photo of students with clipboards exploring a museum display

4th grade students visited the NYS Museum as part of their unit studying Native Americans

Students in Mrs. Laz, Mrs. Kneer and Mrs. Clark’s 4th grade classrooms have been exploring a unit on the Iroquois in Social Studies. Their study extended out of the classroom with a visit to the New York State Museum in Albany.

Students explored three main museum exhibits depicting life in a Mohawk Iroquois village during 1600. The 4th graders gathered information and noted details while walking through part of a full-sized longhouse and studying the detailed dioramas. When they returned to the classroom, students applied their new knowledge to create their own Iroquois longhouse diorama.

photo of students and a teacher around a table building dioramas

After their trip to the museum, students build models of Iroquois longhouses in the classroom.

Art teacher Mrs. MacDonald tied the Iroquois unit into the art room as well. The 4th grade students created Iroquois False Face Masks using paper mâché.

It was a great opportunity for students to learn more about the Iroquois of 1600 and how they used the resources of this region during that time.