Our field trip today to the Dubai Museum and the Sheikh Mohamed Centre for Cultural Understanding was a fantastic time for everyone as we enjoyed a beautiful day, smooth trip and plenty of hands-on learning.
Together with Ms. Connor's Class (3DC), we first visited the Dubai Museum where we explored the traditional Bedouin houses, including the wind tower, then the underground "souk" area, which was just fascinating. The children were impressed to see the life-like statues set up as they would've been in the not-too-distant past. It was particularly interesting to visit the pearl diving exhibit as we recently read The Pearl Diver by Julia Johnson, a captivating fictional account based on real events. 
The class was intrigued to see ancient findings from recent excavations of Jumeirah, Al Barsha and Bur Dubai as they included skeletons (eek!), as well as pottery, jewelry and weapons from 3,000 B.C.
After the museum, we walked about 10 minutes through the historical neighborhood of Bastikiya and the Al Fahidi District in Bur Dubai. (Even that was interesting as we passed textile shops and other stores, which have been around for many years.) Soon, we arrived to the cultural center where the students removed their shoes and entered the majlis area of a relatively old (1941) traditional wind-tower Emirati villa. Ms. Debbie was our host and did an excellent job teaching the students about Emirati and Bedouin culture, customs and even a bit about the religion of Islam.
We went up the roof afterwards to get a view of the area and the Dubai Creek and see where Emiratis and Bedouin sleep on hot summer nights.
It was truly a fantastic day of hands-on learning that we will all remember for a long time to come.
I hope you will enjoy these photos of our fun, hands-on-learning day!
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