school project pyramid ideas

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How to Make a Model Pyramid

Last Updated: March 28, 2024 References

• Sugar Cubes

Things You'll Need

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure . Eric McClure is an editing fellow at wikiHow where he has been editing, researching, and creating content since 2019. A former educator and poet, his work has appeared in Carcinogenic Poetry, Shot Glass Journal, Prairie Margins, and The Rusty Nail. His digital chapbook, The Internet, was also published in TL;DR Magazine. He was the winner of the Paul Carroll award for outstanding achievement in creative writing in 2014, and he was a featured reader at the Poetry Foundation’s Open Door Reading Series in 2015. Eric holds a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an MEd in secondary education from DePaul University. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 275,183 times. Learn more...

Building a model pyramid is quite easy if you have the right materials and know how to carefully measure, cut, and glue. You can make a simple pyramid out of cardboard or paper. To do this, carefully measure and cut each face of your pyramid and attach them together with glue or tape. For a different style of pyramid, you can make a step pyramid out of sugar cubes and glue. Regardless of the material that you choose to use, building a model pyramid can be an easy way to complete a school project while having fun building something from scratch.

Things You Should Know

• Draw a 7.7 by 7.7 cm (3x3 in) square on a sheet of paper. Then, draw a 6.2 cm (2.4 in) line extending from the middle of each side.
• Then, draw lines connecting from the top of each line to each corner of the square. Cut along the lines to cut out the shape.
• Fold the triangles up so the tips meet in the center. Use tape to secure the pyramid together.

Making a Paper Pyramid

• Make your square 7.7 by 7.7 centimetres (3.0 by 3.0 in) to create a scale model of the Great Pyramid! Every 1 centimetre (0.39 in) will represent 30 metres (98 ft) of the pyramid.

• For the Great Pyramid scale model, place each line 3.85 centimetres (1.52 in) in from the corner of each side, and make it extend 6.2 centimetres (2.4 in) out from the square.
• If you're not building the scale model of the Great Pyramid, you have to draw each line so that it's big enough to meet the other faces of the pyramid in the center. To be safe, make each line at least the same length as a single side of your square.

• You should now be looking at 4 triangles that share a base with the 4 sides of your square.
• For the scale model, each connecting line should be 7.3 centimetres (2.9 in).

Tip: To make cutting around the sharp angles easier, rotate the paper in your hand instead of trying to turn the scissors.

• You can fold each face so that it lays flat in the center before folding the next section if you want to get each side out of the way. This may make folding much easier.

• Press your tape down slowly and delicately. There's nothing but air inside your pyramid, and you don't want to crush it while you're taping it.

• While you certainly want to cover each side of your pyramid, avoid using heavy globs of glue. You don't want to weigh your pyramid down and ruin the paper.

Building a Cardboard Pyramid

• To make a medium-sized pyramid, make each triangle 8 inches (20 cm) wide and 12 inches (30 cm) tall from the center.

• If your cardboard is too thick to be cut with scissors, put a cutting board down and lay each piece of cardboard flat. Use a utility knife to cut each triangle out by dragging it through the cardboard along each section of your outline.

• Hold your 2 sides still for 45-60 seconds to give your glue time to initially dry. Set your 2 pieces aside and leave them for 10-20 minutes to let the glue fully set.

• After you put glue along the 2 remaining edges, lightly press your pieces together for 30-45 seconds to keep any gaps closed as it dries.

• For a medium-sized pyramid, a good base is 14 by 14 inches (36 by 36 cm).

Tip: The bricks are only going to partially show through after you cover the pyramid in glue and sand, so don't worry if you make a mistake.

• Don't forget about the base! Spread a lot of glue around your base so that the sand can fully cover it.

• If you want more of the bricks that you drew to show through, you can scrape sections of your pyramid with your knife or popsicle stick to knock some of it off.

Creating a Step Pyramid with Sugar Cubes

• You can use a Styrofoam tray or wood surface as a base if you prefer.
• You'll need 140 cubes for a 7x7 pyramid.

Tip: Don't press down too hard on your initial layer or you'll risk breaking a cube. You don't need much pressure to get the cube to stick to the glue, since sugar cubes are porous.

• Save time by setting your layer out on a separate plate and transferring it over by pinching an entire row between two fingers.

• Do not leave cubes out of the middle of a layer or you'll risk breaking your pyramid.
• You can use glue and glitter, sand, or paint to cover your cube if you'd like.

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• Small container
• Scissors or utility knife
• Glue sticks
• Permanent marker
• Butter knife or popsicle stick
• Paper plate
• Sugar cubes
• Glitter, paint, or sand (optional)

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• ↑ https://www.dltk-kids.com/world/egypt/paper_pyramid_craft.htm
• ↑ https://sciencing.com/build-pyramid-school-project-5467882.html
• ↑ https://youtu.be/NGB3Wr6bQDU?t=10
• ↑ https://youtu.be/NGB3Wr6bQDU?t=20
• ↑ https://youtu.be/NGB3Wr6bQDU?t=45
• ↑ https://youtu.be/NGB3Wr6bQDU?t=50
• ↑ https://youtu.be/NGB3Wr6bQDU?t=92

