TO EXPLORE OR NOT TO EXPLORE?

Hauppauge 7th grade students recently had the opportunity to celebrate Explorer Day. Their adventure began with an introduction by Middle School Principal Maryann Fletcher followed by a lively debate by the “monarchs” of Europe and Asia on whether they should explore the new world or not. Played by Hauppauge High School students, the monarchs discussed the benefits of God, gold and glory as well as ethnocentrism and the high cost of exploration.

The Middle School students then set out to explore informational stations: Magellan’s Trip, Star Lab, aquatic Touch Tank, Farm Animals, Shipbuilding, Reasons for Exploration, Colombian Exchange, Native American Legacy, Discovering the Universe, Orienteering, Cooking and much more. The students recorded information from each station, including: exploration, encounter and/or exchange. Their research objective was to discover an answer for Explorer Day’s essential question: “To what extent does exploration, encounter or exchange impact history?”.

Hauppauge High School’s History Club members, let by Social Studies Teacher Ellen Robbins, either led or escorted the Middle School students to each discovery station. Following the final rotation, the 7th graders wrote their individual assessments with assistance from teachers and the High School students who helped them to find evidence to support their claim for the essential question. Explorer Day concluded with an informed debate between groups of students who were for exploration and those who were against exploration.

Each year, Hauppauge Middle School Administrative Assistant Michelle Aversano finds interesting new presenters for Explorer Day. The Star Lab from the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Discovering the Universe from the Vanderbilt Museum, and Aquatic Touch from The Waterfront Center were three of the students’ favorites. Seventh grade Social Studies Teachers Jeff Parrett and Lauren Kurrass – along with Director of Social Studies Doreen Gordon – planned the station categories and the writing and debate portions of Explorer Day. Overwhelmingly, the students commented that Explorer Day “was fun, it went fast, the stations were interesting and they enjoyed the day.”