Second graders at Sunny View Elementary recently added a hands-on dimension to their study of the American West with a collection from the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center.
Students explored a Native American artifact box containing a variety of Cherokee items, including pottery, baskets, an owl effigy pipe, blow darts, arrowheads, scrapers, masks and ax heads.
The collection gave students an opportunity to examine objects connected to the people and culture they are studying in class.
Students also tried a traditional game using bean seeds and corn, adding another interactive element to the lesson.
With the museum materials in front of them, students could look closely, ask questions and make connections between their classroom studies and the objects themselves.