About This Article

Whether you’re making a simple geometric shape or a scale model of the Great Pyramid of Giza, it’s easy to craft a paper pyramid! First, use a ruler and pencil to mark out a square on a clean sheet of paper. Next, use your ruler to find the middle of each side of the square. Draw lines of equal length coming out of the center of each side at a 90-degree angle. The longer you make these lines, the steeper your pyramid’s sides will be! Just make sure they’re at least as long as the sides of the square. Draw lines connecting each corner of the square to the end of each line to form 4 triangles on each side of the square. Cut out the shape and fold up each of the triangles so their points meet in the middle. Finally, use tape to connect the sides of the pyramid together. If you like, you can decorate your pyramid by covering it with glue and sprinkling on some sand! Read on to learn how to make a model pyramid out of cardboard. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Elizabeth Carmona

Sep 17, 2016

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Jun 2, 2017

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College Textbooks Costs: Everything You Need to Know

What is an ahk file, keeping yourself safe in college: everything you need to know, myths about online high schools: everything you need to know, reasons you should study geography: everything you need to know, the vtoman jump 1800 portable power station: the best of the best, key roles of a school superintendent: everything you need to know, is earning a degree online worthwhile and beneficial, why learners cheat: everything you need to know, top issues in education: everything you need to know, 3 ways to build a pyramid for school.

Introduction:

Building a pyramid for a school project can be an engaging and enjoyable way to learn about ancient Egyptian history and architecture. There are several methods to construct a pyramid model, ranging from simple paper creations to more complex wooden structures. In this article, we will explore three different techniques to build a pyramid for your school project.

1. Using Cardboard or Paper:

This method is perfect for beginners, as it requires minimal materials and effort. To create a pyramid using cardboard or paper, follow these steps:

1. Gather materials: You will need cardboard or thick paper, scissors, a ruler, glue or tape, and a pencil.

2. Create a template: Draw a square at the center of the cardboard or paper to represent the base of the pyramid. Then, draw four equal-sized triangles that meet at the top of the square for the sides.

3. Cut out the shape: Use scissors to cut around the outline of the template. Be sure to leave some extra material at each triangle’s base for attaching them together.

4. Fold and assemble: Fold along the lines connecting the triangles and square base. Apply glue or tape on each overlapping edge and join the triangle sides together to form the pyramid.

2. Constructing with Foam Blocks:

Producing a pyramid with foam blocks creates a sturdier result while still being accessible for all skill levels.

1. Gather materials: Collect foam blocks (e.g., insulation foam), a cutting tool such as a craft knife or serrated blade, sandpaper, paint, and glue.

2. Cut foam blocks into same-sized squares: Determine desired dimensions based on your model’s required size. Cut various squares from foam blocks using cutting tools with caution.

3. Layer foam blocks: Start by placing larger squares at the base, gradually reducing their size as you progress upwards to form a stepped structure called a mastaba.

4. Shape the pyramid: Use a serrated blade or craft knife to trim the edges and form evenly sloping sides. Smooth surfaces with sandpaper.

5. Paint and finish: Apply primer and several coats of paint in a sandy or stone color, allowing dried layers between applications. Add hieroglyphics or other details if required.

3. Building with Wooden Blocks or LEGO Bricks:

This method creates a durable pyramid model that can be an excellent choice for a shared school project.

1. Gather materials: For this method, you need wooden blocks or LEGO bricks, adhesive (if using wooden blocks), and paint (optional).

2. Plan your design: Decide on your pyramid’s size, calculating the number of bricks required for each layer and overall structure.

3. Begin layering the blocks: Start by placing blocks at the corners to ensure stability on every level. Build each layer in a square shape, reducing block quantity gradually as you reach higher levels.

4. Secure each level (wooden blocks only): Apply adhesive between the wooden blocks to solidify each layer and provide additional stability to the structure.

5. Paint if desired: Sand, prime, and paint your wooden pyramid model to replicate a realistic appearance.

Conclusion:

Creating a pyramid model can be educational and enjoyable as a school project activity. Choose from these straightforward methods to build a pyramid that showcases your creativity while learning about ancient Egyptian history. Happy building!

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STEM Activity: Build a Pyramid and Learn about Shapes

Sharing is caring!

I recently made a pyramid in one of my workshops for kids and it was an absolute blast! The kids loved decorating the different parts and figuring out how to put everything together. I realized that it was such a great STEM activity to explore shapes and work on spatial awareness.

It was also so much fun that I wanted to share it with you and give you a way to create teachable STEM moments at home. I will first give you the process of creating the pyramid and then provide you with an example of how you could introduce the STEM activity and guide it so that some STEM learning happens!

STEM Activity: How to Build a Pyramid

Building a pyramid is quite simple and you probably have all the materials you need at home!

Tools and Materials

Materials you will need:

• Cardboard – we used an old cardboard box from a recent package I received from an online purchase, I’m sure you have some of those lying around 😉
• Decoration materials – we stencilled some hieroglyphics on, but you can just decorate however you want. Paint, glitter, stickers, glue some colorful cutout papers, the options are endless

Tools you will need:

• Scissors to cut the shapes
• Tape to hold the pyramid together – we used painters tape because it is what I had lying around but you can use duct tape too. Regular cello tape might not hold the pyramid together so well but you can definitely try! The 3-year-olds enjoyed the tape moment and our pyramid ended up covered in pieces of tape too!
• Ruler to measure

That’s it! Pretty simple right?

