Touring the United States

We began our tour of the United States last week by completing some fun actvities that I found online.  One of our third grade history goals is to learn about the different regions of the United States.We loaded up on a "train" and went on a quick tour of the Northeast region last Wednesday.  In order to earn their train ticket, students had to label all of the states and capitals in the northeast region, carve a shape out whalebone (Ivory soap), and find a "Plymouth Rock."  Once they had completed these activities, they were given a train ticket and allowed to board.  Zoe was our wonderful conductor.  She did a great job of announcing each stop.   We visited famous landmarks located in the northeast, and we even stopped at a few places to complete some activities.  We made really cute suitcases to keep all of our papers in.  I will post some more pictures when our United States tour hits the next place.

Did you know that in the northeast, sailors used to carve and sell treasures out of whalebone?

Trey and Shaw locating states and capitals.

We toured the Hershey factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  We stopped and set up an assembly line.  We had a contest to see who could wrap the most kisses (chocolate chips) in foil.

These guys won by assembling 62 kisses.

We visited the following landmarks:

• West Quoddy Head Lighthouse- We got to listen to the foghorn and see pictures of the lighthouse.
• Mt. Washington, which is the highest peak in the northeast. (6,288 feet)  We learned about the wild weather they experience.
• We stopped by Plymouth, Massachusetts and even did an online tour of the Mayflower.  We used a map to trace the Pilgrim's journey.
• We stopped by the Boston Common, which is the oldest park in the country.  It is also the starting point of the Freedom Trail.  We also learned about the Boston Tea Party, and we all received a teabag to help us remember what we learned.
• The next stop was the Erie Canal, which was the first transportation system between New york City and the Great Lakes region.
• In Hershey, Pennsylvania, we learned about one of the great wonders of the world- chocolate!  We learned how candy bars are made, and we sampled a couple of fun-size candy bars.
• Independence Hall in Philadelphia is where the Second Continental Congress convened and where the Declaration of Independence was debated and adopted.
• In Washington, D.C. we visited the White House.
• In New York, which was our final stop, we visited the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.  We did a litlle math to figure out how long it would take us to climb the stairs to the top.

We had a great visit, and luckily we made it back to SCA in time for dismissal.

Next stop- Southeast...coming soon.