravity, making it more
stable
 VI󰉍󰉋󰈭 | Wha󰉃 󰈎󰈼
Cen󰉃󰈹󰈩 󰈢f G󰈸a󰉐󰈎t󰉘
Wat󰇹󰈋 0:00 -
2:48

Fin󰇷 󰉄h󰈩 ce󰈝󰉄r󰈩

of 󰈇󰈹󰈀v󰈏󰉃󰉙 of
so󰈚󰈩󰉄h󰈏󰈝󰈈 yo󰉉
ha󰉏󰈩 󰇽󰉄 yo󰉉󰈸 󰇶󰇵s󰈔
ri󰈇󰈋t 󰈝󰈡󰉓!
OP󰈜󰈾󰈭󰈯AL 󰈐󰈾󰉌󰉈O
& C󰉀A󰈳L󰉋󰈰󰉁󰉈 |
St󰈸o󰈞g
St󰈸u󰇸t󰉉󰈸󰇵󰈼

C󰉀A󰈳L󰉋󰈰󰉁󰉈 –
Who 󰇹󰈀󰈞 d󰇵󰈻i󰈈n
t󰈊e 󰈼t󰈸󰈡󰈞g󰇵󰈻󰉄
an󰇷 󰈛󰈡s󰉃 󰈼t󰇽󰇼󰈘e
to󰈡󰉃󰈋p󰈏󰇹󰈕 &
gu󰈚󰈛y 󰉒󰈡󰈹m
s󰉃󰈹uc󰉃󰉉󰈹󰇵?
 1.3 KEY VOCABULARY

1. SOLID Structure
Is a type of structure made from a solid
piece of strong material. These
structures are usually the strongest of
the three structures.
e.g.) a statue
How are they strong? A solid structure has
little, or no space inside and relies on it’s
own MASS to stop the FORCES that act on it.
 1.3 Key Vocabulary

2. FRAME Structure
Are structures made of a rigid/stiff
arrangement of parts that are stuck
together.

e.g.) Bones, ligaments and joints are joined

together to makeup your skeletal system.
A birds nest is another example of a frame structure.

How is it strong? The parts are joined in a certain way to give the
structure strength. If any of the parts were alone they would
NOT be as strong as the entire structure.
 1.3 | Key Vocabulary
Hollow means “nothing

3. Shell Structure inside”

A structure that has a solid outside

surface, which can be rounded OR flat in
shape, and it has a hollow inner area.
e.g.) a cup, iPhone case, bike helmet
Curved shell structures are stronger than
flat shell structures. WHY do you think this
is? Hint – think about the force
distribution.
 1.3 | Key Vocabulary

4. Combination Structure
A structure that uses combinations
of shell, frame, and solid structures.
e.g.) A house is built from solid
structures that are put together to
form a frame. The walls and the roof
form a covering around the frame and
the inside is hollow creating a shell
structure!
 1.3 DISCUSS | Combination Structures

Combination structures use

more than one type of
structures in their design.
IDENTIFY the different
types of structures in the
Saddledome. What is the
benefit of designing a
combination structure?
 1.4 | Structural ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES

Type of
Advantages Disadvantages
Structure

1. Their heavy mass makes them 1. They are often expensive

Solid strong 2. They often take a long time
2. Difficult to damage to build

1. Some structures can

1. Easy to design become unstable
Frame 2. Need less building materials 2. Can be complicated to
3. Less expensive to build. design because many parts
need to fit together
 1.4 | Structural ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES

Type of
Advantages Disadvantages
Structure
1. They have a lot of space inside 1. Mistakes can cause
making them good containers structural failure
2. They use very little material 2. Weather changes
Shell
3. The shape of the shell spreads the can cause more
forces acting on it through the stress at important
whole structure. areas.
1. Combining different structure types
allows an engineer to maximize the 1. More complex to
Combination
advantages of each while design and build
minimizing the disadvantages.
1.4 PRACTICE | Create Solid, Shell, and Frame Structures

With a partner use the clay

and toothpicks to create
examples of a frame, solid
and shell structure.

Please be mindful of the mess

you may be making.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY
 1.5 DISCUSSION | Design Considerations

Think: What main things must an engineer

or architect consider when planning a new
structure?
Aesthetics Materials
Function Safety
Forces Cost Environmental Impact
 1.5 Key Concept | Design Considerations

Aesthetics (ae-sthe-tics)
The beauty or how pleasing to the eye a
structure is. This is one of the main
considerations of architects and engineers.
E.g. A structures shape, size, texture, colour,
movement, symmetry, proportion,
alignment, pattern, decoration and
materials all contribute to its aesthetics.
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Be󰈀󰉊ti󰇾󰉉󰈘
Bu󰈎l󰇷󰈏󰈞g

Wha󰉃 󰈦󰈀r󰉃󰈼 󰈢f
t󰈊e T󰈀󰈒 󰈲󰇽ha󰈗
ma󰈔󰈩 󰈏󰉄
A󰉋S󰈜󰈿󰉈TI󰉑󰉝󰈳L󰇳
P󰈴E󰉝󰈟󰈽N󰉂?
1.6 ACTIVITY | Comparing Structures
PART 1
1. With your class, go for a walk around the
school and RECORD all of the structures that
you OBSERVE on page 2;
PART 2
2. Once you have returned back to the
classroom, COMPARE the structures you
recorded to IDENTIFY their similarities and
differences;
3. ORGANIZE the similarities and differences in
a graphic organizer of your choice (see
examples below);
4. EXPLAIN and DESCRIBE the similarities and
differences you noticed to a partner.
 1.6 EVALUATE | Variation in Design

When you look at the structures pay specific attention to:

- The common shapes and patterns you observe
- The materials that they are made of
- Any symmetry that they have
DISCUSS: Would a bridge that is designed here in Calgary be
successful if it were placed in San Francisco?

Why is it that structures that have the same function often have
different designs?
CHECKPOINT 1.0 | Key Vocabulary

WORDS so FAR
Section 1.0 Structure Function
Structural
Stability

Structural Solid Frame

In order to stay up to date with the
Strength Structure Structure
important key vocabulary in this unit you
should have all of the following words on Shell
Aesthetics
your vocabulary sheets with definitions, Structure
examples, and connections.

Example Propositional Statement: Structural stability is

when a structure does not change its position even if there
is a force.
Material past this point is subject to change!
 What forces act on structures?
How do
structures What materials and design
stand up under characteristics contribute to structural
load? strength and stability?

Guiding Questions | Structures and Forces

How can an understanding of structures and forces be used
to improve human lives?
 2.x KEY VOCABULARY

Force (for-ce) A Push or a Pull

is a push or pull upon an object Exists due to interaction
resulting from the object's interaction
with another object.
ex.) Contact force such as Friction;
Action-at-a-distance such as Gravity or wind
What it is similar to: magnetism
We’ll talk more about forces soon… ;)
 IMAGINE | Crossing The Bow River - Part 1

STEPS to complete Part 1 of this task:

1. You will have a PARTNER for this activity
2. With your partner, you will create a structure that has
the function of safely moving your class across The
Bow River by going overtop of it. GET CREATIVE!
3. You will DRAW your imagined design on the next
page, IDENTIFY the different structural components
in the design, and EXPLAIN your design – relating to
what we have discussed so far in class.
4. Everyone will briefly explain their design to the class
Thursday during the last half of the period.
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