Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — Some northern Iowa high school students are learning about pioneer life by spending class time outdoors building a 19th century sod house on school grounds.
A Charles City High School American humanities class has been working on the sod house for the past two weeks, the Mason City Globe Gazette reported (http://bit.ly/1LpDrzl ) Saturday.
"It's a great chance for them to experience project-based learning," teacher Rob Pittman said.
Students say they're learning how hard pioneers had to work.
Sophomore Branycia Mitchell said the most difficult part of the project is cutting the sod.
Students cut heavy sod "bricks" out of the ground, which they then lift and stack.
Fellow sophomore Cade Hemesath said that the work "makes you sweat a lot," but will be worth it once it's done.
Once completed, the house will have a working chimney and a sod roof.
It will be the focal point of a field trip for Charles City fourth-graders next week. The students will give presentations on 19th century living during the field trip and will learn about what kinds of games pioneer children played and how pioneers handled household chores.
Hemesath said he doesn't remember having a learning experience like that when he was in elementary school.
"I hope it will be a cool experience for them," he said.
___
Information from: Globe Gazette, http://www.globegazette.com/
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
