Silk Roads Exhibition Field Trip
February 28th, 2009
The 7th and 8th grade world history classes went off to explore the Silk Roads on February 24th. What they found was a treasure trove of ancient artifacts that had been buried beneath the shifting sands of China’s far western Xinjiang province. Xinjiang was a crossroads of the ancient world and as such saw the arrival and disappearance of empires, religions and artistic styles. Many of these have been preserved for hundreds of years and are now on display at a temporary exhibition at the National Museum of History in Taipei.
The students roamed the museum in pairs searching for the artifacts that caught their eye so that they could record them on their activity sheets. The 8th graders paid special attention to the cultural influence of China on Xinjiang’s lifestyle, while the 7th graders looked for objects that might have been used by traders, travelers and other folk that lived and worked along the famed Silk Roads. This would help them when we got back to class and they had their big Silk Roads project.
We were accompanied on our field trip by our principal’s husband Mr. Leo Still and Amanda and Tiffany’s mother Ms. Huang. The students were in high spirits throughout, from their lunch eaten on the bumpy bus ride to the museum, to their guided-tour and pair exploration time. I must say it was the most fun I’ve ever had on a school field trip. I can’t wait for the next one.