Westward Ho!

The students ventured to San Jose's History Park in order to learn about the experiences of early Americans and their struggles with moving West across the United States.  This amazing field trip is one that is enjoyed by our 5th graders every year and this year it again, did not disappoint.  Students spent the day transition through a series of rotations that offered hands on experiences for our students.  The first was games and food that children would have played and eaten on their journey.  The students were taught two different games and had chances to compete with each other.  Then they got to use historical cooking tools to make a healthy snack that many travelers made to keep their energy up along the way. The next rotation, students looked at a series of animal skins and other artifacts from the time in order to infer what animal they came from or how the artifact was used.  The last rotation, students were assigned jobs and they had to make tough decisions about what items to pack in their wagon that would be necessary or helpful on their journey.  They then had to pack the wagon with all of the items they chose. 

The students loved the experience and had smiles on their faces all day!

 

 Goal Line Math:

Students got the chance to ride a chartered bus to Levi Stadium, which they really enjoyed!  Once at the stadium they were greeted by energetic staff who promised a day filled with fun.  The students were given the chance to learn about all of the math used in football in an amazing interactive classroom.  They used touch screen tables to compete against each other in knowledge based activities and then were challenged to build a model stadium using a variety of materials.  They also were treated to ours of the stadium, including the museum, hall of fame, and locker rooms.  A scavenger hunt in the museum was an exciting addition to the day, students hunted for examples of different numbers and math facts as they explored.  According to the students the highlights of the day were running drills on the field and getting the opportunity to role play as players, mascots, cheerleaders, and even sports announcers.  Overall, the students had a fantastic time learning about the many ways football involves math, science and technology!