This lesson is designed for mathematics students at Key Stage 3. It fuses the study of Pythagoras’ Theorem with the study and design of the stylobates - or floor plans - of several Classical temples. The Theorem is approached in an easy to understand step-by-step way . Pythagorean triples are introduced through the medium of a plan of the Classical temple stylobate. The teacher and student are then guided through the process of drawing a floor plan using Ancient Greek units using a pair of compasses, pencil and ruler. The lesson also includes information on the siting and development of the Classical temple.

School Curriculum: Key Stage 3 & 4 Mathematics: drawing angles using a pair of compasses and a straight edge; centroid of a triangle; congruent circles within a circle: manipulating shapes, Pythagoras Theorem and the sine rule; Properties of 30°-60° 90° triangle: Drawing a mouchette is based on circle stacking, i.e. arranging three congruent circles within a circle. The window at St Thomas of Canterbury, Northaw required builders to find appropriate centres of the smaller congruent cirlces when the larger circle had been designated. To effect this the design could often be manipulated mathematically to produce a triangle that in turn enabled calculation of sides or angles by the 30° -60° -90° rule if a right angle was present. It was a short step from the reticulated Curvilinear tracery (see relevant lesson plan) to the use of a mouchette as a motif. A mouchette is a daggerlike motif found most often in 14th century Decorated church tracery. It is formed by elliptical and ogee curves that produce a point at one end and an incomplete circle at the other.

Key Stage 2 & 3 mathematics: Rotational symmetry occurs when a shape, on being rotated around a centre point a number of degrees, appears the same. The order of symmetry is the number of positions that a shape appears the same in a 360-degree rotation. An equilateral triangle has rotational symmetry of order three, i.e. it may be turned about its centre point into three identical positions. A trefoil and a pointed trefoil (see appropriate lesson plan), being constructed on an equilateral triangle, may be turned about their centre points into three identical positions, i.e. both have rotational symmetry of order three. Key Stage 4 mathematics: A circle which touches the three vertices of a triangle is called the circumcircle of a triangle. The centre of a circumcircle is the point where all the perpendicular bisectors of the triangle’s sides meet. This point is called the circumcentre. The radius of the circumcircle is termed the triangle’s circumradius. Having drawn a regular polygon, arcs can be drawn with their centre points at the vertices of the polygon, and the radii equal to half the length of the edges of the polygon. In this way a trefoil, quatrefoil, cinquefoil or multifoil is formed when each arc just touches its neighbours. In 1254 a Catholic religious order was founded in France called the Order of Saint Augustine. Monks of this Order followed the teachings of St Augustine of Hippo who, in the fifth century, advocated the virtues of chastity, poverty and obedience as essential for a religious life. The monks were obliged to live together in peace and harmony, to share labour, pray together, and eat in silence. They were also to look after the sick. Pilgrims flocked to their monasteries one of which was the Sanctuary of Rocamadour in South-West France. It is a spectacular monastery built into the side of a cliff on the pilgrim route known as the Way of St James. Unusually it has made use of lancet and trefoil design for an entrance.

This lesson is designed for mathematics students at Key Stage 3. It fuses the study of Pythagoras’ Theorem with the study and design of the stylobates - or floor plans - of several Classical temples. The Theorem is approached in an easy to understand step-by-step way . Pythagorean triples are introduced through the medium of a plan of the Classical temple stylobate. The teacher and student are then guided through the process of drawing a floor plan using Ancient Greek units using a pair of compasses, pencil and ruler. The lesson also includes information on the siting and development of the Classical temple.

The lesson examines the history, purpose and construction of the Roman arch, and how it was developed through mathematics developed by Archimedes in his experiments to measure pi (π). Students will conduct experiments to ascertain a measurement of π, and are provided with illustrated instruction in the drawing of a `Roman arch and brace.

The lesson introduces the study of Pythagoras through the medium of the Classical Temple. At Key Stage 3 & 4 drawing the stylobate - or floor plan - of a Classical temple is an appropriate way to introduce Pythagoras’ Theorem, which provides an insight into the importance of number theory and geometry to architects in antiquity. The lesson defines Pythorean triples with several examples taken from measurements of ruined stylobates of Classical temples. The lesson provides instruction to teacher and student through geometric drawings to enable each to produce a stylobate of satisfying quality.

How to draw an ogee arch Illustrated and easy-to-follow instructions on how to draw an ogee arch. The ogee or S-shaped arch is the principal architectural feature of the Decorated period church window. The ogee as an architectural motif has a long history: it had been used in India in antiquity; it arrived in Egypt in the ninth century, then in Venice in the thirteenth. Soon after it appearance in Venice, it turned up in England. Theories explaining the ogee’s appearance in England are explored. School Curriculum: Key Stage 3 Mathematics: Draw and manipulate triangles, arcs and semicircles with increasing accuracy; identify their properties, including line symmetry.

