Washington State History Museum

We went on a great field trip to the Washington State History Museum last week. The students found out how Tacoma became a city and why. Students also learned about the early jobs in the area and what like was like during the war. They had a great time learning all about Tacoma.

Around town

The students began learning about government in the Bridges program.  They began by learning about the 3 branches of government, which can apply to the US federal government and to how states are run. The students also discussed how federal and state governments differ.

They learned that counties and cities are run differently. The students did some research to find out more about the county government. They learned that Pierce and King counties have a county government with a council and an executive. They then went on a walking tour through downtown to see the city and county buildings that are so close. They discovered that many of the county offices are within a block from each other and theorized as to why. They saw where the county jail and courthouses where and discovered that many law firms are in the area too. The students also learned that Tacoma is the county seat for Pierce County. Last, they created brochures for the county and its government.

After a brief tour of the area, the students played a game of "I wonder" with different buildings in the area (I wonder what that building is.). They had to lead the group to the building to discover what it was. In the process, they quickly learned more about different things in the community, including public and privately owned art installations.

First Weeks

The Bridges program is off to a great start. How can you not love a trip to the park, a walk around town, a ride on the light rail, a stop at the donut store, and more?  We began by looking at the community of Tacoma and what that entails. The students have been on 2 long walks to make a list of all that they see in the community. They learned that there are LOTS of things that go into a community!

Students completed a math activity at Wright Park, which included finding the circumference of the giant circular benches and writing a proportion for the types of ducks in the pond.

They rode the light rail to the Tacoma Dome and Union Station, where they calculated an estimate of the number of pieces of glass on the glass ceiling.  

They noticed all of the things that make up the Tacoma community and they wrote about why all of these things are important to it.