We were happy to take a break from physical activity, last Friday, to enjoy some Andy's frozen custard on the back steps.

The first station for last Friday's Field Day was the water station.  Even with unseasonably cool weather, things weren't overly cold to stop students from having a great time filling buckets with water from sponges and tubey-squirter-things, as well as tossing a few water balloons back and forth.  It was a great beginning to the day.

Says the fort's website:

With added weight on our vehicles, we repeated the previous experiment.  The drop-weight system had a more difficult time pulling the load this time.

These questions have now been answered, at least in part, through the experiments of the day.  On one end of the string:  the vehicles created from a technical drawing.  On the other end of the string:  a hook on which hangs washer weights.  When the number of washers is increased, the vehicles move quicker.  When weight (wooden blocks) is added to the vehicle, more washers must be used.  Students timed their experiments and recorded their findings.

We were fortunate that the weather held out for our field trip to the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri.  The highlight of our day was probably just being able to learn about this man and his hardships while enjoying the fresh springtime air.  Students were very respectful to our ranger, and thankfully, they already knew the answers to her questions.  Taking a stroll to the Carver house, considering the terrain that weaves through the hilly forest, and wondering about mortality while facing the graves of Moses and Susan, and just three of the times when students were faced with times to listen to our ranger.

The Discover Center at the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri, is chock full of interactive displays for kids to enjoy.  I was thrilled to see that not only were they exploring and but they were not merely pushing buttons.  They read displays and followed directions.  They played creatively with vegetables, microphones, and an entire 19th Century school room.  Their interest in mammals, insects, and reptiles of our area was piqued through the use of the museum's interactive exhibits.

We took the Be Washington! program out for another spin, this week, finally getting to explore an instance in American history that few have ever heard of - the Newburgh Conspiracy.  Here is a time at the end of the Revolution.  An anonymous letter was circulated among the Continental generals.  The letter contained both a complaint of the conditions and pay for the army, and a call to discuss storming Congress in a military coup.

What would you do if you were George Washington, the commander-in-chief, confronted with this situation? Students listened to advisors and then were compelled to make their decision:  arrest the conspirators for treason, talk them down from their position, or urge Congress to better support their soldiers.  Could a civilian government continue to exist, or was the United States to become another military dictatorship?

There is a dramatic and emotional conclusion to the story, and one of my favorite stories from George Washington's life.  When I heard the account from Boston's Dr. William Fowler, visiting scholar at last year's Mount Vernon Teachers Institute, I was astounded at the brilliant simplicity of the solution.  Let's just say that if George had not donned his eye glasses on that day, our entire way of life would be different today.

Students had to use a technical drawing (top and side views) to construct a standard vehicle.  Paying close attention to all the details proved difficult for a few groups during the construction phase.

Then, after making the car, the drawing was removed, and students were assigned the task of making their own technical drawings (top and side views).  This, too, proved to be quite difficult for the group.  With storms in the area and a hard time crunch (and behaviors that seem to dependent on such things) students were not able to finish their drawings at the end of the day.