The Preparation

To build a pyramid you are going to basically need a square base and 4 triangles. Here is an image so it’s clearer:

I have provided the measurements we used but if you want to do your own, smaller or bigger here are the instructions:

• First figure out how wide and how tall you want your pyramid
• The width will be the measurement of your square base. Draw a square with this measurement
• For the triangles, the base will be the width of the pyramid and the height will be the one you chose. Draw the base first and then mark the middle point. From that point, draw a straight perpendicular line (forming a T) measuring the height of your pyramid. Connect the edges to make your triangle. Repeat 4 times

Decorating and putting everything together

We decorated the individual shapes before putting it together. It is easier to do it flat on the ground and it gave it that extra wow factor once you build it but you can do it whenever you want.

To put the pyramid together, lie it flat on the ground and create this shape (decorated-side down):

Tape the edges of the square and the base of the triangles together. You can also add some paper to make a sturdier connection.

Now bring all the sides up and have someone hold the triangles together at the top while the other person tapes the sides together. And your pyramid is done! You can keep decorating it or put on some music and dance around it!

STEM Learning Guide

This is a great STEM activity if you are working on 3D figures and/or shapes. By drawing their attention to the shapes in the process of creating something.

Introducing the STEM Activity

First, you need to get your children interested and motivated about building a pyramid. Some kids might be excited just by the idea of building it but others might need some input beforehand. What you could do:

• Show them photos or videos of pyramids and ask if they think you could build one together
• Show them a cardboard box and a photo of a pyramid and ask them if they think you could transform the box into a pyramid together

Once they are excited and convinced they can build one you could ask some prep questions. Here are a few suggestions:

• What shapes do you see in a pyramid? (For this it could be interesting to have a small prototype of the pyramid already made so they can look at it and touch it with their hands)
• What tools do you think we need?
• What materials could we use to build the pyramid?
• Where should we start?

During the STEM Activity

Depending on how old your children are you can increase difficulty in the shape drawing part. Things you could do:

• Draw a T and ask them how they would connect the edges to draw a triangle
• Draw two parallel lines and ask them how they would connect edges to draw a square
• Make just one line and ask them to draw the rest of the square (all sides should be the same)
• Draw the base of the triangle and ask them to draw a triangle that has a specific height

Once all shapes are drawn, cut out and decorated you can ask them to arrange the pieces to construct the pyramid. Again, depending on age you could increase difficulty. Options:

• Show them the figure it should form and they have to copy it
• If you made a prototype, let them look at it and figure out how to arrange the pieces themselves. They could even deconstruct the prototype to see how to build it back up

Some follow up Questions for Spatial Awareness and to get their Brains going

• If the base were a rectangle/triangle, what would we need to change?
• What could we build with just squares?
• Why is the pyramid shorter than the height of the triangle sides?

To add some extra fun and cultural knowledge you could ask them what they think pyramids were used for and find out together. Bury some treasures inside before putting the pyramid together and seal it up for posterity! A follow up activity could be… how can we get our treasures back?!

Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if you hid any treasures in a pyramid lately or if you have any questions.

For more information about STEM and how to transform your STEM activities at home, check out these posts:

• 5 tips to transform STEM activities at home
• What is STEM and why is STEM learning important?

Check out other fun STEM activities to sneak in some STEM learning:

• STEM experiment: Scientific method float or sink activity
• DIY math game with playdough
• STEM challenge: The Tower of Random Things
• Sensory STEM jello experiment
• STEM Road Trip Experiment

Happy STEM learning!

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How to Build a Mayan Pyramid Project for School

How to Make Famous Landmarks for a High School Project

The Mayans were a powerful tribe of people that thrived in Mesoamerica from 2000 BC until 900 AD. This incredible group of people had a calendar, method of writing and built large cities with the most modern infrastructure of the time. The Mayans are well-known for their towering pyramids and temples, and you can easily create a model of a Mayan pyramid as a project for school when your class is studying this time period.

Look at pictures of Mayan pyramids to decide which structure you want to showcase. Chichen Itza is a famous Mayan pyramid, and it is a more simple design than some of the other structures.

Cut a piece of plywood to fit your model, making sure that it is small enough to fit through standard doorways without tilting it. Children should ask an adult to cut the board for them. Sand the edges to prevent any splinters, and paint the surface to make it look like the ground.

Use sugar cubes to build the pyramid. Make a large square by gluing the cubes to the board, and then fill it it with three or four rows of sugar cubes behind the outer perimeter of the square. Begin to build layers, moving each subsequent square outline in by the width of half of a sugar cube to slowly create the pyramid shape. Repeat the layers until your pyramid is complete.

Add additional cubes to build details and other features on the structure. Attach toothpicks with glue to highlight stairways or other linear details.

Allow the entire structure to dry, and then you can add color by lightly painting the cubes with paint. Do not saturate the cubes with paint, or they can melt.

Things You'll Need

You can add realistic detail to the base of your project by using paint that has a special sand effect. If you do not have the faux finishing paint, you can just mix a small amount of sand into regular paint, and apply it as evenly as possible.

Add fake foliage or small models of people to give your model more details.

Be careful when transporting your project since it will be heavy and fragile. If you can, have an adult help you carry it to school in the bed of a pickup or the cargo space of an SUV.

