Our fifth grade classes took a walking field trip to Maple Lake on Tuesday and Wednesday where they were able to experience what it was like to be a French Voyageur. This is part of our Social Studies curriculum. After learning the basics of paddling a canoe, about 20 kids and adults loaded a Voyageur canoe to paddlei around Maple Lake. Students learned what a day was like for the voyageurs and analyzed a map to see what their route would have looked like. The students were also able to see a beaver pelt that were traded by the Voyageurs and learned some paddling routines and a little of the French language they would have spoken. It was a fun way to learn about some of America’s French heritage.
Students also participated in an insect investigation where they learned about dragonflies, stink bugs, honeybees, click beetles and even mosquitoes and how they each have their place in the natural world.