By Joe Puncochar, 6th Grade Social Studies Teacher
On Friday, May 5th the HLWW 6th grade students traveled to St. Paul to visit the Minnesota Historical Society as well as the newly renovated Minnesota Capitol. The field trip is part of an entire year spent studying the great state of Minnesota in 6th grade Social Studies. The students took part in lessons learning about the first Minnesotan Native Americans over 10,000 years ago and are finishing up learning about the late 1900s and early 2000s as the school year closes.
Every year when the students find out they are going to have the opportunity to visit the Minnesota Historical Society and the capital they aren’t quite sure what to think. They ask things like, “Is it going to be fun?” or “Is it a bunch of old stuff that we can’t touch?” They aren’t sure what to expect but they are reassured that it’s not like an ordinary museum.
The Minnesota Historical Society is a hands-on, interactive place for students to manipulate and play with things from Minnesota’s past and present. The exhibits include artifacts from the Minnesota fur trade, lumber and flour industries, World War I, The Cold War, and much more. Students can play games with rationing stamps from World War II, walk through a house that changes with the decades from 1900-2000, students learn what it’s like to work in a Minnesota iron mine by “operating” mining tools and “using explosives” to blow the iron ore to pieces, go in a basement of a house for a simulation of the historic Fridley Tornado that wiped out much of the city in 1965, and a World War I simulation of riding in a plane with paratroopers. By the end of the day, students feel as if they have a grasp of what earlier people in Minnesota lived like and how our state was built to what it is today.
After visiting the history center, the 6th grade students ate their lunches on the capitol lawn before touring the State Capitol. The students were able to view all of the beautiful architecture within the building as well as visit the offices of state politicians. They were able to view the room where the senate house meet and vote on bills and other policies.
When asked about the trip students said, “It was like our social studies book came to life.” and “It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.” Each year as the students study the state of Minnesota they learn about what transpired in order for us to get where we are today. This field trip is a great way to tie it all together and help students put images and events into perspective.
