Journey back to ancient Egypt with an exhibit curated by fifth grade students at King. The exhibition features Egyptian hieroglyphics, King Tut’s tomb, an informational display of the Nile River, pyramids, mummies, and more. Over the past few weeks, the class has explored the ancient culture and developed projects that best demonstrate their interest.

“I wanted to study sports because that’s something that I’m interested in,” said Paxton Freeman ’29. “I wondered about what types of activities the Egyptians used to do for fun and started researching sports that were around back then. That led me to archery.” Inspired, Paxton made a target, an arrow, and a crossbow out of cardboard box and wood for his project.

“The projects are a great example of the active learning that happens when you let students ask questions and lead in their own learning,” said fifth grade teacher Helen Santoro. “When students make connections, it makes it meaningful, and they dive deeper into it. They realize they want to learn more, and that leads to other learning.” 

Penny Prince ’29 created a replica of the Temple of Hatshepsut, a tomb for the first female pharaoh of Egypt during the New Kingdom. 

“At first, I was going to focus on architecture because I thought the structures were so interesting, but I eventually narrowed it down to studying temples because of their meaning,” she said.

“I’ve learned so much about other things since I’ve been able to help my friends with their projects as well. It’s really been such a cool process,” said Penny, adding that she helped her classmate, Julia Grabowski ’29, build the scale of the Egyptian god Osiris. Ancient Egyptians believed Osiris used the scale to determine their fate in the afterlife.

“This type of project-based learning ignites creative energy in the classroom, and that’s contagious. The students are developing deep content knowledge and skills in critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication when they learn in this way,” said Santoro. “As the projects came together, the classroom really turned into this interactive experience for the students to engage with. They had fun with their projects, and their hard work really shows.” 

The class will host a tour of the exhibit for lower school students on March 8 and for parents on March 9.