Students have done a great job learning about the Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It's been fun to watch all the historical information come together in the minds of my young students. We've talked a lot about freedom so landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell, and Boston Harbor are all making an impact on the students.
Students learned that the statue was a gift from France and that the pedestal was made by the United States. The seven points of the statue's crown stand for the seven continents of the world. The tablet holds the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. Lady Liberty is also stepping over chains which symbolize her step into freedom. The torch is meant to light the way for individuals coming to our country. The flame of the torch is flecked in gold but the rest of the statue was initially covered with a thin layer of copper which oxidized and turned green less than 20 years after the statue was given to the United States. The statue remains green except the flame.
In Physical Education we had a Statue of Liberty relay. Students used an inverted cone with a wiffle ball inside of it as the flame, and a white board as the tablet. They had to run down to a pedestal without dropping the ball off the cone, climb up on the pedestal, and shout out "Statue of Liberty." They returned to the line and the next person took a turn. It was fun.
