penn museum china

7/30/2019 Penn Museum China

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Look closely at the pictures

on this page. What do these

buildings have in common? Iyou said they all had domes

then you are correct! A dome

is a type o a roo structure that

looks like a hal o a sphere.

People have been building

domes or thousands and

thousands o years. Think o

the igloos built by the Inuitpeople, and the wigwams

built by the Ojibwa. They, too, are domed structures.

Domed buildings are everywhere. They can be churches,

mosques, synagogues, sports arenas, government

buildings or dwellings. Perhaps you walk past a domed

building every day and never noticed it beore!

One o the most amous domed structures in the

world is located at the Epcot Center at Disney

World in Orlando, Florida. This dome is called

Spaceship Earth. Perhaps you have visited it!

Spaceship Earth is a geodesic dome. A geodesic dome

is a dome made rom interlocking triangles. It was

invented by Buckminster Fuller in the 1940s. Geodesic

domes are extremely strong structures. There are many

buildings in the

United States,

including houses,

which use this type

o construction.

Domes: The Roofs of the Age1

Capitol Building

1) dome2) geodesic dome

3) arch

4) compression

5) tension

6) gravity

7) normal force

vocAbuLAR

y

Would you like to live ina geodesic dome? Explainwhy or why not.

thinkin

sidethebox

Native American Wigwam

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I people have been building domes or so long

then there must be some reason or it. Think or

a moment. What are the advantages o a domedstructure over a structure with an angled roo?

Perhaps this picture o the interior o an igloo

will help. Look at all o the space that is available

inside o the igloo. Because the structure

is domed, there is no need or columns or

pillars to support the roo. No interior columns

equals more room or all o your stu!

The Ancient Romans Strike Again!Beore the Romans, all buildings in the ancient

world were rectangular or square-shaped. Look

at the picture o the ancient Greek temple called

the Parthenon. This structure has 46 outer pillarsand 23 inner pillars. The majestic pillars that are

associated with Greek architecture were not there

to just look pretty. The pillars o the Parthenon

were there to hold up, or support the heavy

marble roo that used to be on the top o this

massive structure.

Enter the Romans! In 100 CE, ancient Roman

builders fgured out that i they rotated an arch 360


The Climatron GreenhouseMissouri Botanical Garden

Interior o Igloo

The Parthenon 500 BCE

Pantheon 2nd century CE

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degrees that it created a super strong three-

dimensional shape called a dome. An arch is

a curved, weight-bearing structure that spansan open space.

By the time the second century rolled

around, the Romans had built a massive

domed temple called the Pantheon. The

Pantheon, which is nearly 2,000 years old, still

stands today! In act, the Pantheon has the

worlds largest unreinorced concrete dome.

Whats Keeping thatDome from Crashing?Hang on a minute! I a dome, like the one in the Pantheon, is unsupported by columns,

then what on earth is keeping it rom tumbling down? Dont panic! The unseen orces o

nature are holding all o that concrete in place.

Although you cant seem them, the normal orce, along with the

orces o gravity, compression, and tension, are acting against

one another to hold the Pantheon, and most domes in place.

Compression orces are two orces which act on one object

by moving in opposite directions toward each other. Imagine

pressing or pushing the palms o your hands together. This is the

compression orce.Tension orces are two orces which act on one object by moving

in opposite directions away rom each other. Imagine clasping

the curled fngertips o both o your hands together and pulling.

This is the tension orce.

The orce ogravity pushes downward on an object. And the

normal force pushes in the opposite direction, upward.


Compression

TensionGravity

Normal Force

Arch

Pantheon 2nd century CE

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Types of DomesThere are hundreds, even thousands odomed structures all over the world. There

are onion domes, geodesic domes, oval and

saucer domes, sail domes, and umbrella

domes. There are ancient domes as well as

contemporary domes. No matter their type

or age, all domes rely on the same natural

orces to keep them in place, and provide

expansive and unobstructed space.


St. Basils Church, Moscow St. Alexander NevskyCathedral, Sofa, Bulgaria

Chinese Rotunda, Penn Museum

Interior o the Pantheon

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The Chinese Rotunda at the Penn Museum

is a large unsupported masonry dome. That

means there are no steel or supportingtrusses within the dome to hold it up.

The weight o the dome is carried by the

eight arches that encircle the rotunda,

and by the natural orces o compression,

tension, gravity, and the normal orce.

The design o the Museums dome

was based on the design o a much

older and larger dome called thePantheon, an ancient Roman temple.

Look careully at the apex o both o these

domes. The apexis the highest point o the

dome. The opening located at the apex is

called an oculus. Oculus means eye in Latin.

The oculus is not only a way to bring

light into a domed structure, but it

also lightens the weight o the roo.

Math of Dome1

Above, the ChineseRotunda at the PennMuseum. Left, interiorof the Pantheon.

1) apex2) oculus

3) diameter

4) radius

5) circumference

6) area

vocAbuLARy

CONTENT & ACTIV


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Diameter, Radius, Circumference,

and Area of CirclesDiameter, radius, circumerence and area are dierent ways in

which to measure circles. I you know one o these measurements,

then you can fgure out the others.

The diameter is the distance across a circle through its center

point. I you know the diameter o a circle, then you can calculate

the radius, the circumerence, and the area o a circle.

The radius o a circle is the distance rom its center to any point

along its edge. Its easy to fnd the center o the Chinese Rotunda.