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• Mayan Civilization
• Mayan Pyramids
• You can add realistic detail to the base of your project by using paint that has a special sand effect. If you do not have the faux finishing paint, you can just mix a small amount of sand into regular paint, and apply it as evenly as possible. Add fake foliage or small models of people to give your model more details. Be careful when transporting your project since it will be heavy and fragile. If you can, have an adult help you carry it to school in the bed of a pickup or the cargo space of an SUV.

Find Your Next Great Science Fair Project! GO

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• History: Ancient Egypt / Homeschool Den

Make Your Own Egyptian Pyramid!

by Liesl - Homeschool Den

We love hands-on projects and ED had fun at the end of last semester learning about Ancient Egypt. I thought I would share the cool project she made (mostly on her own!).

My youngest and I read through the Story of the World, vol. 1 ( affiliate link ) about the ancient world. ED loved the way this book is written. (She is 8.) At the time, my older two were doing their research papers. I figured this was a great option for her while they were busy… but… My older two became captivated by the Story of the World too, so they joined in!! We have the book and the audio CD with Jim Weiss as the narrator.  At first, I was reading the chapters aloud, but after the kids heard the audio CDs in the car one day, they asked if we could listen to him.  So, we listened to the last half of the book.  I got mine used from homeschoolclassifieds.com a number of years ago.  We also listened to the Egyptian Myth CD again, Egyptian Treasures: Mummies and Myths ( affiliate link ), also read by Jim Weiss. They really loved this CD as well.

So now, on to her pyramid project!!

Trace 4 triangles on the edge of a box (our triangles were 13 inches on all sides. Cut out the triangle, but leave a 3 inch flap along the bottom. Cut out a 12 inch square ( note: once we added in the 4 triangles, the base measured more like 13 3/4 inches with that extra bulk which is why the triangle pieces needed to be a bit larger.).

Glue the flaps and place the square piece in the middle. Place duct tape along the bottom for more stability.

Use duct tape on the inside of your pyramid to keep three of the flaps together.  You can let the fourth flap open to put things inside.

Next, you’ll need Styrofoam Project Blocks and a Glue Gun or Styrofoam glue . (affiliate links) (ED used our glue gun.)

Glue the blocks to the cardboard.  You can cut the Styrofoam to fit along the edges.

ED used Ralph Masiello’s Ancient Egypt Drawing Book    to help her draw various things within her pyramid. She has the book open to the Eye of Horus in the photo below.  We highly recommend this book!

I’m going to include just one more picture so you can see the dimensions of our pyramid a little better. Again, we used FloraCraft Foam Project Bricks . There are 285 foam bricks per box. Each of the four sides of our pyramid used about 80 foam bricks so I suspect we used the entire box and a small portion of another box.

We went on to make a “Roman Colosseum” that year too so having left over bricks wasn’t an issue!

Don’t miss our other Ancient Egypt posts:

Egypt-Themed Multiplication Review Packet (25-pages)

Be sure to check out our Ancient Egypt Packet!

Our Ancient Egypt Unit is about 75 pages. I’ll paste in a few pictures but you can find out more details here at this post: Ancient Egypt Packet

Our packets are all PDF digital downloads . Be sure to check your PayPal email address for your download link. If you have any questions, feel free to email me and again you can find out more about our  Ancient Egypt Unit here or our Ancient China Unit here or check out all of our history packets at the History Page .

Again, you can find out more about our Ancient China Unit here

Other Ancient History Posts:

Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses

• Ancient Greece (for K, Gr. 1 or 2)
• Ancient China Notebook Pages
• Ancient China – Books for Kids
• Hinduism Worksheets (India History)

And you might want to visit the posts from our Middle Ages Unit:

• Middle Ages Books and Projects

• Vikings, Norse Myths and a Woodburning Craft
• Middle Ages: King Arthur, Charlemagne
• Middle Ages Unit: The Medieval Church and Monasteries Worksheets
• Feudalism in the Middle Ages Notebook Pages and Simulation

• Middle Ages – Notebook Pages on England and France (800-1200)
• The Crusades
• Middle Ages in the 1300s: Black Plague Simulation, Hundred Years’ War, Crusades
• Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan Free Notebook Pages
• Marco Polo – Notebook Pages, Books and Resources

That’s about it for today! See you again soon here or at our Homeschool Den Facebook Page ! Don’t forget to Subscribe to our Homeschool Den Newsletter ! You might also want to check out our History Resource Page which has links to dozens of history posts.  And don’t forget to check out Our Store as well. 🙂

Happy Homeschooling! ~Liesl

Disclosure:  Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you , I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.

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Hi there! I realize this post is older and hope you see, but for the pyramid foam blocks-how many approx did you use for a 12inch base pyramid? They are low in stock currently, and nothing worse than running out of material mid-project! Thanks

Hi Amanda, I added in another picture for you above so you can see the dimensions of our pyramid a little better. There were 9 foam blocks along the bottom row. Each row went down by either a half brick or a full brick. (So from the bottom we used 9 bricks, then 8, then 7 1/2, then 7… etc.) Each of the four sides of our pyramid used about 80 foam bricks so I suspect we used the entire box and a small portion of another box. Again, we used FloraCraft Foam Project Bricks . There are 285 foam bricks per box. I hope that helps! Have fun with this project!! ~Liesl

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Hi i’m liesl.

Do you believe education can be exciting, inspiring, and full of joy? We do too! I love the quote by William Butler Yeats, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." It's about getting the kids involved, engaged, and fired up about learning (while juggling the rest of life too!)

