6/13 Week 3: Pioneers of Florida

This is the second week of the Summer Camp for the Orange County Regional History Center. Each week of the camp focuses on a different aspect of Florida history. Last week' focused on Florida's tourism. For this week's lessons, the theme was set around the pioneers who built Florida. 

As I talked about in my last blog post, the activities at the camp focus on either experience activities and crafting activities. This time around, I will start with the experience activities. I did not get to experience this activity, but the kids focused on acting out a script since famous singer and actress Ariana Grande comes from Florida. The main experience activity I assisted with was another artifact exhibition. This time the exhibition took place in the Pioneer gallery on the 4th floor. This section focuses on the Native American and Pioneer history of the 1800s. During this visit, the kids got to handle several pioneer tools like a teapot, an old-fashioned iron, a hoof knife from the 1960s, and an old screwdriver pioneers. The highlight of the artifact showcase was a doll that maybe from the Civil War Era. One of the teachers of the camp, Griffon, highlighted how the doll was not just old, but expensive. With a paper mâché head, silk sash, and custom-made boots, the doll clearly cost a lot of money back in the day. The other major experience activity was the simulation of wetland redevelopment. This activity focused on the effects of wetland loss through the land redevelopment of pioneers. By simulating concrete with an aluminum pan and the wetlands with sponges, the kids got to see how the wetlands absorb water and a much higher rate than the asphalt can. With those activities covered, I will move on to the crafting activities.

The Windows and Landscapes

This time around the kids made two different art pieces. The first art piece focused on stained glass due to Tiffany-stained glass coming from Florida. The kids created stained glass by pasting tissue paper onto construction paper and then putting a window stencil on top of it. The other art activity involved following an art tutorial to make a landscape. As you might have guessed from the other activities, Bob Ross also comes from Florida. What I found interesting is how quickly the kids decided on whether they would like an activity or not. With pretty much every activity, the kids took an interest in it, but the Bob Ross paintings saw most of the kids quickly give up. While most of the paintings came out well, by the time the littlest kids were given a lot of freedom to make their own designs. Getting to see how the teachers adapt and changing the class to suit the needs of the children lets me see how I might need to change my own potential lessons to better teach the kids about the subject matter.