On the afternoon of June 3rd, seventh-grade teachers and students of the SHSID shuttled through some major museums in Shanghai, quietly listening to the stories of the past told by the museums. Under the guidance of the tour guides, the students developed a strong interest in many previously unfamiliar fields and had a good time traveling through time and space.

At the Shanghai Meteorological Museum, students learned different instruments used to measure the weather, such as weathervanes and rain gauges, and the functions and history of each instrument. At the Shanghai Tou-Se-We Museum, the magnificent Chinese Gateway, vibrant stained-glass cabinets, paintings, and many sculptures with both Chinese and Western elements were drawing the crowds. At the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, students were amazed by the room full of art pieces. The miniature clay animals seemed to be minimized forms of themselves! At the Lu Hanbin Typewriter Museum, the instructor introduced all about the history of typewriters. Her use of persuasive appeals and her storytelling skills made all students addicted to typewriters!

The visit to the Hamburg House, the first passive house in China, was a real eye-opener. A passive house is a house that relies on little outside energy, which is desirable for environment protection and energy conservation and is widely used in foreign countries like Germany. This passive house has a thick wall (about 1m) and can gain energy from geothermal, solar energy, and thermal energy of people in the house; hence it only requires very little electricity to work. At the World Expo Museum, students learned about the history of the World Expo and the creations triggered by the World Expo. At the China Art Museum, the most impressive work was a moving projection of the famous painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” a legacy of the Song Dynasty. The museum had enlarged the artwork thirty times and projected it onto a giant cave-like screen, allowing the audience to see every detail and the gradual change of day to night in the scene, a sight that drew gasps from the students.

At the factory of Kaineng Health Technology Group Co., Ltd., students witnessed the complete set of filter production process at the Kaineng Company and learned about some environmental protection systems at the Kaineng Company. For example, domestic wastewater will be pumped to the top floor to cultivate some plants whose rhizomes can filter nitrogen and phosphorus.

The purpose of this field trip is to encourage students to learn what they cannot learn at school. As a student said, “I hope the school can have more events like this because we cannot only live in the little world the school built for us. After all, in places outside of school, the sea of knowledge still exists.”

(Written by 7(4) Gabrielle, 7(12) Tim, 7(3) Jennifer, 7(11) Katie, 7(8) Christina Supervised byMaXinyu,Brittany Amling Pictures by G7Teachers Edited byHuangShiyuan,MikahJimenez)