Draft: this lesson was written with AI help and has not yet been read by a human editor.
1 What your class asks
This lesson asks you to name properties of materials that matter when building a structure, and to describe how forces such as wind can affect a structure's shape, balance or position. The museum offers one building described by a medieval writer, al-Muqaddasi. Its record describes a building; it is not a lesson in engineering, so the explanations are your class's to supply. 1
Curriculum expectations, with their official codes
- D2.5 identify properties of materials that need to be considered when building structures
- D2.6 describe ways in which different forces can affect the shape, balance, or position of structures
2 The lesson
What does the description tell us about material and force?
Read the description and note every material it mentions. Note what the writer says about wind. What does he not say? What questions would you want to put to the builders?
Go deeper
Around 375 AH a traveller named al-Maqdisi saw the Dome of the Rock and described it in his book. It is an octagonal building with four doors, each facing a flight of steps. Inside, three ambulatories circle on columns. Above is a dome covered in gilded brass, a hundred cubits high including its base 2. He says that when the sun rises on it, it shines and the whole area glitters 2. In the record, his description says nothing of what lies beneath the brass.
Think about it
Al-Maqdisi tells us what covers the dome, but not what is under the covering. If you could ask the builders one question about how the dome stays up, what would it be, and why would the answer help?
Into the museum
- Dome of the Rock: the building, and the measurements a later writer gave in cubits.
- al-Muqaddasi: the traveller who described it, and how he gathered what he wrote.
- The Aqsa Mosque: the neighbouring mosque whose hall, doors and domes he also described.
Try this
Read the record Dome of the Rock. Draw a simple section through the dome with its layers as al-Muqaddasi described them, and label each layer with its material.
3 Check yourself
Nothing here is marked or sent anywhere. It is for you.
In your own words: what does Dome of the Rock have to do with this lesson?
Compare with the card
The Dome of the Rock as al-Muqaddasi saw it. Al-Muqaddasi described the Dome of the Rock in a book he completed in 375 AH. He says it is an octagonal building with four gilded doors, each facing a flight of steps. Inside, three ambulatories circle on columns that he calls finer than marble. Above them is a dome sheathed in gilded brass. He says the dome shines when the sun rises on it. Which materials does he name? Which one would you choose for a roof, and why?
I can now