A bit about me: I have my Master's from Brown University. I have more than 20 years of teaching experience. I was a high school teacher for many years both in the U.S. and internationally and also taught for the University of Maryland before leaving to homeschool my 3 wonderful kids. To read more about us CLICK HERE .

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What science topics could I teach my 5-7 year old - Homeschool Science Curriculum

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Earth Science Packet

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The Human Body Systems, Skeletal, Digestive, Circulatory, Muscular, Nervous, Endocrine Systems and More (with lots of hands-on activity ideas)! We usually study a different body system each year.

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This is a free checklist I put together of the various science units I hope to cover in the elementary and middle school years.

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Do your kids know the 4 largest countries? Which countries have the most people? The longest river? This packet covers basic world and U.S. facts and also covers geographic features and land forms.

Geographic Features & Landforms (also in the World Facts Packet)

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How to Make a Sugar Cube Pyramid

When you start to study ancient civilisations whether it’s the Egyptians, Mayans or Ancient Korea pyramids are a feature of them around the world. They are a great opportunity to combine a little history and a lot of maths in creative ways. So here we go a fun step-by-step guide on how to make a pyramid with learning opportunities for both maths and history.

What You'll Find on This Page

Pyramids in Ancient Civilizations

Pyramids were a feature of many Ancient Civilizations from the Egyptians with the famous pyramids of Giza which were tombs of the great Pharaohs to Mesoamerican cultures like the Mayan found in Mexico.

Are you studying Mayan History? Then why not make your own Mayan Hot Chocolate with our recipe for kids.

They were generally square-based and constructed so that although there were chambers inside they were mostly solid. Making them as part of a history unit study is a great way to review some mathematical concepts as well as to bring history to life.

Here we make a Giza pyramid like those found in Ancient Egypt as part of our Ancient Egypt Unit Study.

Sugar Block Pyramid

When the Egyptians built the pyramid they were bright white – unless you can easily get hold of 91 white 2×2 square Lego bricks then sugar cubes are the next best thing to use.

Make sure that your child’s hands are clean and that your surface is clean. You can use tongs to build the sugar pyramid that way these blocks can be reused again and again. Now lets get started making our model of the great pyramid.

Maths Knowledge Needed

Review – Multiplication and square numbers as well as 3d Shapes.

Why not use some multiplication eggs to quickly review this with your child.

Materials Needed for Building a Giza Pyramid

• White board and pens
• Sugar Cubes (you will need 91)
• Plate to place under the bottom of the pyramid
• Tongs if you wish to reuse the sugar cubes

Reviewing Pyramids

Before you actually get building the pyramids with your child start by reviewing the look and appearance of the pyramids. You can start by picking up a book about ancient Egyptians or Mayans as part of your History Unit Study.

Get your child to draw how they think a pyramid looks. If your child is anything like the children I have done this with then you will find that they draw it in side profile.

Talk as they draw it about the shape is it 2 dimensional, 3 dimensional.

Now ask them to draw a view of the pyramid from the top down.

Notice how the pyramid is square shaped and each square is laid on top of the next getting smaller and smaller.

If you want you can try and draw a 3D version – you may find it easier to do using some Isometric paper – you can find some to download and print here .

Plan the Pyramid

We will be making our pyramid level by level.

The first level will be 6×6.  Have your child write on their white board: Base 1- 6×6= 49

The second level will be 5×5.  Have them repeat this process for each level remembering to minus one number for each level.

In the end, they can add up all the bases to figure out how many bricks they will need to use.

Build a Pyramid

Now it’s time to build, set up the area and start by building the 6×6 square base then gradually add on the different layers until 1 small brick remains at the top and you have a square based pyramid constructed.

Make sure that the bricks overlap slightly so that you can see the steps at the sides of the pyramid as it goes up forming a perfect pyramid shape.

Books about Pyramids for Kids

We have included affiliate links to some of the products and resources as an associate we may earn from qualifying purchases.

We love to connect hands-on learning with some reading check out these books about pyramids for kids of all ages you may also find out Egyptian Fiction Books a great read as well.

• National Geographic Readers Pyramids (Level 1) ~ for 4 – 6 year olds UK Amazon , US Amazon
• A Child’s Introduction to Egyptology ~ for 8 – 12 year olds UK Amazon , US Amazon
• Pyramid DK Eyewitness ~ for 8 – 12 year olds UK Amazon , US Amazon

More Ideas for Egypt Studies

Make your own clay cartouches with a Hieroglyphic name.

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How to Build an Aztec Pyramid as a School Project

Elizabeth stephens.

The Aztec are famous in the history of Mesoamerica for being great warriors. They conquered much of what is now Mexico and Central America, and many of their conquered captives were sacrificed to the bloodthirsty Aztec gods atop their massive pyramid temples. Their religious practices and striking architecture make the Aztecs a great culture to examine in social studies classes at all grade levels. With a little creativity, it's possible to re-create a model of one of the famous pyramids, whether for a school assignment or a history fair project. Relive some of the grandeur and terror of the Aztec empire.

Create a foundation and build up in steps. Aztec pyramids are made of stacked squares that get smaller as they go up. Choose your largest box, use your box cutter to cut it square, and then repeat until you have a least four layers. Glue these together.

