Islamic art and architecture: calligraphy, pattern and the mosque
Grade 11 · World Religions and Belief Traditions: Perspectives, Issues, and Challenges, Grade 11, University/College Preparation · 75 min · standard
Mapped by the museum, not endorsed by the Ministry.
An HRT3M pathway on how a religion expresses itself in culture: the Arabic script and Islamic calligraphy, the arabesque and interlacing stars, the parts of a mosque, buildings from Jerusalem, Cordoba, Granada and Istanbul, and an ornamented scientific instrument.
Curriculum mapping
- Ontario, Canada
- World Religions and Belief Traditions: Perspectives, Issues, and Challenges, Grade 11, University/College Preparation HRT3M
- Grade
- 11
- Strand
- F · Cultural, Social, and Political Contexts
- Overall expectations
- F1
- What the lesson does, in the museum's words
- The lesson shows how Islam expresses itself in the culture of its peoples, in calligraphy, ornament and architecture, and how these expressions vary from region to region while sharing common roots, and asks students to explain an artistic choice by a belief or a practice.
- Curriculum document consulted
- The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12: Social Sciences and Humanities, 2013
- Codes checked on
- 23 October 2026 CE · 12 Jumada I 1448 AH†
Mapped by the museum, not endorsed by the Ministry.
Lesson goal
Students analyse how Islamic beliefs are expressed in art and architecture, and why calligraphy and geometry prevailed over figurative images.
Seventy-five minutes, best in a room with a screen: the museum's images come from licensed museums and from labelled illustrations. No images of people appear on this pathway, by the museum's rules.
Print the pack: teacher page, worksheet and answer key Classroom quiz Walk this pathway
Lesson steps
Walk this pathway
9steps · 75min · teacher · student · standard
The Arabic script
How the script in which the Qur'an was written came to be, and what the sources say of its beginnings.
Islamic calligraphy
Kufic, naskh and thuluth: writing as the noblest of the arts.
The arabesque
The endless plant: ornament that fills a surface without an image.
Girih and the stars
The geometry of interlacing straps: mathematics on the wall.
The mosque and its parts
Mihrab, minbar, minaret and courtyard: function before form.
The Dome of the Rock
The oldest standing Islamic building with its ornament: Jerusalem, 691.
The Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alhambra
Arches and calligraphy on the walls: al-Andalus in two buildings.
The Suleymaniye
The Ottoman dome and its architect Sinan: light as a material.
An ornamented astrolabe
A scientific instrument from Yemen bearing script and ornament: science and art in one hand.
What you now know
Mastery check
Five questions on what you walked through. Marked on your device; nothing is kept but the stamp in your passport when you pass.
Marking needs JavaScript; the questions and their key read and print without it.
Answer key (for the teacher)
- Why did calligraphy become 'the noblest of the arts' for Muslims? — It is tied to writing the Qur'an(Learn it at step 2: Islamic calligraphy)
- What is the arabesque? — A continuous plant ornament that fills a surface(Learn it at step 3: The arabesque)
- What is the mihrab in a mosque? — A niche in the wall marking the direction of prayer(Learn it at step 5: The mosque and its parts)
- Where is the Dome of the Rock and when was it built? — In Jerusalem, in the seventh century(Learn it at step 6: The Dome of the Rock)
- Who was the architect of the Suleymaniye Mosque? — Sinan(Learn it at step 8: The Suleymaniye)
Tell it back
Tell what you learned in your own words. What you write stays on this device only, and no one else reads it.
- I can name three elements of Islamic art and explain their religious root.
- I can describe the parts of a mosque and the function of each.
- I can compare two buildings from two regions and show what is shared and what differs.
Writing here needs JavaScript; the prompts read and print without it.
Write at least two sentences, or tick that you told it, to earn the stamp in your passport.
Worksheet
Answer in your own words after each step; every question points back to a museum page.
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Why did calligraphy become 'the noblest of the arts' for Muslims? Tie the answer to the Qur'an.
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Draw an eight-pointed star from two interlacing straps. How does this shape relate to mathematics?
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Name four parts of a mosque and give the function of each.
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Compare the Dome of the Rock with the Suleymaniye: what changed in nine centuries and what stayed?
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Why does a scientific astrolabe carry ornament and script? What does that say about science, religion and art?
Free and open: print, quote and adapt, with no account and no student data.