This set of five DVDs by artist/architect David Macaulay provides many hours of insightful entertainment and a great introduction to science and technology on a practical level. Each themed film - Bridges, Skyscrapers, Tunnels, Domes and Dams - provides an in-depth historical treatment of the particular structure, interesting stories and overviews from famous structures, and basic scientific principles involved in each project.

The set features lots of great location shoots with David Macaulay narrating interesting stories and pointing out details of each site.

To give you an idea, "Tunnels" covers aqueducts and water-carrying tunnels of Ancient Rome, early canal and train tunnels of the 19th century (particularly in England and the U.S.), archaic and modern methods of tunnel digging (particularly under rivers), issues involving tunnel safety (both during the project and during use afterwards) with a special emphasis (in all areas) on the building of the Channel Tunnel in the 1990s between England and France. Each video also includes a "Building Small" segment and pamphlet so that families can tackle simple science projects at home that demonstrate principles of architecture.

Our family has really enjoyed these movies - from the four year old all the way up to Mom and Dad. The material is substantial, but easy to understand (particularly with the excellent use of computer graphics and artistic sketches).

I would recommend parental supervision with young children, at least for the first viewing. There are a few things that might be scary for little ones, such as a spooky introduction to the Tunnel show and some photos from an airplane crash in to the Empire State Building that might be a little disturbing. There are also some points in other movies that would be worthy of discussion, such as the environmental issues that come up in the Dams movie. Those are all the "sticky" parts I can remember at this point. I am hoping to view them again soon and will add to this list as needed. Overall, I consider the series to be very worthwhile and enjoyable.

An interesting, fully illustrated (with pen and ink drawings) story of the construction of a Medieval Cathedral. The cathedral in the book and the details of the story are fictional, but are based on details of what we know about the construction of real-life cathedrals. (Among other reasons, this technique makes sense because there probably aren't enough details known about the construction of any one Cathedral to make a book of this sort). In addition to scientific, artistic and architectural details about how flying buttresses work and other technical information, the author provides a glimpse into this significant aspect of Medieval life – how dedicated the townspeople were to the project, how many of those who started the project did not live to its completion (because it took so many years to build), difficulties that would come up in the midst of the construction, etc.

Artist, author and scientist David Macaulay presents a fascinating account of the founding, building and development of a fictional Ancient Roman city. Don't be thrown off by the "fictional" part. We don't know this many details of any particular Roman city, so the author has gathered facts and details from various cities and formed them into one complete story. They are carefully researched and accurately portrayed in detailed black and white drawings. The focus is on how the architecture works (Roman Arches, aqueducts, layout, plumbing, etc.) but also covers quite a bit of historical and cultural information. Although the text is geared toward mid to upper grade school, it will be enjoyed by younger children as a read aloud and is suitable for older readers as well.

Used with the Catholic Heritage Curricula Fourth Grade Lesson Plans

This lovely, well-written art resource offers an excellent introduction to composition, perspective and form; various kinds of art (mosaic, fresco, sculpture, etc.); a brief history of early art (including cave paintings, Egyptian and Greek art); and a detailed account of a number of major artists of the Renaissance and pre-Renaissance (Giotto, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael). Through art reproductions, simple line drawings and engaging text, the child will be drawn into a surprisingly in-depth way of looking at a work of art. I was especially impressed by the "Appreciating Art" segments that follow the works of some of the artists. These give step-by-step ideas, questions and hints to get more out of each picture and learn to appreciate the strengths and uniquenesses of each artist.

The individual art reproductions - representing the Master artists listed above as well as examples of different historical periods and types of art, are intended to be placed in the book by the student (there is a miniature black and white reproduction of each piece so the task is quite easy to do). This type of active involvement helps a child to take the material "for their very own" in a way that simply reading and looking at a book doesn't always accomplish. The Catholic material is interesting and well-connected to the subject - especially in a world where most children's art materials are devoid of religious or even classical subjects.

What our family did was to move this appendix into its own binder. We laminated the art reproductions and keep them in the back of the binder to allow our children to match them up with the appropriate spot over and over again (a Montessori sort of thing to do). It also allows older and younger siblings to enjoy this resource. This is a really lovely resource - one of the nicest materials I've come across in awhile. I learned some new things from the text too. Do you know why Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper was so faded in comparison with other works from the same general time period (like the Sistine Chapel)? Or why the very famous pair of thoughtful angel cherubs were placed at the bottom of the Sistine Madonna by Raphael? Well, I won't tell you, but you'll find these and lots of other interesting tidbits in this very nice and highly recommended text.