Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
This year, eighth-grade Latin students took on the task of building a scale model of ancient Rome, combining ancient culture with computer-aided design and manufacturing. This did not happen in a day … it took approximately three weeks.
Middle School Latin Teacher Clint Hagen and Director of Technology Dr. Steve Uhr teamed up to make this project come to life. “It's been two years since we've been able to do this project,” Hagen said. “I was excited for the students to have this opportunity to create a blueprint of the city, interpret how high buildings should be, and then create a scale model of their particular buildings in the TEAM [Technology Engineering Art Maker] Room with Dr. Uhr.”
Eighth-graders taking on the building Ancient Rome challenge this year were Price Carter, Bailey Flynn, Witt Grebe, Jake Hudman, Beckett Kiseljack, Andrew Lobo, Olivia Miller, Ashton Theesfeld, Samantha Saade, and Akshay Vasudevan.
Each student took on the creation of one smaller building and one larger building. First, they researched their structures and wrote a description of each. Working in the TEAM Room, the students designed their buildings using a computer-aided design (CAD) program called Easel. Their files were then imported into Glowforge laser cutters for processing on foam board and poster board. The final architectural models were assembled with glue, hot glue and tape.
“The experiences students gain through the use of CAD and CNC machining give them a unique opportunity to learn about vector files,” Uhr said. “The skills learned are applicable to all kinds of fields of study, including architecture, engineering, technology and art.”
After the city was arranged and built, Hagen invited the entire student body to view it in the Amon G. Carter Foundation Commons. Classes and individuals came by and scanned a QR code that led to the Rome Reconstructed website that featured the students’ descriptions.
The city featured 40 total buildings, with Uhr and Hagen contributing structures and two buildings coming out of “retirement” from Carden Kimball ’24 and Walker Gaines ’24 that were constructed in 2020, the first time this project was done.
“One of my favorite things about this project is that it combines our study of the ancient world with modern technology. Using a computerized laser cutter to recreate the past is a lot of fun, and it allows students to show their artistic and mathematical sides,” Hagen noted. “The resulting projects help students understand the scale and size of the ancient city -- they are amazed at how much larger the Circus Maximus was than the Colosseum!”
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