This lesson is suitable for more able pupils at Key Stage 2 and most pupils at Key Stage 3. It is an exercise in drawing the frontal elevation of a Classical Doric temple. It reinforces skills in measuring, the accurate drawing of straight lines, and using a protractor. Drawing a Doric temple supports the teaching of 2-D shapes in a novel and imaginative way, and covers the definitions and properties of rectangles and isosceles triangles.

Studying the geometry of a Classical Ionic column can be undertaken with satisfying results at Key Stage, 2, 3 & 4. At Key Stage 2 & Drawing a volute with semicircles enables students to create a pattern with repeating shapes in different sizes and orientations. Students will thereby become familiar with the properties of a circle (circumference, radius & diameter). At Key Stage 4 drawing a volute with quadrants will facilitate the calculation of arc length subtended by those quadrants.

Greek Temples A Greek temple may align along its diagonal to the East. A rectangular temple often comprises two adjacent squares and measures in Pythagorean triplets. At Key Stage 2, drawing a Greek temple supports the teaching of 2-D shapes in mathematics. It provides an opportunity to practise measuring, and covers the definitions and properties of rectangles and isosceles triangles. At Key Stage 3, drawing the plan of a stylobate of a Greek temple is an appropriate way to introduce Pythagoras Theorem while drawing a Doric temple enables the understanding of the importance of geometry and number theory to Greek architects. A Pythagorean triple is a right angled triangle with sides of three positive integers: a, b, and c usually written (a, b, c). The smallest triple numerically is (3, 4, 5). Other combinations of positive integers produce Pythagorean triples. Multiples of these integers - producing a scaled up right angled triangle - are also Pythagorean triples.

Introduction to Gothic architecture How to draw a pointed arch or a pointed (lancet) window School curriculum: Key Stage 2 mathematics: Equilateral and isosceles triangles. Draw attention to the lancet arch being set out on the vertices of an equilateral triangle . Placing the compass point on wider or narrower loci on the horizontal plane will produce broader or narrower arches respectively. In these cases the lancet arch is set out on the vertices of an isosceles triangle. KS4 Mathematics: The drawing can be a suitable adjunct to a lesson on constructing an equilateral triangle or isosceles on a given straight line, or where the altitude or height of the triangle is given. For proof of centroid of triangle see appropriate lesson plan. The drawing can also support teaching the formula for measuring arc length, usually denoted by s. s = θ° ÷ 360° x 2 π r or sector area, where A = θ° ÷ 360° x π r² An elegant window is usually achieved when the height of the window is eight times the width. Further lessons developing the study of a lancet arch can be seen on lesson plan Gothic architecture: lancet triplets, and Gothic architecture: window with intersecting or Y-shaped tracery.

How to draw a trefoil within a circle School Curriculum: Key Stage 4 mathematics: The trefoil within a circle extends the work on trefoils. In a trefoil a circle circumscribes the three vertices of a triangle. This enables the placement of the three foils or arcs centred on each of the verteces of the triangle. Here the exercise is repeated but with the addition of a circumcircle, still centred on the circumcentre, i.e. the centre of the triangle, but at a tangent to each of the three foils. Extra decorative arcs embellish the work. The trefoil was brought to England by French masons in the first half of the thirteenth century. Binham Priory in Norfolk, now a romantic ruin, then a thriving Beneditine monastery, vies with Westminster Abbey as the location in which it first appeared.

This lesson is suitable for older students at Key Stage 2 and all students at Key Stage 3. It looks at the design of the Doric Temple of Concorde in Agrigento through the eyes of Classical philosophers exploring number theory. While Pythagoras may have thought that the perfect number system was fourness, other mathematicians may have considered it to be fiveness, reinforced by our having five fingers and so enabling us to count in groups of five. Sixness was another idea: six can be made up of components that all agree in their ratios with the number six, i.e. a sixth of six equals one, a third equals two, a half is three. Adding a sixth, a third and a half of six together equals six. Furthermore Greek mathematicians noted that the length of a man’s foot was a sixth of his height. Ancient Greeks applied sixness to the construction of many Doric columns, which were in height six times greater than their diameter. In the case of the Doric Temple of Concorde in Agrigento , builders chose a hexastyle temple, i.e. one with six columns at the front and back and thirteen on the sides. Illustrated easy-to-follow instructions for students on how to draw the front of the Temple are available on the following pages.

This is a lesson suitable when students have mastered the lancet window (see relevant lesson plan). Intersecting tracery Where a dripstone is placed around the outer arcs of the two lancet lights, the area above the lights lends itself to the sculpted opening of a natural rhombus or lozenge type shape, formed with concave sides below, and convex above. This makes for a very elegant window that can be seen on many churches. The overall design is termed intersecting or Y-shaped tracery and emerged towards the end of the thirteenth century and lasted well into the fourteenth. The mullion of a window arcs from the vertical into the window arch, with all neighbouring mullion(s) parallel (or coincident) to it. It is a simple and elegant design, and one that is surprisingly easy to draw. When plain (i.e. uncusped or unfoliated) this style of window is correctly classified as Gothic Early English architecture, but the addition of cusping or foliation classifies it as a Decorated window.