Make your steps. Aztec pyramids have dramatic staircases on all four sides, so use your poster board to create these. Cut a strip of poster board about three inches wide and create a staircase by folding it back and forth, like an accordion. Trim the staircase so that it fits from the top to the bottom of your pyramid exactly. Repeat four times until you have a staircase for each side. Glue these in the center of each side of the pyramid, extending down to the ground.

Add details. Glue your smallest box to the top to create the temple sanctum. Use strips of poster board to add railing to the sides of your staircases.

Paint the entire pyramid a solid tan or gray. Aztec pyramids are made of stone, so add as much or as little detail as you like to emphasize this. Use darker paint to add a door on each side of the smallest box at the top to create the illusion of inner space. You can add red paint spilling out of the temple and down the pyramid's steps if you like.

• If it is too difficult to find enough flat boxes to create your pyramid, use blocks of wood. You can request that the person helping you at your local home improvement store cut them in the correct sizes to create your pyramid.
• Add sphagnum moss or dabs of green paint to create a jungle feel that will show your understanding of the climate that the Aztecs lived in.
• 1 Mexicolore: Aztec Pyramids

About the Author

Elizabeth Stephens majored in English and political science and has produced articles for student publications and various websites. She has been writing for publication since her freshman year in college in 2000. She is a certified English and political science secondary education teacher and taught high school for three years.

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60 Senior Project Ideas for High School Students – 2024

May 13, 2024

Many high school students look forward to the exciting moment of choosing a senior project. This makes sense since senior projects provide opportunities for students to direct what they’ve learned into something they care about, and to take their academic interests beyond the classroom. At the same time, deciding what to pursue can be nerve-wracking. After all the anticipation, when it finally comes time to decide on a project, students might ask themselves, now what ? If you find yourself in this dilemma, or if you could just use some further inspiration, continue reading for a list of 60 senior project ideas for high school students. Once you find a senior project idea that catches your eye, you can always put your own spin on it, or use it to inspire projects on topics outside this list.

What is a senior project?

Put simply, a senior project is a semester-long project you take on in your final year of high school. So, what counts as a senior project? This can vary widely. While different schools have different requirements (for example, some high schools expect students to focus specifically on internship experiences), the assignments tend to be pretty flexible. In the senior project ideas listed below, you will find suggestions ranging from assisting a science researcher, to interning at a local museum, to organizing an academic tutoring program, to helping with community voter registration. The final outputs for senior projects may also vary in form, from guidebooks, to plays, to research papers, and apps.

Considerations when choosing a senior project

Because a senior project is often seen as the culmination of your high school experience, you should choose a topic that reflects your passions and interests. At the same time, it’s an opportunity to develop new skills and challenge yourself as you prepare for your next steps after graduation. Whether you have plans to begin a 4-year university program, enroll in a 2-year degree program , take a gap year , or start a new job, a senior project can prepare you with experience that you wouldn’t receive in your high school classes in an ordinary semester.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself when thinking of a senior project idea:

• What field or career do you wish to pursue? If you’re not sure, what are 2-3 fields that you could possibly see yourself pursuing at this point in your life?
• What world issues do you care most about? Climate change? LGBTQIA+ rights? Accessible healthcare? If thinking about a particular issue sparks a passion, this could be a great place to start.
• Based on your high school coursework experience, could you see yourself spending extra time on an artistic project? A science-based one? A research paper with a political theme?
• What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Volunteering with kids? Hiking and camping? Dancing? Cooking? Perhaps you can orient your senior project to something that you already know brings you joy.

60 senior project ideas

Below you can find 60 high school senior project ideas, divided into some general categories that might help you focus your search. As you read through, feel free to stick to these exact ideas or use them to inspire other ones.

Business – Senior Project Idea

• Write a printed or virtual guidebook to small local businesses in your area, including descriptions, photographs phone numbers and social media accounts.
• Help a local business with an advertising campaign, through local news outlets and social media.
• Develop a mentorship program to help those who are searching for jobs with resumes, interviews, and cover letters.
• Intern at a start-up based in your area.
• Write a research paper about models for sustainable businesses.
• Organize an after-school program that helps students learn financial literacy.

Community service

• Organize a ride service to bring elderly community members to and from doctor’s appointments, or to provide them with groceries and other needs.
• Volunteer at a local soup kitchen.
• Organize a food drive at your school.
• Create a social media campaign for a local animal shelter to raise awareness.
• Collaborate with a local charity or non-profit with a mission you believe in to organize a fundraiser.
• Collect school supplies and art supplies for families in need.

Creative writing – Senior Project Ideas

• Write and illustrate a children’s book.
• Create a handmade poetry book.
• Intern at a small local publisher or magazine.
• Work to translate a short story or poem to another language.
• Write a screenplay for a short film.
• Start a school literary magazine that accepts student submissions of poems, essays, and short stories. Organize a team so that the magazine can continue after you graduate.
• Organize a peer tutoring program at your school for students who need extra help with writing, languages, or math.
• Construct a free library box in your neighborhood so that more people have access to books.
• Volunteer at a local elementary school to help children with their homework after school.
• Work with a local senior center to teach a foreign language to residents.
• Develop a website or app for students to match with language partners for practicing conversation skills.
• Start a visual or performing arts class for children in your community.

