Field Trip

On January 27, 2023 the 6th grade of DA went to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.It started with the bus ride. It was not as quick as I thought it  would be, but there was no shortage of entertainment, with scattered time-killers, conversations and chants of, “71 bottles of beer on the wall.” But that all ended when we got to the museum.

When we got to the museum, the first thing was a lining-up of all classes. When we were ready, we went in. When I came in, the breeze of the air conditioning brushed past my face. I noticed the massive, majestic dinosaurs, the stuffed animal specimens, we toured those for about 30 minutes, then we went upstairs to the habitat exhibit.

In the habitat exhibit, we toured mountains, underground, Piedmont, and coast. But the most breathtaking thing was looking down at the dinosaur exhibit we had previously seen. We looked at models of animals hunting in their natural habitat. We also had our first but not last run-in with the Robbins’ group. We then crossed the bridge to the atmosphere exhibit. There were many simulation games, such as the climate change regulation simulation along with a MASSIVE screen showing environmental patterns of Mars. There was a window to a lab studying ants! We then went to the third level of the building.

On the third level, there were exhibits about meteorites, weather, and a lab open to the public. I was most captivated by the meteorites. We were supposed to write about the meteorites, but my group did not have pencils which took that responsibility off my shoulders. The lab was crowded so I did not get the opportunity to use it, but from what I have heard, it was an amusing experience. The weather activities were not as interactive as I thought it would be, which made it less interesting.

After that, we went to the RACE exhibit. On this one we had pencils to answer questions with unlike the meteorite exhibit. It was eye-opening in many ways. It had many posters addressing things that are rarely thought about for many, such as environmental racism. An important  thing I saw were the faces on the posters. It makes me more pensive when I associate issues with humans, and that helps me do that.

 

After that, we rode back. The bus ride back felt quicker than the first, but somewhat the same. When we got back, we dropped off our stuff in Ms.Stanbury’s room before going out to the playground for recess.

Overall, I think this trip was worthwhile and the 6th grade teachers should consider bringing next year’s 6th graders to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.