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Dermarion Caffey works on his architectural drawing. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)

Colby Franks measures the length of a marker board. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)

Zakhori Jackson measures the length of a marker board. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)

Emma Grace Penley motions to her partner as they measure a wall of the classroom. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)

Sarah Beth Argent holds the tape measure, while her partner walks to the other end of the room. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)

Emily Cleckler, left, and Tamera Connell work to measure a portion of wall. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)

Roman Miles works on a scaled drawing. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)

By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Clanton Middle School sixth-grade students got a crash course in architecture during a recent Project Lead the Way class.

Teacher Haley Lively had students measure the classroom and create a scale drawing. She said for many of the students it was their first time using a tape measure.

Student Emma Grace Penley said two of the parallel walls in the class room were the same length, but the other two were not. She said the one wall had to be done in sections because of the design.

“We started with how to write in inches, how to write in feet, how to calculate inches to feet,” Lively said. “Then I walked them through measuring a white board, and they took measurements of that.”

Students then measured their desks.

“I thought this would help them in math, which turns and leads into the robotics class and everyday life,” Lively said. “This is a great problem-solving skill for them to have — measuring using the tools that are provided in class.”

Student Sarah Beth Argent said she enjoyed learning how to use the tools and draw items to scale.

Students used a ruler to draw an outline of the classroom, making sure that the lines were straight and to scale. Then, students used an architectural scale, which looks like a sophisticated stencil, to draw the desks inside the classroom on their scale drawings and denote the swing of the door.

Student Demarion Caffey said he enjoyed the drawing part of the project.

Students worked in groups to determine the measurements and how many inches a line would need to be to correctly represent an element of the classroom, then each student drew an individual scale drawing.

“Anytime you can get these kids engaged and have a hands-on project for them to work with and something totally new, it’s really challenging for them, but it’s really helpful for them, too,” Lively said.

She said the project can also help students to begin to think about careers involving architectural drawing.

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