Unit 1 Properties and Shape

Unit 1 Properties and Shapes
Section 1 Presentation
1. Look at these:
Here are some examples of basic forms:
a cube
a pyramid
a hemisphere
a rectangular prism
a triangular prism
a cone
a cylinder
Now look at these drawings of buildings and buildings components:
a minaret
a hotel
an Egyptian house
a mosque
column
slab
an Arabic arch
a brick
a church
a Roman arch
a steel beam
the structure of a factory
a steel channel
a power station building
Unit 1: Properties and shapes
Page 1 of 9
Look at this example:

The brick is shaped like a rectangular prism.
Now complete these sentences:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
The hotel is shaped like a ..

The top of the minaret
The dome of the Egyptian house ..
The column
The slab .
The church ..
The power station building
2. Look at these drawings of two-dimensional shapes:
a square shape
a semi-circular shape
a circular shape
a rectangular shape
a triangular shape
Now look and read

The cross-section of a square prism is square
in shape.
The longitudinal section of a square prism is

rectangular in shape.
Make sentences from this table:

The cross-section brick
hotel
of the
The longitudinal- top of the minaret
column
section of the
church
is
square
circular
semi-circular
rectangular
triangular
in shape
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3. Now answer these questions about the drawings in exercise 1:

a. Which building is pencil-shaped?
b. Which building component is I-shaped in cross-section?
c. Which building component is C-shaped in cross-section?
d. Which dome is egg-shaped?
e. Which arch is horseshoe-shaped?
f. Which building has diamond-shaped windows?
4. Look and read:
external surface
internal surface
a tube is hollow
a curved surface
a rod is solid
a flat surface
The power station building is hollow. It has five flat external surfaces.
Now describe these buildings and components in a similar way:
a. The church
b. The slab
c. The column
d. The mosque
e. The steel beam
5. Now describe the shapes of the buildings in exercise 1, page 1 and
compare them with the buildings around you.
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Section 2 Development
6. Look at these examples:
A man can easily lift a large roll of
glass wool but not a concrete beam.
roll of glass wool
concrete beam
Glass wool is light but concrete is

heavy.
rubber
concrete
A man can bend a rubber tile but not

a concrete tile.
Rubber is flexible but concrete is
rigid.
concrete
Wood can burn but concrete cannot

burn.
Wood is combustible but concrete is
non-combustible.
wood
Water vapour can pass through

stone but not through bitumen.
bitumen roof
stone wall
Stone is permeable but bitumen is

impermeable.
You can see through glass but not

through wood.
glass
wood
Glass is transparent but wood is

opaque.
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Stainless steel can resist corrosion

but mild steel cannot.
polished stainless steel does

not go rusty
unprotected mild steel

corrodes (goes rusty easily)
wooden handle
copper pan
rubber block
compressive force
deform block
Stainless steel is corrosion resistant

but mild steel is not corrosion
resistant.
Heat can be easily transfer through

copper but not through wood.
Copper is a good conductor of heat
but wood is poor conductor of heat.
Rubber can be stretched or

compressed and will return to its
original shape but clay cannot.
Rubber is elastic but clay is plastic.
return to the original shape

when force removed
scratch
Bitumen can be dented or scratched

easily but glass cannot.
Bitumen is soft but glass is hard.
dent
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Look at these diagrams. Match the letters A H in the diagrams with the
sentences below:
C
D
F
G
H
E
Now complete these sentences with properties:
a. The polythene membrane can prevent moisture from rising into the
concrete floor. This means that polythene is ..
b. The T-shaped aluminium section can resist chemical action, i.e. aluminium
is
c. The stone block cannot be lifted without using a crane. This means that
stone is .
d. The corrugated iron roof cannot prevent the sun from heating up the house,
i.e. iron is ..
e. Glass wool can help to keep a house warm in the winter and cool in the
summer, i.e. glass wool is .
f. The ceramic tiles on the floor cannot be scratched easily by people
walking on them. This means that ceramics tiles are
g. Asbestos sheeting can be used to fireproof doors. In other words asbestos
is
h. Black cloth blinds can be used to keep the light out of a room, i.e. cloth is
..
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7. Make sentences about four other properties of materials from this table:
Steel
Stone
Glass wool
Brick
This means
has the property of
good sound insulation.

good thermal insulation.
high compressive strength.
high tensile strength.
it can resist high compressive forces.

it can resist high tensile forces.
it does not transmit heat easily.
it does not transmit sound easily.
8. Answer the following questions:

a.
Why is glass used for window panes?

