Working in history, the children can interview members of the local community to discover how the buildings have changed over time. The children can use their Maths skills to record and scale measurements related to the building when creating drawings. Working in Design Technology, the class can develop their construction skills by creating replicas and models of old buildings in the school’s local area. The children can practise using their English skills to write letters and reports presenting the information that they have discovered about a particular building such as church or a row of shops.

Geography
The class can develop their mapping skills when investigating some of the buildings that can be found in the local area. Get the children to use a map of the local area to describe the location of each building using the correct terminology including compass points. They can record and describe different routes that can be taken to reach each building from the school. Get the class to make a map of the local area showing the land use and functions of any buildings as part of a human geographical investigation. Discuss with the children reasons why the use of different buildings has changed over time.

History
The class can develop their historical enquiry skills by investing the changing functions of buildings in the local areas such as old pubs being converted into flats or libraries converted into community centres. The children can conduct interviews of members of the local community to explore changes to buildings. They can visit the archive office in the local government to collect photographic evidence showing changes to buildings in the local area over time. Help the class match events in British history to some of the changes to buildings such as the rebuilding of some buildings following bombing during the second world war.

Maths
The children can develop their measurement skills in Maths by creating scaled drawings of buildings in the local area. With the consent of the owner, the class can record measurements of different parts of a local building such as the width and height of doors and windows. Back in the classroom, the children can create scaled drawings of a building using a scale such as one metre on the building is equal to two centimetres on the drawing. Get them to explain how to convert between units of measurement for length when producing their scaled drawings of a local building.

Design Technology
The children can explore how to use different materials and construction techniques when creating replicas and models of buildings in the local area. The class can test different ways of joining materials to create stable walls as part of their model such as using wood spar with glued card triangles to support corners. The children can also test the most effective materials to represent parts of a building such as mixing sand with paper to create a brick effect on the model walls.

English
Working in English, the children can develop their written composition skills by first writing letters to the owners of buildings in the local area requesting permission to visit and seek more information. The class can draft and edit reports about a building in the local area to describe how and why its appearance and function has changed over time. Use the completed reports as part of a display presentation in the school library about the local area.