Social Studies

Landmarks in NYC! That is what we've been learning about in Social Studies. We've learned some cool facts about the Flatiron building (Did you know it's odd shape is like a flat iron? Did you know that people believed it would fall over? Did you know that the Flatiron building appears in Spiderman movies?), as well as the creation of Central Park (did you know that they had to cart soil in from New Jersey? Did you know the park took 20 years to complete? Did you know it has 6 bodies of water and 36 bridges and arches?).

Central Park - 1870 Map

Riding in Central Park... THEN

Ice-Skating at Central Park...NOW

We designed our own park maps with a key to navigate the map. We read a great book called My Taxi Ride by Paul Dubois Jacobs and Jennifer Swender. It takes you through NYC in a fun, zippy taxi ride!

To view part of the book:
http://www.amazon.com/My-Taxi-Ride-Jennifer-Swender/dp/1423600738/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286761402&sr=1-3-spell

 We have been comparing and contrasting the difference in the above landmarks THEN (when they were built) and NOW. We've seen some interesting old photos and maps that have given us a great idea of what things looked like back then!