After lunch, it was time to learn about pioneers' chores. First, we dressed in pioneer clothes. One of the chores was churning butter from whipped cream. It was hard work! We also turned a wooden handle on a metal device to grind rice and wheat into flour. We used the butter and flour to make biscuits. Yum! Some of the other chores were scrubbing clothes on a washboard and hanging them on a clothesline and grinding coffee beans. Overall, we all loved doing the chores, but talk about hard work! -by Anna & Vered
After we did our chores, we got to play some games that pioneer kids used to play in their free time. They didn't have much free time because they had to do so many chores. The games were gunny sack races, wheel barrow races, and three-legged races. Anna won the gunny sack race. Nikko and Vered won the wheel barrow race. Talia and Lena won the three-legged race. The races were hard to do in our pioneer clothing and made us very warm. The girls wore long skirts or dresses and bonnets, and the boys wore long pants and shirts with straw hats. We had a lot of fun! -by Nikko & Talia
We also had a chance to visit a pioneer cabin! The cabin was made of wooden planks. It was a replica of Aldo Leopold's cabin in Baraboo, WI. He was one of the first naturalists. Part of the cabin had a fireplace to warm the cabin and for cooking. We also saw a kerosene lamp. It was very fascinating how almost everything there was different from today. When somebody says to you, "don't let the bedbugs bite," it's because they used to have beds made of hay so it was easy for bugs to get inside. While we were there, we also sat on benches and learned a little bit about schools in pioneer times. We got to write on slates and look at the "readers" they used to read and copy. We had an amazing time there! We already hope we can go back there soon! -by Ilana & Lena
The next day, we started to simulate in our classroom what it would be like to go to school in
pioneer times. We had to line up at the door, shortest to tallest and march in when the bell rang. The teacher was very strict, and there were lots of rules and harsh punishments back then. In the classroom, we practiced mental arithmetic, tried writing calligraphy, read and discussed poetry, and studied synonyms though rhymes. We also drew maps of Wisconsin from memory on our "slates," and held a spelling bee. Every time we answered a question throughout the day, we had to stand up to answer. If we answered something incorrectly, well, then we were put in the corner with the dunce cap. (Don't worry, we didn't really feel like
dunces because we were laughing the whole time!) We also played pioneer games like Mother Hen, Doubles Tag, and Throw the Handkerchief. We enjoyed getting to experience what life was like back then! -by Zoe
Our class went on a field trip to Aldo Leopold Nature Center to learn about Pioneers and Maple Sugaring. The first thing we did was learn how to distinguish the liquids used in maple sugaring by their density using a hydrometer. The more sugar it has, the higher its density. Then we learned that it takes five gallons of sap just to make one pint of syrup! Next we went outside and listened to the tress with stethoscopes. The sap running through the trees sounded like rushing water on rocks. It was amazing! We saw how they "tap" trees and let the sap drip into buckets. Then we observed the pan full of sap that they were turning into syrup by boiling it over a fire. Finally, we tasted partially cooked syrup. It tasted like "smoked water." It was fun to learn all about how maple syrup is made! -by 
