Jacqueline Abend

Lesson Plan #3

Gothic Architecture and Sacred Spaces

Grade Level &

Duration

7th grade, 45 minutes

Materials

Small whiteboard, pencils, clipboards, scavenger hunt worksheets,

headphones and audio devices per student need

Goal

Students will analyze how the architectural elements of gothic

architecture lend to the creation of a sacred space.

Objectives

SWBAT observe the architectural characteristics of the Gothic

Revival Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New
Jersey and relate it to the concept of a sacred space

Anticipatory Set

Before entering the cathedral, students will group together to

review familiar concepts and vocabulary regarding gothic
architecture as well as specific aspects of the cathedral. I will ask
them several key terms and have them answer with the definitions.
Using my whiteboard, I will draw the floor plan and a cross section
of Sacred Heart Cathedral. As we go along, I will write down each
key term and ask the students come up and show me where on the
whiteboard that characteristic is, or to simply describe it if it is not
illustrated. I will go over the following terms and questions with
the students:
-

Triforium
Clerestory
Transept
Nave
Pointed arch
Tympanum
Vaults
Apse
Ambulatory
Side Aisle
Radiating chapels
Rose window
Gable
Tracery
Narthex
What can sacred mean? How can certain elements make a
space feel sacred?

Jacqueline Abend
Instruction

I will hand out the scavenger hunt worksheets to students (attached

to clipboards) and explain how they are to be completed. They
must walk around the cathedral as laid out and answer the
corresponding questions on the worksheets.

Independent
Practice

Students will walk around the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred

Heart and complete the corresponding scavenger hunt worksheet.
(See Attached)

Assessment

Students will be asked to submit the completed worksheets

following the conclusion of the field trip. Students will have a few
minutes to finish answering the worksheets on the bus ride home.
They will be collected as students exit the bus when we get back to
school.

Extensions

Students who finish the worksheets early can take the time to
explore the cathedral on their own, but they MUST meet up at the
entrance to the cathedral at the designated time.

Modifications to the curriculum will be made ahead of time

Accommodations
and Modifications: according to a students specific disability. Information on the
scavenger hunt can be changed and tailored to suit that students
needs, for example, trimming down the number of questions he or
she has to answer or sites in the cathedral he or she has to see.
Accommodations in this lesson include: Whiteboard, which allows
visual learners or hard of hearing students to follow along during
the anticipatory set review. Headphones and pre-recorded audio
tracks will be given to students who have auditory disorders, i.e.
hard of hearing students, students who have auditory processing
disorders, etc.)
NJCCCS

1.1.8 A 1
1.1.8 A 2

Jacqueline Abend
Name: _______________________

Date: _________

Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart

Newark, New Jersey
Scavenger Hunt Worksheet 6th grade Art Class
*Students can choose to work individually or in groups*
1) Begin by entering the front plaza at the south entrance. Observe the faade of the church.
Select three elements of gothic architecture featured and briefly describe the effect they
have on the appearance of the cathedral.
(Elements you can choose from: tracery, gables, towers, triforium, tympanum,
pointed arches, bronze doors)

2) Walk along the nave as indicated on the floorplan to the right. Identify the architectural
elements you see on the left hand side, outlined in the image below:

3) Choose one of the architectural features you defined in the question above. Describe in a few sentences how that
feature supports the structure of the cathedral, and the resulting aesthetic effect it has on the overall appearance of
the space:

Jacqueline Abend
4) Walk through the ambulatory and stop in each of the radiating chapels (marked with a
different colored x on the floorplan at the right). Each of these chapels honors the patron
saints of different ethnic groups that represented the many immigrants living in Newark
when the Cathedral was completed. Write down the names of the patron saints
represented in the stained glass windows in each chapel (the names are found in the
stained glass underneath the image of each saint).
a. St. Patricks Chapel, dedicated to the Irish and English:

b. Chapel of St. Lucy Filipini, dedicated to the Italians:

c. Lady Chapel, dedicated to Mary:

d. Chapel of St. Boniface, dedicated to the Germans:

e. Chapel of St. Stanislaus, dedicated to the Polish and Hungarians:

f.

Chapel of St. Anne, depicting saints of African Ancestry, Spanish ancestry, and Asian Americans:

5) Stop in the east transept and look up at the east rose window. Notice the
light streaming through. What kind of effect does the light have on the
inside of the cathedral?

Jacqueline Abend
6) Notice the tympanum above the doorway, also located in the east transept.
Observe the figures carved in relief. What kind of postures are they in? What
objects are they holding? Write a few descriptive words about how they appear
overall (for example: smiling, happy, serious, sad)

7) In a paragraph, describe what you thought of the cathedral overall by answering the following questions. Recall
our previous class discussions about sacred spaces. How did the space feel to you? What kind of effect did the
elements of gothic architecture create overall? Did you think the space was welcoming to people of all colors,
races, and ethnicities (think back to the patrons represented in the radiating chapels)?

*Meet up at the narthex (pictured to the left and marked with an x on

the floorplan). If you finish early, you may tour the cathedral at you
leisure but you MUST meet up at the narthex so we can head back to
school.