Students Study History of Skyscrapers, With Help From Rutgers (and Hershey's)

It was a lesson on skyscrapers, technology and how culture shaped the architecture and technology of famous buildings.

And it started with graham crackers, Hershey bars, toothpicks and frosting.

Prior to a lecture led by Rutgers professor Michael Geselowitz, students in Caitlin O’Neill’s, Chris Giordano’s and Kathryn D’Onfrio’s World History classes at Hillsborough High School spent a day constructing their own skyscrapers from the aforementioned materials.

The lesson, which would be completed the day after the lecture, was to understand the technology that goes into creating the buildings—and to test the student’s own designs for wind stability using a fan.

“It comes down to having a presentation that it connected to two major content areas,” O’Neill said.  “While people think it’s easy to do, it’s not always the easiest thing to do.”

Offered through Rutgers’ University’s Institute of Electrical Engineers, the lecture series links the students’ World History lessons with the science needed to accomplish various feats—including exploration, as presented in another lecture, and building cities.

Beginning his presentation with the Pyramids of Giza, Geselowitz moved through European cathedrals, the Eiffel Tower and onto modern skyscrapers, including the Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, Twin Towers, and Canadian National Tower.  The presentation highlighted the building materials as it evolved from stone to steel, the technology, including the invention and improvements to the elevator and the transition from ornamental to functional buildings.

“You can’t build one thing and then say you’re done,” Geselowitz said during the lecture.  “A light bulb won’t do you any good if you don’t have anything to produce electricity with.”

“It’s not just having the technology for it not to fall over but it’s having the technology to use it,” he added.

During the guest lecture, students completed worksheets with review questions involving both structure trivia and on the Industrial Revolution, a topic they’ll study in class.

“I think they appreciate when they can pull things together,” Toby Kansagor, who retired as Hillsborough Supervisor of Social Studies last June, said.  “It takes something that’s years old and show how it connects to today.”

Though the appeal was still building the skyscrapers—and eating the building materials—the lesson was clear for the classes.

“When you take technology and add Social Studies, you get progress,” Kansagor said.

Editor's Note: This story has been changed to reflect that the lecture series occurred at Hillsborough High School.