This reading is about materials, more specifically, stone, brick/CMU, wood, steel, concrete and reinforcement. Brick, stone, and CMU are all examples of masonry. Stone is a combination of different types of minerals and to be qualified as a construction material, it has to have strength, hardness, durability, workability, density, and appearance. Brick is a masonry unit of clay and has multiple ways it can be processed depending on the type of brick is expected. Wood is an easy to work with material and there are two major types, softwood and hardwood. Softwood is from any type of evergreen and hardwood is from a broad- leaved flowering tree. Steel reinforcement is used on concrete since concrete doesn’t handle tension that good. It can also tie vertical and horizontal elements together. When making concrete, it can be molded into various shapes. After 28 days it is placed, it gets tested to see if it is strong enough to be used.