Field Museum

History Colorado

Form and Function Introduction

Modern Pueblo People Team Up With Researchers  

Using Evidence: You Be The Researcher

Use this chart to take notes on the form and function of four different objects in your life. 

Form and Function in your Life

Explore the steps of problem-solving and invention to discover how form has changed (or not) over time to serve a specific function: 
1. Define the problem and gather information, 2. Generate ideas to solve the problem, 3. Make it, 4. Assess and Tweak as Needed


Technological Change over Time-Part 1/2

In this activity, learn about five disciplinary lenses and how they can be applied to explore how form relates to function.

How many stories can an object tell?

How do we know about the past?

Now that you have explored past and present examples of toasters and sandals and they ways these have changed over time, how do you imagine the future of toasters and sandals?  Review the objects in the last activity and think about what might change and what would stay the same as sandals and toaster technology continues to change. Consider the function of each and design a toaster or sandals for the future.

Technological Change over Time-Part 2/2

Learn about strategies used to make discoveries about the past. Apply disciplinary lenses to objects from history and modern day. Explore the relationship between form, function, and technological change.

Additional Resource for Using Disciplinary Lenses: 

Additional Information about Colorado's Pueblo People:

Rocky Mountain PBS Colorado Experience: Living West, Water

Colorado Encyclopedia Article on Mesa Verde National Park 

 Ancestral Puebloans of the Four Corners Region

Investigating Form and Function

World History

Social Studies

Sandals are a simple form of footwear found in cultures across the world and from different time periods.  Sandals have been made from a variety of materials like wood, straw, leather, or metal.  Their form has not changed much across time or different cultures, successfully serving a specific function. 


Sandal made of yucca from Mesa Verde region.  Straps wrapped around toe and ankle.

Sandal, Ancestral Puebloan

Fashion illustration for sandals and handbags from The Denver Post newspaper

Illustration, Denver Post

Women's size 10 Z1 Vibram Yampa Chaco left sandal. The sandal was worn by Amy Nilius at the 38th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, held June 16-19, 2011. She designed the sandals on the Chaco website after winning a voucher at the festival. The sandal is a one-strap design, featuring a black rubber sole, green and black adjustable straps, and a black plastic buckle. The Chaco footwear company was formed in Colorado by Mark Paigen in 1989.

Sandal, Chaco

The development of toasters over time shows a functional need to change forms in response to better technologies and better efficiency to solve a problem-toasting bread.


Non-electric toaster.  This design could fit 4 slices of bread and would sit over a stove and heat the bread through the vents in the middle.

Toaster, Non-Electric

Electric toaster.  This toaster fits 2 slices of bread and toasts them from the electrical heating component in the middle.

Toaster, G.E. Co

Electric toaster.  This toaster matches contemporary designs with the push button to push 2 pieces of bread down next to the electrical warming components.

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Investigating Form and Function

Technological Change over Time-Part 1/2

Background Knowledge

Form Stays the Same-Sandals