Environmentalism- Senior Project Ideas

• Design and build a sustainable garden.
• Organize a community clean-up day, or a series of community clean-up days, at a local park or waterfront.
• Organize an Earth Day festival at your school. This could involve live music and performance, environmental art displays, local vegetarian food, and sustainable clothing swaps.
• Write a research paper on one thing that contributes to climate change, as well as potential solutions.
• Write a guidebook to local parks and hiking trails so that locals and visitors alike can appreciate these outdoor spots.
• Create a fashion line with all reused materials.
• Research historic sites in your neighborhood or town, and write a printed or online guidebook to these points of local history.
• Record a podcast on the history of one of your hobbies (fashion? sports?) Contact an expert on this history to ask if you can interview them on the podcast.
• Write a research paper on the history of a particular protest movement.
• Write and direct a short play with a contemporary take on a historical event that interests you.
• Create a documentary film on the history of your community (school, town, etc.), and organize a community screening.
• Intern at a local history museum.

Performing Arts – Senior Project Ideas

• Write and record an original song.
• Write, direct, and show a one-act play.
• Organize a community dance performance with student choreographers and performers, featuring a range of different styles.
• Volunteer to help with accessibility needs (theater access, live captioning, etc.) at a local theater.
• Organize a school comedy night or talent show that benefits a charity of your choice.
• Research the history of a film genre, and direct a short film that reflects this genre.
• Intern for a local political newspaper or magazine.
• Volunteer on the campaign of a local candidate.
• Create an online blog to write on a political issue you care about, or write a series of op-eds for a local newspaper.
• Write a research paper on a local problem (housing prices, green space, voting access) that discusses possible solutions to this problem.
• Create a Model UN or Mock Trial team at your school if one doesn’t already exist.
• Help teens and other community members register to vote.

Science and medicine – Senior Project Ideas

• Build a Rube Goldberg machine .
• Work in the lab of a STEM professor at a nearby university who works on a topic you’re interested in.
• Research a community health problem (drug safety, air/water quality, nutritional food access) and develop solutions with the help of local politicians and/or medical experts. Create a research paper, blog, or documentary film on your findings.
• Assist at a doctor’s office or hospital by helping to translate for patients who are non-native English speakers.
• Design an architectural structure (for example, a house or bridge) and build a 3D model.
• Organize a technology support group at your school to make technology more accessible and help with easy tech repairs.

Visual arts

• Design a mural for your school to highlight an aspect of the school culture or commemorate an important moment in its history.
• Intern at a local art museum and learn how to give a tour of its current exhibits.
• Organize the collaborative building of a sculpture at your school made of all reused or found objects.
• Offer to take wedding or senior photographs for those who might not be able to afford a professional photographer.
• Study a famous painter, and then create a series of paintings (or art of another medium) based on, or in response to, their works.
• Create a school-wide photography exhibition, with a theme of your choosing.

Senior Project Ideas – Final thoughts

We hope that this list has sparked inspiration for your high school senior project. Remember that while senior projects are important (and hopefully fun) opportunities to culminate your high school experience, you don’t need to do it all in one project! If you’re inspired by more than one of these project ideas, hold onto them for years to come or pursue them as summer internships .

If you’re interested in more project ideas for high school students, we recommend the following articles:

• 100 Examples of Community Service Projects
• 98 Passion Project Ideas
• 100 Best Clubs to Start in High School
• Persuasive Speech Topics
• High School Success

Sarah Mininsohn

With a BA from Wesleyan University and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sarah is a writer, educator, and artist. She served as a graduate instructor at the University of Illinois, a tutor at St Peter’s School in Philadelphia, and an academic writing tutor and thesis mentor at Wesleyan’s Writing Workshop.

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No One Knows What Universities Are For

Bureaucratic bloat has siphoned power away from instructors and researchers.

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L ast month , the Pomona College economist Gary N. Smith calculated that the number of tenured and tenure-track professors at his school declined from 1990 to 2022, while the number of administrators nearly sextupled in that period. “Happily, there is a simple solution,” Smith wrote in a droll Washington Post column. In the tradition of Jonathan Swift, his modest proposal called to get rid of all faculty and students at Pomona so that the college could fulfill its destiny as an institution run by and for nonteaching bureaucrats. At the very least, he said, “the elimination of professors and students would greatly improve most colleges’ financial position.”

Administrative growth isn’t unique to Pomona. In 2014, the political scientist Benjamin Ginsberg published The Fall of the Faculty: The Rise of the All-Administrative University and Why It Matters , in which he bemoaned the multi-decade expansion of “administrative blight.” From the early 1990s to 2009, administrative positions at colleges and universities grew 10 times faster than tenured-faculty positions, according to Department of Education data. Although administrative positions grew especially quickly at private universities and colleges, public institutions are not immune to the phenomenon . In the University of California system, the number of managers and senior professionals swelled by 60 percent from 2004 to 2014.

How and why did this happen? Some of this growth reflects benign, and perhaps positive, changes to U.S. higher education. More students are applying to college today, and their needs are more diverse than those of previous classes. Today’s students have more documented mental-health challenges. They take out more student loans. Expanded college-sports participation requires more athletic staff. Increased federal regulations require new departments, such as disability offices and quasi-legal investigation teams for sexual-assault complaints. As the modern college has become more complex and multifarious, there are simply more jobs to do. And the need to raise money to pay for those jobs requires larger advancement and alumni-relations offices—meaning even more administration.

