A Day at the Canal

Today the elementary students went on a field trip to learn all about canals, canal boats, and what life was like back in the early 19th century.

We got to ride on a canal boat pulled by two (very slow!) mules.

After the canal boat ride, we split into two groups and went to different work stations throughout the park. The first work station my group went to was the "Make your own Canal Boat" station. They were given a long piece of aluminum foil, popsicle sticks, straws, pipe cleaners, and tape. From these materials, they had to make a canal boat that would be able to hold lots of cargo (in this case, washers!) I was with a younger group, so I had to kind of spur their creativity along a bit (and mine was sadly lacking as well!) We were given a time limit to complete our boats, and then they were placed in water. Our guide then kept putting washers in the "boat" until the boat decided to sink. Our "boats" did extremely well, in fact surprising me with how many washers it held.

Here is a short video of the kids counting as our guide put the washers in the one boat. There was a whole scientific explanation for why the boat didn't sink, but I can't recall all the details at the moment. :)

Next, the children had a "physics" lesson about weight, gravity, and friction. While I am sure much of terminology went over their heads, they still enjoyed watching the result.

Notice what seems to be a tug-of-war game in this picture?

They were pulling this big canal boat!!!

What strong muscles they must have :) Actually, the guide was just explaining the scientific reasoning why just 2 mules could pull such a huge boat filled with cargo. Amazing how everything has a scientific explanation :)

Next, we went to the work station learning about "Simple Machines". Each child got to use the pulley system to pick up a rather heavy bucket.

They then got to make their own catapults by using Tinker toys. Quite a fun, and, at times, frustrating experience for them as they learned that if at first they don't succeed - try, try again!! Inventing and creating is hard work!

Enjoying a lunch break...

During lunch break, the kids enjoyed the nearby playground...

After lunch, we again went to our separate stations. We learned all about how people washed clothes back in the 19th century.

It was a perfect, blustery day for hanging out the laundry! Those shirts probably were dry in minutes :)

They had a chance to play with 19th century toys. Here the girls are playing with wooden dancing men. :)

They learned how to harness a mule...

They even learned how to blow on conch shells to make them sound like horns. Both Stephen & Jacob caught on quickly :)

One of the last activities of the day was visiting the blacksmith shop. Even I got a chance to be decked out in safety glasses and gloves as I hammered an S hook into shape, and kept the fire sparks burning strong. I had been standing there with camera in hand, ready to take pictures of the kiddos, when the blacksmith asked me if I wanted to make one. How could I turn down such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?? ;-)

On the way home, I looked in the back of the bus, and I saw that Jordan had come up with a cool idea for his S hook. Soon the entire back of the bus had turned into a coat rack!

What a fun - and exhausting - way to start a new week of school! Only three more weeks to go before summer break begins. Where did the school year go?!