Who is Iggy Peck and have you heard his fantastic story? Year 1 was introduced to ‘Iggy Peck the Architect’ by one of the children in the class (They love this story because their Dad is an architect). An architect is someone who designs buildings and structures. In the story, Iggy builds a suspension bridge from boots, tree roots and strings, fruit roll-ups and other things. Year 1 decided to see if they could follow Iggy Peck and build their own bridges.
First, Year 1 learned about the different types of br
idges – Beam, truss, arch and suspension bridges. for example, a beam bridge is made by building two piers or towers. Boards are placed over the piers to make a bridge. The boards press down on the piers, so these types of bridges aren’t very strong. They are usually pretty short.
Working together in small groups, the children made plans of what they were going to do and need. Here are some photos of the children building…
Here are the finished bridges. Can you see the types of bridges that the Year 1’s built? Great teamwork, everyone!
Want to know more about the story of Iggy Peck?
Well, as you recall, Iggy Peck is a child who loves to build – he once built a great tower in only an hour! But sadly, when Iggy arrived in Grade 2 his teacher would not allow building of any kind based on her childhood fear of skyscrapers. This all changed when the Grade 2 class had a field trip to a small island. The rickety footbridge collapsed and so they were stuck. This was too much for the teacher who fainted from the stress! Oh, no! What were the children to do? This is when Iggy Pecks building skills saved the day.
Year 1 definitely recommend this book and think it will certainly inspire you to want to build something, too!