‘UDHAILIYAH — The ’Udhailiyah School K3 class visited the site of the future Ladies Health and Fitness Center as part of their current studies on buildings. Their teacher, Candice Jensen, came up with the idea of a field trip to an actual construction site to show her students how buildings are made.
The students were keenly interested in the equipment and tools that they observed the workers using. They watched a backhoe moving earth around the area for the future swimming pool and were able to observe in real life what they had only seen as a model in the classroom.
The site manager produced blueprints for the students to examine and explained the layout of the future facilities. Jensen noted that “it is always an amazing experience when the children can see in real life what they are learning about in the classroom.”
The Fitness Center project is well underway so there was a lot for the children to see and to learn given the background they have had in the classroom. In addition to watching the backhoe in action, they also observed cement mixing, compacting and a cherry picker being used to access a work location above the ground. They also observed a number of hand-held tools being used, such as levels and hammers. Watching the equipment workers in action gave Jensen the opportunity to point out the safety equipment being used. The children all wore hard hats and safety goggles while at the site.
Following up on the site visit back in the classroom, the students looked at photos taken during the field trip and discussed different aspects of the building process. Witnessing many of the pieces of equipment and tools required to construct a building provided much fodder for further discussion. Jensen was quick to point out that even pre-school-age children are capable of making the connection between something they see in a book in the classroom and what they observe in real life.
Jensen expressed her appreciation to the ’Udhailiyah Community Services Division (UCSD) for its assistance in making the necessary arrangements for the field trip. n K3 students at the ‘Udhailiyah School pose at the future site of the Ladies Health and Fitness Center with their teachers and construction officials, instilling in the youngsters an appreciation of safety and wellness.