This week, Rams in every school division at MICDS, from Lower and Middle to Upper School, have embraced exciting opportunities to more deeply explore their class concepts thanks to the help of a variety of field trips. Check out a few of the adventures they’ve had recently from visiting an ecology center and launching air-powered rockets to examining the impact of French language and history on Sainte Genevieve!
2nd Grade’s Field Trip to Litzsinger Road Ecology Center
Our second graders had a wonderful time at Litzsinger Road Ecology Center this week! “We had the perfect weather for exploring! Students deepened their learning about water while looking for evidence on how water can change the land,” explains Laura Pupillo, Lower School Science Teacher. “We got to imagine what the creek looked like just last weekend when it came up 14 feet during the recent flood. We also got to look for evidence of living things that visit the creek and evidence of life in this area from long, long ago in the many fossils that line the gravel bar.” Students found deer prints at the creek and saw some aquatic worms and aquatic sow bugs in the water near the gravel bar. In addition, they saw how water has the power to pick up trash and other debris. Second-grade students participated in a trash bash and cleaned up any trash they found while exploring the grounds!
2B Photos:
5th Grade Challenger Field Trip
On Wednesday, April 9, our fifth graders visited The Challenger Learning Center in St. Louis which is part of the Challenger Learning Center for Space Science Education, an international education organization founded in 1986 by the astronauts’ families lost in the Challenger Tragedy. Their mission is “to ignite a lifelong interest in science, technology, engineering, and math through simulated space missions and other science education programs.” One of 50 centers around the world, the local center allows students to use STEM curriculum in a unique, real-world-inspired, and life-impacting application.
On this annual field trip, this spring’s cohort of fifth graders participated in two sessions. In “The Great Rocket Design Challenge,” the students were split into teams to design, budget, build, and test air-powered rockets. In “The Voyage to Mars,” they experienced a simulation of a space mission to Mars. The students each assumed a role on the team (data, medical, navigation, communications, probe, remote, life support, isolation) and participated in both the work at Mission Control and on the space station simulator.
French 400 Goes to Sainte Genevieve
On Wednesday, April 9, students in our French 400 courses journeyed to Sainte Genevieve for a field trip with Upper School French Teachers Steven Crumb and Carol Dalton. There, the students immersed themselves in studying French history in our own Midwest backyard. Through the class, they also study past and present French-speaking communities in South America, the Caribbean, and Canada, yet this local experience brings the lessons of connecting to all things French in Missouri too.
This year’s group of French students visited the current exhibition at the Centre for French Colonial Life, the Linden “Living History House.” The French Colonial America organization “preserves and promotes French and Creole culture, and the history of the Mississippi Valley during the Franco-Spanish Colonial period.” They also got to see some of the best-preserved French Creole architecture in all of North America. Afterward, they shared their own digital souvenirs (memories) in French, which they compiled in a slideshow with French descriptions.
Every year, this trip deepens the learning of our French students. They practice their French language skills and put their knowledge of francophone cultures to work as they discover some of the incredible stories and connections in history to Québec, Haiti, and Normandy, France. It’s a great opportunity for students to see the places they’re from or live near with a new perspective.
“It was nice to see how a community so close to us had such a strong French influence still to this day,” shared Chloe Kolman ’26.” It was really interesting to see the style of these French vertically-logged homes that were able to make it through earthquakes and a lot of flooding. We got to see many different kinds of artifacts like pieces of china, furniture, and homes that have been preserved. One of the most interesting artifacts was an 18th-century French pistol that I got to hold. It was about the same height as me, making it very large. It was cool to see this piece of French history that I never knew existed so close to St. Louis!”
“On our field trip to St. Gen., I learned so much not only about French history but also about Missouri history,” said Karthik Krishnaswamy ’26. “I learned all about the massive role that St. Gen. played in the Revolutionary War as it was an area of battle. St. Gen had provided manpower and ammo to help take down British forces in the Battle of St. Louis. Another fact that I learned there was about the unique architectural design that was used to build houses in the 18th century. They used alternating vertical log columns and mud columns with wheat, with a log diagonally laying on the columns to keep the house stable. This sturdy design was cheap and kept houses safe and stable during times of concern, as the area saw many floods and earthquakes. Being able to learn about this historic town was so interesting and entertaining, as we also discovered some bakeries with some really tasty food. All of this was a surprise to me, as I did not know anything about this town or its history. Being able to go down there and learn the rich and unique history of the town was an experience for the ages.”
What a fun and eye-opening field trip!
