What is underneath my house?

Foundations are like the roots of a building! They help our houses and towers stand tall and strong in the face of wind, storms, and other environmental factors.

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  • By investigating the materials that foundations can be made of, like layers of concrete, rocks, or sand, kids are building real-world connections that the buildings we see all around us also have a part of their structure below ground.

  • Kids are experimenting with factors that can affect the strength of a building’s foundation, such as how deep into the Earth the building goes, or the composition of the soil where we’re trying to build!

  • Beyond seeing that foundations going down into the Earth help to make our buildings safe, kids are exploring what happens when we create additional design elements that real engineers use, such as pilings, which are sturdy posts that drive deep into the ground.