Use this activity to prepare students in grades K-3 for the "Architectural Elements of an Ancient Roman Villa" activity that you will guide them through on your class visit to the Getty Villa. (We provide different student worksheets for Grades K–2, and Grades 2–3.)

Materials
Download the following items from the activity page on the Getty Web site: http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/trippack/villa_architecture.html

• Slideshow: Architecture and Gardens at the Getty Villa (focus on slides 1-23)
• Map of the Getty Villa
• Glossary of architectural terms (see attached)

Activity Steps
Use slides 1-23 of the Architecture and Gardens at the Getty Villa slideshow to talk to your students about what a Roman villa is and introduce them to ancient architectural elements.

Step 1
Explain to your students that during their visit to the Getty Villa, they will be working on a self-guided lesson called "Architectural Elements of an Ancient Roman Villa." Remind them that during their lesson at the Villa, it will be important to slow down, look closely at the environment around them, and describe what they see.

Step 2
After showing images of ancient Roman villas, show images of the Getty Villa, and explain that it is a modern re-creation of an ancient villa—the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, Italy, built in the first century A.D. Be sure to point out which images depict an ancient Roman villa (slides 4 & 5), and which depict the Getty Villa (slides 9 & 10). Ask students why they think the Getty Villa is modeled after an ancient Roman villa.

Step 3
Show students examples in the slideshow of architectural details from the Getty Villa. Be sure to define and show examples of antefixes (slides 11–13), waterspouts (slides 14–16), and frescoes (slides 17–19). Introduce the terms and definitions for these architectural elements with the help of the Glossary (see pages attached). Ask students to describe the shapes, colors, and textures of these architectural elements. 

Step 4
When viewing the slides that show the replicas of ancient architectural elements at the Getty Villa, help students understand where on the Getty Villa buildings, or on the Villa grounds, these elements are located. Use the slides and the map to locate these elements. Discuss with your students why those elements are in those locations. What is the function or use of each?
Glossary of Architectural Terms

Alae: open rooms on each side of the atrium whose use is largely unknown

Atrium: central hall of a domus, usually having a single central opening in the roof to capture rainwater

Compluvium: opening in the roof of the atrium designed to direct rainwater

Cubiculum: bedroom in a Roman domus

Culina: kitchen

Domus: traditional atrium house, especially of the Roman Republican period

Exedra: open room at the back of the Roman home, which looked onto the peristyle and provided a social space for the home

Façade: front or face of a building, emphasized architecturally

Fauces: name given by Vitruvius to the narrow passages on either side of the tablinum, which allowed access to the more private quarters of the home. Derives from the Latin term for throat.

Hortus: garden

Impluvium: catch basin in the center of the atrium floor to receive water from the compluvium

Insula: city block; a multi-apartment building

Loggia: second-floor open gallery surrounding a courtyard or room

Ostium: entrance to a Roman home. If the home was on a city street, it often would have shop-fronts on the street that were rented out. In this case the ostium would have been a small, non-descript entranceway.

Peristyle: garden or courtyard surrounded by a colonnade

Piscina: pool at the center of the peristyle garden, in which fish were sometimes bred

Portal: door or entrance

Portico: roofed space, open or partly enclosed, forming the entrance of the façade of a temple, house, or church, often with detached or attached columns and a pediment

Posticum: back entrance to a Roman home, usually positioned at the side of the house, often close to the kitchens, and used as an entrance for slaves

Taberna: (plural, tabernae) shops along the street that were rented to vendors 

Tablinum: (plural, tablina) main reception room of the domus, focal point of the axis running from the fauces through the atrium. It was also the office of the pater familias or man of the house.

Triclinium: in the domus, this was the dining hall with three couches (klinai) arranged against the side and rear walls

Vestibulum: narrow hallway from the street entrance to a Roman home, leading into the atrium. 

Villa: large, luxurious country house owned by wealthy Romans. Many villas were centers of farming and other industries.