Trip to the National Archives- Charters of Freedom

Yesterday we took an AMAZING field trip! Since we've been studying history leading up to the Revolutionary War as part of our Tapestry of Grace curriculum, I thought it would be fun to take a trip to see the real documents that paved the way for our country, and changed the course of history.

Since we are blessed to live in a suburb of Washington DC, we went with some friends to the National Archives to see the Charters of Freedom: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. I had seen these once on a field trip when I was in 8th grade! But I hadn't been back since. It was really incredible, especially in light of what we have been studying. Unfortunately, no cameras are allowed at all in the museum, but it was neat to locate some signatures of the founding fathers and then find their portraits on the painting above on the wall.

Another reason why we went was to see this amazing temporary exhibit on Benjamin Franklin:
http://www.archives.gov/nae/visit/gallery.html  they were able to practice typesetting, see some electricity experiments, and  do other interactive activities.
The boys really loved this one! Zach has declared that Benjamin Franklin is now his "official favorite person in history"

And here is Tyler checking out an invention of BJ, the chair with the pedal controlled fan.

While there we visited the Learning Lab, where the kids were able to pretend to be an "archivist" and do research to find clues. it was a great hands on project I think they will remember! They learned all about what it takes to protect the documents, how they are stored and categorized, and why they are important.

 Zach was interested in some documents, but his eye was drawn to some of the patent applications for some inventions. We got to see copies of Edisons incandescent patent.

 The girls kept asking for "more pictures of mommies!" they were fascinated by historical photos of women in different kinds of outfits!

Then, it was an adventurous ride home on the Metro:

 

And finally, we did a fun activity when we got home to accept the risk, add our names to the Declaration and Join the Signers! (you can see their signatures added electronically in the lower left corner!)
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_sign.html

And now... onto the French and Indian War this week!