SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — Little minds are showing us what they hope to see in their city. Kids in South Jordan aren’t just dreaming about the future - they’re creating a plan of action.
Designing cities that they want to live in. Students at Golden Fields Elementary are learning what it takes to plan a city and then built their own designs.
“Bridge, rivers, Costco, a lot of food, a STEM place, a superhero place, and houses that are soundproof,” explains third grader Titan Anderson, about how he wants to see his city.
The kids got to learn about what it takes to make a city come together.
“Food, water and houses, and everything that a city needs,” said Aria Blades, also a third-grade student.
The kids put those visions on paper in their STEM class with their teacher, Keila Mower, who calls herself the “ultimate STEM geek.”
“It was just really fun because they got to use their imagination and learn principles related to stem, but also community learning,” said Mower.
The kids worked in teams to design the infrastructure in their ideal city – figuring out what they want to see.
“I want to see a bunch of parks and dog parks,” said Axton Padilla, also in the third grade.
They had some fun ideas. “One of them wanted to have a slide from one house to another so they can play with their neighbors,” explained Mower.
And some thoughtful ones too. “Houses and lots of places, and homes for people who don’t have homes,” said Padilla.
“One of the kids surprised me because he wrote on his house 'everyone is welcome' so that was so touching to me,” said Mower.
With pencils and rulers in hand, the kids spent eight weeks designing their cities and building models of their dream homes as well, with the goal to make them more responsible citizens.
“They are exposed to STEM principles all around us," said Mower. "They see bridges, they see homes, they see a lot of businesses, buildings, but do they understand how that comes together."
“I feel that if they learn how they come together, then they can appreciate what they have and they will be grateful living in our city,” she said.
