Each year, the Vicksburg middle school students in Shawn McGuire’s social studies class delve into the mysteries of ancient Mesopotamia. It doesn’t always sink in by just reading the text, so the students are asked if they want to research a particular structure and then recreate the building in some form. It’s a task that many parents have watched as their children wrestle with construction, trying to stay out of the way, says McGuire.
This year more than a dozen creations are being displayed in the middle school library. Students can vote for the best construction. Anna Christiansen thinks she has a winner in her depiction of the hanging gardens of Babylon. It depicts King Nebuchadnezzar’s gift to his queen who was homesick for the lush, mountainous environment in her homeland of Persia, the modern day Iran.
Christiansen carefully constructed her ideal of what they must have been like. She even has a working fountain with a pump inside to circulate the water.