Because glass is ..
b.
Why is glass wool used to keep the

heat in hot-water tanks?
Because glass wool has the property
of ..
c.
Why is some steel covered with a thin

layer of zinc?
Because zinc is .
d.
Why are some fire doors covered with

asbestos sheets?
Because asbestos is .
Page 7 of 9
e.
Why are some metal sheets formed

into a corrugated shape?
Because the corrugated shaped make
the sheet
f.
Why is concrete used for columns of a

building structure?
Because ...
Section 3 Reading
9. Look at these diagrams and then read the passage:
frame construction
planar construction
mass construction
Building materials are used in two basic ways. In the first way they are used to
support the loads on a building and in the second way they are used to divide the
space in a building. Building components are made from building materials and
the form of a component is related to the way in which it is used. We can see how
this works by considering three different types of construction:
1. In one kind of construction, blocks of materials such as brick, stone or
concrete, are put together to form solid walls. These materials are heavy,
however, they can support the structural loads because they have the
property of high compressive strength. Walls made up of blocks both
support the building and divide the space in the building.
2. In another type of construction, sheet materials are used to form walls,
which act as both space-dividers and structural support. Timber, concrete
and some plastics can be made into large rigid sheets and fixed together to
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form a building. These building are lighter and faster to construct than
buildings made up of blocks.
3. Rod materials, on the other hand, can be used for structural support but not
for dividing spaces. Timber, steel and concrete can be formed into rods
and used as columns. Rod materials with high tensile and compressive
strength can be fixed together to form framed structures. The spaces
between the rods can be filled with light sheet materials, which act as
space dividers but do not support structural loads.
Now say which paragraph discusses:
a). Planar construction
b). Frame construction
c). Mass construction
10. Copy and complete this table by putting ticks in the boxes to show the
functions of the components:
Form of
material
Function of components
Structural support Space dividing
only
only
Both structural
support and space
dividing
Blocks
Sheets
Rods
11. Now say whether these statements are true or false. Correct the false
statements.
a. Rod materials can be used for both dividing space and supporting the
building.
b. Concrete can be used as a block material, a sheet material and a rod
material.
c. Steel is used for frame construction because it has high tensile strength and
low compressive strength.
d. The sheet materials, which act as space dividers in a frame construction
building can be very light because they do not support structural loads.
e. Mass construction buildings are light whereas planar construction
buildings are heavy.
12. Look at the buildings in exercise 1, page 1 and discuss the basic form of
the materials used to build them.
Page 9 of 9

Unit 1 Properties and Shape

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Unit 1 Properties and Shape

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Unit 1 Properties and Shapes

Now look at these drawings of buildings and buildings components:

the structure of a factory

a power station building

Unit 1: Properties and shapes

Look at this example:

The hotel is shaped like a ..

2. Look at these drawings of two-dimensional shapes:

Now look and read

The longitudinal section of a square prism is

Make sentences from this table:

3. Now answer these questions about the drawings in exercise 1:

Unit 1: Properties and shapes

roll of glass wool

Glass wool is light but concrete is

A man can bend a rubber tile but not

Wood can burn but concrete cannot

Water vapour can pass through

Stone is permeable but bitumen is

You can see through glass but not

Unit 1: Properties and shapes

Glass is transparent but wood is

Stainless steel can resist corrosion

polished stainless steel does

unprotected mild steel

Stainless steel is corrosion resistant

Heat can be easily transfer through

Rubber can be stretched or

return to the original shape

Bitumen can be dented or scratched

Unit 1: Properties and shapes

Unit 1: Properties and shapes

has the property of

good sound insulation.

it can resist high compressive forces.

8. Answer the following questions:

Why is glass used for window panes?

Why is glass wool used to keep the

Why is some steel covered with a thin

Why are some fire doors covered with

Unit 1: Properties and shapes

Why are some metal sheets formed

Why is concrete used for columns of a

Unit 1: Properties and shapes

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