On May 12, Mrs. Sturgeon and Mrs. McCue took their third grade STEM class from Wiscasset Elementary School on a field trip to Crooker Construction of Topsham. This trip was a culminating activity to our engineering unit on Simple Machines. Many of Crooker’s employees, particularly Bob Mosely,  participated in the tour of the facilities.  The trip began at the quarry and students saw how ledge is drilled and marked for blasting.

Next they went to Precast of Maine to learn how concrete is made. The students saw how simple machines are combined to make complex machines.

The next stop was the lab where students learned how old asphalt is recycled for new pavement.  The students were then provided with a cookout of hot dogs and hamburgers courtesy of Crooker Construction

After lunch, the group toured the paving plant and learned how much technology is involved in the day to day operations of the company.  

The trip ended with generous goody bags from Crooker.  The students had a great time and were very grateful to Crooker for providing them with this wonderful learning experience. Crooker Construction’s goal is to get kids interested in math and engineering with the hope that they will pursue a career in those areas.