New York City has 8,250,000 people and 975,000 buildings.
It also has the only high school program in the country for hands-on masonry preservation, building conservation and green sustainable construction.
This blog offers a glimpse into that program.


The textbook developed from the curriculum and lessons: "Masonry History Integrity An Urban
Conservation Primer" is a free download at this web site:


http://ncptt.nps.gov/blog/masonry-history-integrity-an-urban-conservation-primer-2011-08/


The recent entries are in the LinkedIn Group: Masonry History Integrity & Urban Conservation.


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Session #3: Measurments in History Masonry and Life


Curriculum:
* Mixing M-S-N-O-K” mortars to measured quantities
*psi - pound per square inch measures pressure
* Moh’s Scale of minerals, measures a stone's strength
* A construction site is like a battlefield
* The U.S. at war - measuring time via historic events
* Differentiate brownstone and faux brownstone/stucco
* Russack System - Masonry hardness measurements
* Helping others measures personal integrity
* Repointing brick mortar joints


Masonry and Preservation:
* Walked around the neighborhood to identify building stonework, masonry deterioration and poor repairs.
* Identified brickwork configurations - headers, soldier courses, Flemish bond.
* Identified the results of improper cleaning - acid burnt brick and stone.
* Showed a building stone cracked from the embedded metal's rusting, expanding and the consequences of water penetration then consecutive freeze/thaw cycles.
* Demonstration and practice of brick mortar joint re-pointing

History:
* Outline of U.S. wars and their effect on us today.
* Using war as a measurement for time, world history, personal character and individual integrity.

Integrity:
* Safety/awareness on a construction site, for oneself and others.
* Providing a correlation between the countries that were once enemies in battle, but became allies in later conflicts.
*Recognition of Veterans Day.
*Knowing history means knowing how to remember.

Observations:
· Watching the least interested student uses masonry tools to find his ability and became attentive, obedient, and changed.
· Current events via NY Times - Scotland's historic preservation training program is using a laser to measure buildings. Like something out of Star Trek, caught the student’s imagination.

No comments:

Post a Comment