It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane….
I remember watching re-runs of the classic Superman Television show as a child. Even as special effects became more and more advanced, I didn’t mind the archaic graphics of my hero. After all he was:
Faster than a speeding bullet ~ More powerful than a locomotive ~ Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
This line from the television series: The Adventures of Superman (aired September 1952 through April 1958) has Superman, jumping over a then, modern day skyscraper. Superman was pretty cool.
Look up in the sky… It’s a SKYSCRAPER!
More than just a tall building
Today we celebrate the skyscraper. A Skyscraper is more than just a tall building or a large structure. In fact, a skyscraper must have more than 40 floors to be designated as such. The first skyscraper was much smaller, however. It was the 10 – story Home Insurance Company Building designed by William Le Baron Jenney. It was built in Chicago in 1885. Jenney trained Louis H. Sullivan, who became known as “the father of skyscrapers.
September 3, skyscraper day, is Sullivan’s birthday and why we celebrate National Skyscraper day!
Chicago Architectural Photographing Company / Public domain
Brief history of skyscrapers
At first any building that was taller than its surrounding buildings was called a skyscraper (Because as their name suggests, the seem to “scrape the sky”). As architecture improved, so did our ability to build upward, and the standard for being classified as a “skyscraper” was set at 40 floors. Back in The 1950’s when television Superman was leaping “over tall buildings in a single bound”, the tallest buildings were in New York City. The Chrysler Building (54 stories) and soon after the Empire State Building (102 stories).
New York has a reputation for the tallest sky scrapers for many years. After the Empire State Building, the tallest skyscrapers in the world were the twin towers. They were completed in 1973 and stood 110 stories tall before the events of September 11, 2001. Currently, Jeddah Tower, or Kingdom Tower, is under construction in Saudi Arabia.When it is finished it will be the tallest in the world at 200 floors! Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emeritus is currently the tallest in the world, taking the place of the Twin Towers in 2010.
How to celebrate
You can celebrate today by building your own Skyscrapers. Use whatever material you have on hand… Blocks, plastic cups, Index cards, marshmallows and spaghetti, craft sticks, even a tower of cookies! See who can get their skyscraper the tallest using the same quantity of materials.
You can also use part of the Homeschool Holiday Dollar Deal Curriculum. We have A unique activity called: Skyscraper Day – Name City! Learners use the letters in their name to graph their own one of a kind cityscape! Directions and printables are ready to go! To purchase simply click on the image below to visit the HomeschoolHoliday store in the Amped Up Learning Marketplace!
If you would like to build a “Skyscraper” of cookies, why not try our Oreo Stacking Challenge. In this activity learners can work as teams or independently to see how high they can stack cookies! There is even a printable award for the winner! Tie in your math by calculating the mean, median and mode using data gathered by the participants. Math never tasted so good. This resource is also available in my Amped Up Learning store for only $3.00. Simply click the image below to shop.
We hope you will consider joining our Curriculum club – Its FREE! You get an Exclusive Freebie each month, previews of upcoming holidays and coordinating products, coupons and MORE! Just click the image below to sign up!
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With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
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