Cahokia Mounds Field Trip
Yesterday we went on a field trip to Cahokia Mounds. The mounds were built by the Mississippian Native Americans long ago. We went there in third grade, and I thought that trip was so boring! When Miss Coe told us that we were going to have to fill out these packets with about a million bajillion questions to answer, I wasn't exactly thrilled about going on the trip.
I got on the bus with my friends Aspen and Gabbie, who were also in my group, but the only problem was that we were all sitting in the same seat and I had to sit on the end! So I just sat there with my butt half on the seat for about an hour and a half! And what's even worse is that they were both sleeping on me! The only good part about the bus ride was the great view of downtown St. Louis as we passed.
Next, we headed for the biggest mound at the site, Monk's Mound. You have to climb up a ton of stairs to get to the top. (Jasmine Colvin counted, and she told us later that there were about 85.) Some of the other members in my group acted as if we were in the middle of the desert. Me and Jasmine got up all 85 stairs first in our group. We stopped to admire the views while waiting for the others. We looked down. It was very steep, with lots of brightly colored plants. Then we glanced to our left and saw the Arch in St. Louis. I remarked, "That's the last view of Missouri that we'll see for a while!" (The site was in Illinois.) "Look!" Jasmine cried. I looked, and we were both staring at a beautiful flock of white birds flying around in a circle.
Descending the mound was not nearly as difficult as climbing it. Our next stop was the Stockade, which was really just a wall that was two miles around and shaped like a baseball diamond, so we only stayed there for about five minutes. Then we reboarded the bus and started for a location about 2 blocks down called Woodhenge. Mr. Kinney told us that the Mississippians used this big circle of poles to determine time of day and season.
Mrs. Williams told our group that they could stay by the bus. I was the only one who got up to have a look around. Anyone who went up there saw a strange sight. By the center post, there were a row of two oranges and two apples with a straw braid on top. All of us wondered what it was.
Next, we took the bus to an area of picnic tables to eat our lunches. I had a cold cuts wrap, graham crackers, a fruit salad, lemonade, and two brownies. But I didn't have any silverware, so I had to eat my fruit salad by picking up each piece with my fingers.
Then a bunch of boys were playing roughly on the tire swing, swinging each other around violently and so then Miss Coe agreed to get on and everyone laughed while watching her hang from the tire swing. Finally, the second bus arrived to the picnic tables. The second they were here, I ran over and told Mrs. Buck and Mrs. Farooqui about Miss Coe and the tire swing. Mrs. Farooqui laughed. "It's perfect for her. She's so tiny," she said. Mrs. Buck looked a little nervous. She said, "As long as it's her and not me!"
Later, some of the most athletic seventh graders tried to beat Mr. Kinney in a race. (As well as being a history teacher, he's also a football coach.) Soon after that all the groups left for the Interpretive Center, where we saw a short 15-minute film about the Cahokians and then went in the rest of the Center to look at some of the exhibits. The thing that I spent a lot of time in was the pretend Cahokian village. I spent so much time there that I didn't have time to look at much else before we left. Then I had to sit through another hour and a half on the edge of the bus seat during the ride home, and had a sore butt as we were walking toward the red team area.
The packet was difficult to answer because I didn't get to see everything. Our group only got to answer about half the questions. (Plus, me and Mrs. Williams did almost all of the work.) All in all, though, it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.
I didn't pay attenion to a lot of stuff during the trip because I had the Nickelback song, "Far Away" stuck in my head and sang it to myself over and over. It's a beautiful song that represents every painful feeling that I have right now in life... (Uh-oh! I think I might have just said too much!)
That's about it. (P.S: I asked Julia about my idea yesterday, and she agreed. JULIA ROCKS!)
Ciao for Now,
-Jess
Yesterday we went on a field trip to Cahokia Mounds. The mounds were built by the Mississippian Native Americans long ago. We went there in third grade, and I thought that trip was so boring! When Miss Coe told us that we were going to have to fill out these packets with about a million bajillion questions to answer, I wasn't exactly thrilled about going on the trip.
I got on the bus with my friends Aspen and Gabbie, who were also in my group, but the only problem was that we were all sitting in the same seat and I had to sit on the end! So I just sat there with my butt half on the seat for about an hour and a half! And what's even worse is that they were both sleeping on me! The only good part about the bus ride was the great view of downtown St. Louis as we passed.
Next, we headed for the biggest mound at the site, Monk's Mound. You have to climb up a ton of stairs to get to the top. (Jasmine Colvin counted, and she told us later that there were about 85.) Some of the other members in my group acted as if we were in the middle of the desert. Me and Jasmine got up all 85 stairs first in our group. We stopped to admire the views while waiting for the others. We looked down. It was very steep, with lots of brightly colored plants. Then we glanced to our left and saw the Arch in St. Louis. I remarked, "That's the last view of Missouri that we'll see for a while!" (The site was in Illinois.) "Look!" Jasmine cried. I looked, and we were both staring at a beautiful flock of white birds flying around in a circle.
Descending the mound was not nearly as difficult as climbing it. Our next stop was the Stockade, which was really just a wall that was two miles around and shaped like a baseball diamond, so we only stayed there for about five minutes. Then we reboarded the bus and started for a location about 2 blocks down called Woodhenge. Mr. Kinney told us that the Mississippians used this big circle of poles to determine time of day and season.
Mrs. Williams told our group that they could stay by the bus. I was the only one who got up to have a look around. Anyone who went up there saw a strange sight. By the center post, there were a row of two oranges and two apples with a straw braid on top. All of us wondered what it was.
Next, we took the bus to an area of picnic tables to eat our lunches. I had a cold cuts wrap, graham crackers, a fruit salad, lemonade, and two brownies. But I didn't have any silverware, so I had to eat my fruit salad by picking up each piece with my fingers.
Then a bunch of boys were playing roughly on the tire swing, swinging each other around violently and so then Miss Coe agreed to get on and everyone laughed while watching her hang from the tire swing. Finally, the second bus arrived to the picnic tables. The second they were here, I ran over and told Mrs. Buck and Mrs. Farooqui about Miss Coe and the tire swing. Mrs. Farooqui laughed. "It's perfect for her. She's so tiny," she said. Mrs. Buck looked a little nervous. She said, "As long as it's her and not me!"
Later, some of the most athletic seventh graders tried to beat Mr. Kinney in a race. (As well as being a history teacher, he's also a football coach.) Soon after that all the groups left for the Interpretive Center, where we saw a short 15-minute film about the Cahokians and then went in the rest of the Center to look at some of the exhibits. The thing that I spent a lot of time in was the pretend Cahokian village. I spent so much time there that I didn't have time to look at much else before we left. Then I had to sit through another hour and a half on the edge of the bus seat during the ride home, and had a sore butt as we were walking toward the red team area.
The packet was difficult to answer because I didn't get to see everything. Our group only got to answer about half the questions. (Plus, me and Mrs. Williams did almost all of the work.) All in all, though, it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.
I didn't pay attenion to a lot of stuff during the trip because I had the Nickelback song, "Far Away" stuck in my head and sang it to myself over and over. It's a beautiful song that represents every painful feeling that I have right now in life... (Uh-oh! I think I might have just said too much!)
That's about it. (P.S: I asked Julia about my idea yesterday, and she agreed. JULIA ROCKS!)
Ciao for Now,
-Jess
posted by Jess's Field Trips @ 5:59 PM
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