Architecture Resource Center

Right now, ARC programs focus on helping young students answer the perennial math question, “why do I need to know this?” ARC connects grade-level math lessons to the students’ physical world. We work in the classroom with every student and their teacher on creative projects like designing a playhouse, or bedroom, or dormitory. Everything we build involves math - how big is the room? how high is the ceiling, how wide is the door? Furnishing the room presents more design problem-solving questions – what kind of flooring will you use? How much will you need? How much does it cost? Students get excited and eagerly work on answering these questions in order to design something of their own - like a playhouse or bedroom. For them, math becomes a tool to create something, not an abstract. At any age, we understand new concepts more quickly when they are linked to things we already understand. For ARC, teaching is all about making connections between what students need to learn and what they already know. From our examples, classroom teachers also learn to use real-world examples to make teaching all subjects more accessible and relevant to students. At the end of our programs, we ask students and teachers what they learned. One student said, "I learned why you need to know math.”