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City students visit habitat that's half a world away
Hugh Mercer Elementary pupils get hands-on look at tropical rainforests
Date published: 3/2/2006
By EMILY BATTLE
On the map in Beth McKinney's second-grade classroom at Hugh Mercer Elementary School, Brazil is half a world away.
But for Hugh Mercer students yesterday, all it took to experience the South American country's rain forests was a quick walk out to the parking lot.
The Discovery Creek Children's Museum of Washington brought its Rolling Rainforest exhibit--a trailer outfitted as a walk-through jungle--to the Fredericksburg elementary school yesterday.
Throughout the day, each class had a chance to walk through the exhibit, as museum staff pointed out animals and plants.
Lara Cascallar, who manages the exhibit for the museum, said one of the exhibit's goals is to teach children how products they use in their daily lives are connected to the South and Central American rain forests.
As they walked through the trailer, students saw a 7-Eleven coffee cup--a clue that the coffee their parents drink may have come from a tropical jungle. They saw examples of the plants that produce chocolate, vanilla and chewing gum.
"It's intended to show them how the rain forest is connected to their daily life," Cascallar said.
For teachers, the exhibit provided a hands-on opportunity to help students visualize some of the areas they'll be studying. First-grade teacher Jana Wilson said the exhibit will tie in with units on different cultures and places around the world.
It also fits nicely with a book the class has been reading about two children who travel to a rain forest.
For McKinney's class, the experience will tie in with students' study of different habitats.
For the kids, though, the big attraction seemed to be the animals. They weren't real, but just the same, students' fingers shot into the air as they pointed toward tree frogs, snakes, birds, bugs and other wildlife hidden in the trailer's foliage.
For Lois Mensah, a student in McKinney's class, the best part was spotting a red and black snake lurking toward the "forest" floor. For classmate Luke Romero, it was an alligator.
Hugh Mercer Principal Marjorie Tankersley said the exhibit was a good tie-in with the school's Standards of Learning curriculum. It was made possible in part by Walter McLeod, whose daughter attends Hugh Mercer.
Tankersley said McLeod partially funded the exhibit's trip to Fredericksburg, and the school paid for the rest. She did not have details on how much the exhibit cost.
Tankersley said teachers did a lot of work in classes to prepare the students for the exhibit, and planned follow-up lessons to help them process what they saw yesterday.
To reach EMILY BATTLE:540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com
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Date published: 3/2/2006
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