Unit D Introduction Structures and Forces
Completion requirements
Unit D: Introduction
Watch
Watch the following introduction video for Unit D. You will see five questions during the video. Think about the questions, and think about other things you would like to learn as you study structures and forces.
Unit D Introduction: Structures and Forces
Figure D.I.1 – Ice arches in Harbin, China.
Figure D.I.2 – Amazing ice buildings of Harbin, China.
Figure D.I.3 – An ice fort built in Lake Louise, Alberta.
Figure D.I.4 – A hotel made of ice in Quebec City, Quebec.
Living in Ice
Canadians love to build things with ice and snow. Igloos, snowmen, sculptures, and even large ice forts are built when creative people have fun in the snow.
In some areas of the world, people build entire ice castles! Every winter, the city of Harbin, China, hosts an international sculpture festival. For the festival, workers build huge towers and castles of ice blocks carved from a nearby river. Visitors to the festival are allowed to climb on many of these tall structures. Visitors can stay overnight in an ice hotel.
Some of the ice towers in Harbin are as tall as a 10-storey building! When people design and build sculptures with slippery ice blocks, they must take special measures to ensure the blocks do not slide off each other. Look carefully at the right side of Figure D.I.1 to see the pointed arches. Knowing the forces that hold blocks together can help you design such amazing pointed curves in a structure.
You will understand more about how incredible structures around the world are designed and built as you work through this unit on structures and forces.
Canadians love to build things with ice and snow. Igloos, snowmen, sculptures, and even large ice forts are built when creative people have fun in the snow.
In some areas of the world, people build entire ice castles! Every winter, the city of Harbin, China, hosts an international sculpture festival. For the festival, workers build huge towers and castles of ice blocks carved from a nearby river. Visitors to the festival are allowed to climb on many of these tall structures. Visitors can stay overnight in an ice hotel.
Some of the ice towers in Harbin are as tall as a 10-storey building! When people design and build sculptures with slippery ice blocks, they must take special measures to ensure the blocks do not slide off each other. Look carefully at the right side of Figure D.I.1 to see the pointed arches. Knowing the forces that hold blocks together can help you design such amazing pointed curves in a structure.
You will understand more about how incredible structures around the world are designed and built as you work through this unit on structures and forces.
Questions to Think About:
- Do you know how buildings are designed to hold together without falling?
- What shapes are used in the design of structures?
- What materials can be used to make strong and stable structures?
Words to Think About:
Check the word cloud below. It pictures the important words you will learn in this unit. Likely, you will know many, but check new words or any that seem fuzzy to you! Watch for these words and combinations of these words as you read. When you see them
highlighted, you can click them to learn more about their meanings.
You can also visit the course glossary and read definitions for all these words.
Unit D: Checklist and Key Ideas
Focus On: Structures and Forces
This unit has four sections. Each section has a key idea that will help you learn more about structures and forces. As you work through the unit, you will complete five tasks (one at the end of each section and one unit project) that will count for marks.
On the next page is a checklist of the tasks you need to complete for the unit. On the page after that are the key ideas, lesson titles, and key questions for this unit. Note that you can reach these two pages whenever you want by clicking the "Key Ideas" and "Unit Checklist" on the top corner of almost every page in the unit.
This unit has four sections. Each section has a key idea that will help you learn more about structures and forces. As you work through the unit, you will complete five tasks (one at the end of each section and one unit project) that will count for marks.
On the next page is a checklist of the tasks you need to complete for the unit. On the page after that are the key ideas, lesson titles, and key questions for this unit. Note that you can reach these two pages whenever you want by clicking the "Key Ideas" and "Unit Checklist" on the top corner of almost every page in the unit.