Build It With Your Hands
Atlas the friendly guide kneels at a sunny craft table, holding a paper plan next to a tall block tower being built from cubes, cardboard, and tape.
- Name the plan as the drawing that shows what to build
- Pick materials that match the parts in a plan
- Build a simple model by following the steps in a plan
- Compare the finished build to the plan to check the match
Key terms
- plan
- a drawing that shows the thing you want to build before you build it
- materials
- the things you build with, like blocks, cardboard, paper, and tape
- build sequence
- the order you put parts together, starting from the bottom and going up
- check the match
- looking back and forth between your build and your plan to see if they are the same
Read Your Plan First
Before you touch a single block, look closely at your plan. A plan is a picture of the finished thing. Find every part in the drawing — the floor, the walls, the roof, the bridge. When you know all the parts, you can pick the right materials. If you skip this step, you might grab the wrong pieces and have to start over. Reading your plan first saves you time.
Build From the Bottom Up
Real builders always start at the bottom. The bottom part holds up everything else, just like the legs hold up your body. If you try to add the roof before the walls, the roof has nothing to rest on and it falls. So put the floor down first, then the walls, then the top. Adding one part at a time, from the bottom up, keeps your build steady while you work.
Worked examples
Your plan shows a model house with a floor, four walls, and a roof. In what order should you build the parts?
- Look at the plan and notice the floor is on the bottom.
- Place the floor down first because everything rests on it.
- Stand up the four walls next, so they sit on the floor.
- Add the roof last, resting it on top of the walls.
Answer: Floor first, then walls, then roof last — always build from the bottom up.
Activity
Match each part in the plan to the right material you would use to build it
Practice
Draw a simple plan for a tower, then list the materials you would pick to build it.
After you finish a build, name one part that matches your plan and one part you might fix.
Common mistakes to avoid
- You can throw the plan away once you start building.Keep the plan nearby the whole time, because you use it to check your work and find the next part to build.
- It is faster to build the top part first.The bottom part holds everything up, so building it first keeps the whole thing from falling down.
Check your understanding
What is a plan?
You finished building. What should you do to check your work?
Your plan shows a tall tower. Which material helps you build the tall part?
Recap
A plan is a drawing of what you want to make. You read the plan, pick materials that match the parts, then build from the bottom up one part at a time. Keep looking back at your plan to check that your build matches the drawing.
Reflect
What part of a build would you put down first, and why?