Bricklayers

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Pouring concrete on foundation. Online pic.

Junior High School kids can learn a lot about the word foundation, if they visited a construction site that is building family homes. Construction sites are not the same. Some are massive, like building a block of flats, office towers, bridges, highways etc.

Housing developments are smaller and can accommodate visitors but such an educational tour would be a bad idea. Why?

l Safety. Construction workers wear hard hats for a good reason. There is hanging stuff which might fall on someone’s head.

l Uneven ground. Construction workers wear thick boots because the site is uneven ground, not nicely paved like a suburban road.

l Class size. Classes are bigger than 10, which will be too big for a construction site to safely show kids around.

l Parents. Parent will be up in arms. My son, a construction worker? Hell no!

But, if Junior High could visit a construction site, they would appreciate the word, foundation. After all, they don’t like school since they have minimum 20,000 social media followers, but they go to school because parents say it’s a good foundation for the future.

If Junior High could visit a construction site, they’ll see how a foundation is prepared. The construction guide will explain the importance of measurements, pointing them on the floor plan.

Junior High will see the square steel bars on the ground. What are they called? The icing on the cake will be the arrival of the concrete truck. The driver will tip the carrier and concrete shuffles out. It will end up on a foundation. Concrete pouring, you've got to see it to understand the word foundation.

YouTube videos cannot match the feeling.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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