Description:
The
Pentagon, one of the largest office buildings in the world and home to the
Goals:
The goals and objectives of this trip are to:
1) learn about the history behind how the Pentagon was built, 2) gain an
appreciation its enormous size, which allows many thousands of people to work
there, and 3) to learn some fun facts about the Pentagon that you otherwise
would probably never have known!
Research:
(Source: the Pentagon Web Site, Encyclopedia Britannica 2001 CD-ROM, and World
Book Online Americas Edition)
The Pentagon, located in
The secretary of defense is the head of the Department of Defense and part of
the U.S. Cabinet. As quoted from World Book Online Americas Edition, "The
department also includes (1) the Joint Chiefs of Staff, (2) the military
departments, and (3) the unified combatant commands." The President picks
the secretary of defense and after receiving the consent of the U.S. Senate, he
is installed. World Book Online Americas Edition also writes, "The secretary's
assistants deal with such matters as acquiring and building weapons, developing
and protecting military communications systems, gathering intelligence,
planning strategy, and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. The secretary
of defense and the assistants of the secretary are supported in their work by a
number of agencies of the Department of Defense."
In the Pentagon, 4,500 cups of coffee, 1,700 pints of milk, and 6,800 soft
drinks are consumed in a single day. Employees must go past 200 acres of lawn
to get to the Pentagon. Over 200,000 phone calls are made in a single day.
Approx. 1,200,000 letters go through the Pentagon's post office in a month.
These facts just prove how big the Pentagon really is and the vast amount of
people employed there.
The Pentagon is not just an extraordinary building and institution; it is a
symbol of the
>
Lesson Plans:
1)
Go to the Pentagon (www.defenselink.mil./pubs/pentagon/).
From time to time, the links on the web site do not work. Either skip
the question below or the page you’ve been directed to and go on. When
navigating a site, you may want to use your forward and back arrows, or click
on the icon (link) buttons. The back arrow is the best way to get from a
particular screen back to the main screen.
2) Click on “About the Pentagon,” located on the right side of the screen. Read about the history of the building, the original site, and the great size of the Pentagon.
3) Click on The Pentagon (highlighted in blue and underlined) to view an aerial photo.
4)
Using your back arrow, get back to the main screen and click on “Facts &
Figures,” located on the right side of the screen. Learn interesting details
unknown to many people about the Pentagon.
5) Using your back arrow, get back to the main screen and click on “Related Information.” From there, click on “Welcome to the Pentagon Publication” and finally, click on “General Information” in the blue menu bar on the left side of the screen. “General Information” gives lots of information on the actual building and particulars on how it was built.
6)
Use your back arrow to go back one screen,
and click on “The Pentagon Renovation Program” located in the blue menu bar on
the left side of the screen. Read of how the Pentagon, which has never been
renovated in its entire history, is finally receiving a renovation.
7)
While not part of this fieldtrip, you might want to view the various virtual
tours of the Pentagon that are available on the main screen (“Virtual Tours” is
located on the right side of the main screen). Some of the tours included are
the Airforce Executive Corridor, the Hall of Heroes, the MacArther Corridor,
and the Navajo Code Talkers Exhibit.
Scavenger Hunt
Questions:
Grades K-3:
1)
True or false: is the Pentagon one of the smallest office buildings in the
world?
2)
In what year was the building finished?
3)
Who asked that the Pentagon be built?
4)
How many acres are covered by the Pentagon building?
5)
How many bathrooms does the Pentagon have?
6)
Where was the Pentagon originally going to be built?
7)
How many sides does the Pentagon have?
8)
How long does it take to walk between any points of the Pentagon?
9)
How many clocks does the Pentagon have?
10)
How much did it cost (approximately) to build the Pentagon?
Grades 4-8:
1)
How much did it cost to build the Pentagon?
2) What was the original purpose of the Pentagon?
3)
How many acres do the parking spaces at the Pentagon take up?
4)
How many windows does the Pentagon have?
5)
How was the idea of constructing a pentagonal-shaped building conceived?
6)
Where was the sand that made the concrete for the building taken from?
7)
What was the Pentagon designated in 1992?
8)
Why was a renovation of the Pentagon essential?
9)
How many floors does the Pentagon have?
10)
True or false: does the Pentagon have five times the amount of floor space of
the
Highschool:
1) What two kinds of employees does the Pentagon have?
2)
How did the Pentagon differ from other military buildings being built at the
time?
3)
Why was the originally proposed site of the Pentagon, Arlington Farms,
discarded?
4)
What architectural style is the Pentagon built in?
5) By constructing the Pentagon out of reinforced concrete
made from 380,000 tons of sand dredged from the
6) What is the Pentagon to the
7)
What eventually would have happened to the Pentagon if it had not received a
renovation?
8)
When did the first occupants move into the Pentagon?
9)
What is the gross floor area (in sq. ft.) of the Pentagon?
10)
What are the seven phases of the Pentagon’s renovation project?
Further Activites…
·
Pretend that you’re assigned to be a member of a
team in the Department of Defense created for the sole purpose of designing
safety measures to keep the
·
Write a paragraph on what the Pentagon means to
the
· Design a colorful Pentagon brochure. Include a brief history, some fast facts, and pictures (drawn and/or printed from the web). Be creative & imaginative!
· The Pentagon has become too small for the many people employed there. Pretend that you are the architect hired to design another building to house the second Department of Defense headquarters. What kind of building would you design and why? What would you name it? Draw a plan of your proposed building.
· Pick five countries and research what their defense buildings are called and where they are located.
·
Write a journal entry from the perspective of a
Pentagon employee who started work there in 1943. Record his thoughts on the
brand-new
·
The Pentagon was built in 1943, only two years
after the start of World War. Research what methods and/or strategies the
Pentagon employed to defend the
· Work on your memory skills! Pick ten fun Pentagon facts, set the timer for fifteen minutes, and memorize them. You never know when you might need to them!
· Pretend you are a tour guide at the Pentagon. Write a 1- 2 page speech on what you’d want to share about the Pentagon with your audience.