But many of these jobs have a reputation for producing little outside of meeting invites. “I often ask myself, What do these people actually do? ,” Ginsberg told me last week. “I think they spend much of their day living in an alternate universe called Meeting World. I think if you took every third person with vice associate or assistant in their title, and they disappeared, nobody would notice.”

In an email to me, Smith, the Pomona economist, said the biggest factor driving the growth of college admin was a phenomenon he called empire building. Administrators are emotionally and financially rewarded if they can hire more people beneath them, and those administrators, in time, will want to increase their own status by hiring more people underneath them. Before long, a human pyramid of bureaucrats has formed to take on jobs of dubious utility. And this can lead to an explosion of new mandates that push the broader institution toward confusion and incoherence.

T he world has more pressing issues than overstaffing at America’s colleges. But it’s nonetheless a real problem that could be a factor in rising college costs. After all, higher education is a labor-intensive industry in which worker compensation is driving inflation, and for much of the 21st century, compensation costs grew fastest among noninstructional professional positions. Some of these job cuts could result in lower graduation rates or reduced quality of life on campus. Many others might go unnoticed by students and faculty. In the 2018 book Bullshit Jobs: A Theory , David Graeber drew on his experience as a college professor to excoriate college admin jobs that were “so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence even though, as part of the conditions of employment, the employee feels obliged to pretend that this is not the case.”

Another reason to care about the growth of university bureaucracy is that it siphons power away from instructors and researchers at institutions that are—theoretically—dedicated to instruction and research. In the past few decades, many schools have hired more part-time faculty , including adjunct professors, to keep up with teaching demands, while their full-time-staff hires have disproportionately been for administration positions. As universities shift their resources toward admin, they don’t just create resentment among faculty; they may constrict the faculty’s academic freedom.

“Take something like diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Ginsberg said. “Many colleges who adopt DEI principles have left-liberal faculty who, of course, are in favor of the principles of DEI, in theory,” he said. But the logic of a bureaucracy is to take any mission and grow its power indefinitely, whether or not such growth serves the underlying institution. “Before long, many schools create provosts for diversity, and for equity, and for inclusion. These provosts hold lots of meetings. They create a set of principles. They tell faculty to update their syllabi to be consistent with new principles devised in those meetings. And so, before long, you’ve built an administrative body that is directly intruding on the core function of teaching.”

Bureaucratic growth has a shadow self: mandate inflation. More college bureaucrats lead to new mandates for the organization, such as developing new technology in tech-transfer offices, advancing diversity in humanities classes through DEI offices, and ensuring inclusive living standards through student-affairs offices. As these missions become more important to the organization, they require more hires. Over time, new hires may request more responsibility and create new subgroups, which create even more mandates. Before long, a once-focused organization becomes anything but.

In sociology, this sort of muddle has a name. It is goal ambiguity —a state of confusion, or conflicting expectations, for what an organization should do or be. The modern university now has so many different jobs to do that it can be hard to tell what its priorities are, Gabriel Rossman, a sociologist at UCLA, told me. “For example, what is UCLA’s mission?” he said. “Research? Undergraduate teaching? Graduate teaching? Health care? Patents? Development? For a slightly simpler question, what about individual faculty? When I get back to my office, what should I spend my time on: my next article, editing my lecture notes, doing a peer review, doing service, or advancing diversity? Who knows.”

Goal ambiguity might be a natural by-product of modern institutions trying to be everything to everyone. But eventually, they’ll pay the price. Any institution that finds itself promoting a thousand priorities at once may find it difficult to promote any one of them effectively. In a crisis, goal ambiguity may look like fecklessness or hypocrisy.

George Packer: The campus-left occupation that broke higher education

For example, in the past few years, many elite colleges and universities have cast themselves as “anti-racist” and “decolonial” enterprises that hire “scholar activists” as instructors and publish commentary on news controversies, as if they were editorial boards that happened to collect tuition. This rebranding has set schools up for failure as they navigate the Gaza-war protests. When former Harvard President Claudine Gay declined to tell Congress that calls for Jewish genocide were automatic violations of the school’s rules of harassment, she might not have caused a stir—if Harvard had a reputation for accommodating even radical examples of political speech. But Gay’s statements stood in lurid contrast to the university’s unambiguous condemnation of students and professors who had offended other minority groups. This apparent hypocrisy was goal ambiguity collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions: one mandate to police offensive speech versus another mandate to allow activist groups to speak offensively.

Confronted with the Gaza-war protests, colleges are again struggling to balance competing priorities: free speech, the safety of students and staff, and basic school functions, such as the ability to walk to a lecture hall. That would be hard enough if they hadn’t sent the message to students that protesting was an integral part of the university experience. As Tyler Austin Harper wrote in The Atlantic , university administrators have spent years “recruiting social-justice-minded students and faculty to their campuses under the implicit, and often explicit, promise that activism is not just welcome but encouraged.” But once these administrators got exactly what they asked for—a campus-wide display of social-justice activism—they realized that aesthetic rebelliousness and actual rebellion don’t mix well, in their opinion. So they called the cops.

Complex organizations need to do a lot of different jobs to appease their various stakeholders, and they need to hire people to do those jobs. But there is a value to institutional focus, and the past few months have shown just how destabilizing it is for colleges and universities to not have a clear sense of their priorities or be able to make those priorities transparent to faculty, students, donors, and the broader world. The ultimate problem isn’t just that too many administrators can make college expensive. It’s that too many administrative functions can make college institutionally incoherent.