Hanceville 5th graders get hands-on lessons

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Hanceville Elementary School fifth graders survey school building plans with math teacher Mark Armstrong and a member of the construction crew. (Jocelyn Logan)

HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Almost 100 Hanceville Elementary School fifth graders saw firsthand the application of math skills this week in a new building being constructed on campus. In a tour organized by teacher Mark Armstrong, the students saw the construction site, studied blueprints and witnessed math at work outside of the classroom. 

Cullman County Board of Education member Kenny Brockman (in hoodie) and Superintendent Shane Barnette pictured with Hanceville Elementary School fifth graders (Jocelyn Logan)

Each student donned a hardhat with his or her name on it while watching the construction team hang sheetrock, lay brick and assemble the new building. The eager learners were amazed to see how fractions are used consistently in the process, according to one of Hanceville Elementary’s fifth-grade teachers, Jocelyn Logan. 

The students were taken in small groups and had the opportunity to examine each page of the project blueprints, learning what aspect each page represented. They were then tasked with deciphering which page the construction workers were using for their various projects and identifying which part of the building there were in. Copies of the overall project blueprint were given to each student. 

It might be too early to ascertain which students were inspired to seek a career in construction, engineering or project management one day, but, for now at least, the Hanceville fifth graders have been motivated by hands-on experience to appreciate the necessity of those pesky fractions. 

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