How to draw a single Anglo-Saxon church window or door opening The Anglo-Saxon tower at the Church of St Peter, Barton-Upon-Humber, Lincolnshire was built in the late tenth century . The double triangular opening is divided by a bedimmed single shaft. The triangular form is constructed by leaning two stones together at an angle. The blind arcading and vertical pilaster strips of stone emulate beams used in the construction of timber-framed houses. School Curriculum: Key Stage 2 Mathematics: For younger students of the Key Stage, drawing the doors and windows extends understanding of how simple shapes can be combined, manipulated and applied outside the classroom. The drawings require measuring angles with a protractor and the exercise can be extended to calculate the area of a rectangle and a triangle.

The eleventh century restored Anglo-Saxon tower with a helm roof at St Mary’s Church, Sompting is unique in England. It is a roof having four faces, each of which is steeply pitched so that they form a spire, while the four ridges rise to the point of a spire from a base of four gables. Key Stage 4 Mathematics: The helm is an interesting shape mathematically. Each rectangular side of tower is topped with an equilateral triangular gable. Each of the two upper sides of the triangles adjoins the two lower sides of a rhombus. A rhombus is a parallelogram with equal sides. A net is a 2D representation of a 3D shape which, when folded, forms the 3D shape that it purports to represent. Nets are introduced to children at Key Stage 1. This complex exercise is suitable for able students at Key Stage 4, or IB. It offers a unique insight into the challenges confronting a Norman or Anglo-Saxon builder in the eleventh century. Students will be guided through a precise series of instructions to produce a net, which should then be decorated, folded and glued together.

A rich and elaborate construction of a Norman or Romanesque window. School Curriculum: Mathematics at Key Stage 3: Constructing a Romanesque arch develops the geometric drawing skills of students. The resulting drawings can be a resource for the calculation of the area of a semi-circle using pi (π), and the perimeter of the semi-circle when the base (d or 2r) is known. The construction can also be an application of the trapezoidal rule to calculate approximate area . The exercises extend the work on π, circles, semicircles and arcs following the drawings of a Roman arch and brace & the horseshoe arch, available elsewhere. Maths covered circumference of a circle = πd where d = diameter of the circle, where π = 3.14 = 2πr where r = radius of the circle perimeter of a semicircle = (πd ÷ 2) + d area of a circle = πr² area of a semi circle = (πr²) + 2 Constructing a Romanesque arch can be a practical application of the calculation of the area of a semi-circle using pi (π), and the perimeter of the semi-circle when the base (d or 2r) is known. This lesson would be a development or extension of the lessons on a Roman arch & brace and / or the horseshoe arch.

The volute is the principal distinguishing feature of the Ionic order, the spiral located on either side of the capital of a column, School Curriculum: Mathematics at Key Stages 2,3 & 4. Drawing a volute with semicircles will enable students at Key Stages 2 & 3 to create a pattern with repeating shapes in different sizes and orientations. In doing so, students will become familiar the the properties of a circle (circumference, radius, diameter). The drawing will also provide a visual element for the calculation of the perimeter of a semicircle. At Key Stage 4 drawing a volute with quadrants will facilitate the calculation of arc length subtended by those quadrants. There is also a brief history of the Ionic volute and its symbolism.

In blind arcading Saxon masons have combined a number of simple shapes, viz. semicircles, rectangles and trapezia to produce a pleasing and interesting architectural feature. School Curriculum: At Key Stages 2 & 3 Manipulating simple shapes to produce complex designs. Content: definition of a trapezium, area of a trapezium, illustrated easy-to-follow instructions on how to draw a trapezium. Examples of blind arcading on Saxon church churches.

How to draw a vesica piscis School curriculum: Key stage 3 mathematics Mathematically this shape is termed an ellipse and is produced when two circles of the same radius intersect such that the centre point of each circle lies on the circumference of the other, with both circular elements being smaller than a semicircle. The two circular elements would also join along their chords. It extends the introductory exercise constructing a perpendicular bisector. The shape should recall the first steps in the construction of an isosceles or equilateral triangle (see separate lesson on drawing a lancet arch). The equilateral triangle has as its verteces the centre points of the two circles and one of the two sharp corners of the vesica piscis The area of an ellipse is also twice that of a the pointed arch section of a lancet window. Drawing a triquetra (a pointed trefoil) extends the subject. School Curriculum: Key Stage 2 & 3 mathematics: A pointed trefoil may be turned about its centre point into three identical positions, i.e. it has rotational symmetry of order three. A triquetra, from the Latin for three corners. comprises three circular arcs of equal radius. The exercise extends the work on a purpendicular bisector and a vesica piscis.