Students use geometry to build city

Learning geometry can be challenging but one first grade teacher at Peachtree City Elementary School has found a way to make learning the subject fun and practical.

When Jennifer Ward began teaching a unit on geometry, she told her students that at the end of the lesson they would be applying their newly learned geometry skills to construct their own city. Eager to get to work on the city, Ward says her students studied hard to learn all they could about geometry.

"They really got excited about it. The idea of being able to build a city really got them motivated to learn," Ward comments.

Not only did the building project serve as a motivational tool, but it also helped to reinforce the material that had been taught. The students used plastic, interlocking geometric shapes to form the buildings within the city. While having fun building the structures, the students also had an opportunity to feel the different shapes and count corners and angles rather than just hearing about them or seeing a drawing in a book.

Ward says she told her class that when she was in school the only "C" she ever made in her life was in geometry.

"I learned with pencil and paper. I never really understood the concepts because I was never taught any practical applications of them," Ward explains.

It took the class about one week to finish the geometric city, which is a miniature replica of Peachtree City. Before beginning construction, the students brainstormed the 10 most critical buildings or structures within a city. Included in the geometric city are a hospital, airport, school and houses. Since the city has been built, many people have come to the school to see it and talk to the architects.

"I was astonished by the depth of geometry understanding of the students," says Kay Seabolt, math coordinator for Fayette County schools. "They knew as much as the average fourth or fifth grader. The hands-on approach really works."

Student Thomas Long says he enjoyed learning geometry and putting together the city. He even has a favorite geometric shape.

"I like the isosceles triangle because it looks like an ice-cream cone," he says.

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