Building Study

WHY INVESTIGATE BUILDINGs?

Young children are very curious about buildings.  They want to know how they are constructed and what people do inside them.  Perhaps you've seen a child mesmerized by large construction equipment as it moves massive piles of earth or hoists a steel beam high in the sky.

Buildings are everywhere in your community.  They very in size, color, construction, material, function, and location.  Children enter and exit buildings every day as they leave and return home, spend time in other people's homes, go to school, and visit businesses.  Sometimes children see buildings being constructed, repaired, or torn down.

This study offers many opportunities to explore buildings firsthand.  Children will expand their knowledge and understanding of building materials and physical forces.  They will also explore concepts in concepts in social students related to shelter, jobs, and the purposed of different structures.

Focus Questions

1. What do the buildings in our neighborhood and in other places look like?

2. Who builds buildings? What tools do they use?

3. What are buildings made of? What makes them strong?

4. What is special about our building?

5. What happens inside our buildings?