How do African tribal peoples build a bench? Where does electricity come from? What kind of house should a Blue Jay have? How should a lunar module be shaped? Hands-on takes new meaning in this program where students choose a project to research, design and build that relates directly to classroom subjects.

Most children have a strong desire to use their hands to build things; it's really not surprising considering we are surrounded by built things every day. In this lab, children usually find that what they would like to build is beyond their current range of skills. With the careful guidance of our Projects Lab and classroom teachers, students reach out for those skills and build a project they can be proud of.

Suddenly, students need the library to find out more about what they are building. They need a very precise drawing with appropriate details. And they need to learn about fractions, numbers, measuring and geometry (lots of math!) to achieve the desired result. Children also explore the use of materials such as wood, electricity and batteries. Through trial and error, they adjust their drawings to meet reality. What's truly exciting is that the children push themselves to learn all this rather than having some one make them memorize it.

This learning takes place in a heavy duty, top quality wood shop, designed so that students from JK-8 can safely use the same tools. Even the youngest children are happy to attend to their tasks for one hour twice weekly in this class.