Yesterday, we had our first field trip of the year!!! We went to Cahokia Mounds near Collinsville, IL. One purpose of the field trip was to discover past cultures in the area where we reside today. The 5th graders (and 6th graders) had a blast learning about the Mississippian Native American, namely the Mound Builders, or Cahokia Tribe.
We watched a movie on a huge screen learning about the Cahokia (City of the Sun) people. We looked around the museum and ate lunch under trees. Some students even ate lunch sitting on top of a small mound that the Mound Builders had built.
After lunch we went to Monks Mound. Monks Mound is a very large mound that the Cahokia people built. They built all of the mounds by digging up dirt and hauling it to the mound site. Monks Mound took over 300 years to build! The Tribal Chief lived on top of Monks Mound and ruled the nation of 20,000+ people. The tribe saw the Chief at the level of the gods of the earth that they worshiped. The mound was built so that the Chief lived closer to the gods. Other mounds were built and had various purposes from Tribal leaders homes, to burial sites.
We climbed to the to the top of Monks Mound, which according to the students was between 148 and 154 steps to the top. To burn off excess energy, some of the boys (I don't know if any girls did), ran the stairs at least 4 times round-trip (and I don't think that it wore them out, or even made a dent in their energy level. :-) )
From the top of the mound we could see for a great distance. We could see downtown St. Louis and the Arch, we could see several other mounds that were built. We also saw, and the students were fascinated with, was the landfill, that was taller than Monks Mound off in the distance.
The Cahokia people even had a sun-dial/calendar! They used this to track the time of day, as well as the seasons. This was a structure that was built out of 48 logs, about the size of telephone poles, that were placed in a large circle with one in the center.
The Cahokia people even had a sun-dial/calendar! They used this to track the time of day, as well as the seasons. This was a structure that was built out of 48 logs, about the size of telephone poles, that were placed in a large circle with one in the center.
After a great day, with beautiful weather, we turned back toward school. Even though the students didn't want to go back to school after a day of fun, many were exhausted and glad to be done climbing lots of stairs. (One students even mentioned that the stairs at school are nothing in comparison to what they had climbed earlier that day; they said they can't complain about climbing the stairs at school.) In my opinion, this was a very successful field trip.
Check out the pictures that Mrs. Ankersen took! (they will be up soon!)
Rachel and McKenzie looking at artifacts.
Caleb and Matt (6th graders) looking at artifacts
Monks Mound at a distance.
Part of the museum we could see from the movie seats.
Replica of Monks Mound.
Alex (6th grader) playing with Native American toys.
Sign about Cahokia.
Mrs. Ankersen with Monks Mound in the background; the picture doesn't give it justice
From the top of Monks Mound looking down the top flight of stairs.
Mrs. May and Colton with St. Louis in the background.
Downtown St. Louis
Group shot
Sign about Woodhenge, the solar calendar that the Cahokia people used.
The poles formed a large circle around a center pole.
Colin, Nathan, Sammy, and Alex T. posing for a picture at the center pole of Woodhenge.
All pictures are copyright. Permission required for use.
All pictures are copyright. Permission required for use.