Just look or the 49-pound crystal ball!

The circumference o a circle is the distance around it. It is the

circles perimeter.

The area o a circle is the number o square units it would take to

fll the circle.

Famous Domesof the WorldLook at the chart on the next page. It

has a list o eight o the worlds most

amous domes and inormation abouttheir size. Use the correct ormulas or

fnding diameter, radius, circumerence

and area to calculate the missing

measurements.

Math of Dome2

area

radius

circumf

erence

Dome of the Capitol Building.

Remember. . .Pi equals 3.14!

diameter

a = r2d = 2 rc = rr = d/2

formulas

CONTENT & ACTIV


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Math of Dome3

Dome Diameter Radius Circumference Area

Chinese Rotunda 90 eet 45 eet 282.6 eet

The Pantheon 71 eet 445.88 eet 15828.74 sq. eet

Astrodome 710 eet 355 eet 395718.5 sq. eet

Georgia Dome 420 eet 2637.6 eet 553,896 sq. eet

Hagia Sophia 102 eet 8167.14 sq. eet

U.S. Capitol 96 eet 48 eet 7234.56 sq. eet

Mihrimah Mosque 33 eet 207.24 eet 3419.46 sq. eet

St. Peters Basilica 138 eet 69 eet 433.32 eet

CONTENT & ACTIV


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Math of Domes - Answer Ke4

Dome Diameter Radius Circumference Area

Chinese Rotunda 90 eet 45 eet 282.6 eet 6358.5 sq. eet

The Pantheon 142 eet 71 eet 445.88 eet 15828.74 sq. eet

Astrodome 710 eet 355 eet 2229.4 eet 395718.5 sq. eet

Georgia Dome 840 eet 420 eet 2637.6 eet 553,896 sq. eet

Hagia Sophia 102 eet 51 eet 320.28 eet 8167.14 sq. eet

U.S. Capitol 96 eet 48 eet 301.44 eet 7234.56 sq. eet

Mihrimah Mosque 66 eet 33 eet 207.24 eet 3419.46 sq. eet

St. Peters Basilica 138 eet 69 eet 433.32 eet 14949.54 sq. eet

CONTENT & ACTIV


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The Most Famous Caterpillars in the Worl1

The photograph to the let is o a painting

that hangs in the Chinese Rotunda at the

Penn Museum. It is made o thousands o silkthreads that are woven together to create a

canvas on which an artist has painted.

This painting is called Emperor Minghuangs

Journey to Shu. It is over 500 years old and tells

the story o the Emperors great love or Lady

Yang. The painting is really big, about six eet

high by our eet wide. But its size and age are

not the most amazing things about it. Incredibly,this painting was made by caterpillars!

Okay, caterpillars didnt actually paint

the picture itsel, but they did supply the

raw material rom which this painting is

made. That raw material is silk. Silk is a

strand o ber, produced by moth caterpillars, that is woven into textiles.

Textiles are abrics that are used to produce clothing and other goods.

Moth, InterruptedMoths and butterfies undergo a our-step process o

development.

First: The adult moth lays eggs.

Second:The eggs hatch and the larva, or caterpillar emerges.

Third: The caterpillar pupates, or spins a cocoon, also called

a chrysalis.

Fourth: The adult moth emerges rom the cocoon.

But things are a bit dierent or Bombyx mori. Thats the ocial name o the silk moth. The

Bombyx mori is the blind and fightless moth that is used in sericulture. Sericulture is the

cultivation o silkworms or the production o silk.

1) silk

2) textiles

3) sericulturevoc

AbuLARy

CONTE

Emperor Minghuangs Journey to Shu


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The Stages of Silk Production

The silk mothlays eggs, about300 at a time.

The silk caterpillarcompletely encasesitsel in a silk cocoonmade o a singlelament, which is onemile in length.

About 8 othese individualilaments arewound togetherto make a singlethread o silk.

1

8

14

The eggshatch and thecaterpillarsemerge.

The liquid solidiiesas it hits the air.

Ater three days,the silk caterpillarpupates.

The ilamentis unwoundonto a spool.

The caterpillarsare ed mulberryleaves.

The caterpillaruses this liquidto begin to spina cocoon o silkaround itsel.

The silk cocoonsare stored in awarm, dry place.

The cocoonsare placed inwarm waterto loosen theilament.

Ater 25 days omunching, theyare 10,000 timesheavier than whenthey irst hatched.

The caterpillarorces the liquidsilk out o twoopenings inits head calledspinnerets.

Ater 8 days, thecocoons are eithersteamed or bakedto kill the wormsinside o thecocoons.

2

7

9

13

3

6

10

12

4

5

11

Silk Worm

Moth

Chrysalis

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Shhh. . .Dont Tell Anyone!Silk production is complex and labor intensive. Theancient Chinese were the rst people to learn how to

cultivate the Bombyx mori in order to produce silk.

There is evidence to suggest that the ancient Chinese

produced silk or over 7,000 years beore anyone else

gured out how to do it!

The Chinese kept the science o sericulture a secret

or centuries, and silk became one o the most sought

ater and traded materials in the ancient world. In act,the Silk Road, one o the oldest trade routes in the

world, was named or this highly prized abric. The

production and trade o silk helped to create many

powerul and infuential dynasties in ancient China.

Silk Road

It takes 2,500cocoons to produce1 pound of silk!

didyouknow?

CONT

penn museum china

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