上个星期五，小学部的孩子们开启了一场“寻找上海之根”的探究旅程。大家来到位于松江区的广富林遗址公园，领略原始社会时期上海的灿烂文明。
Last Friday, our primary students visited Guangfulin Cultural Park for the inquiry into finding the historical roots of Shanghai.
上海的原始文化分为：菘泽文化、良渚文化和广富林文化。广富林文化的发现，让我们有机会见到太湖流域新石器时代文明。不同主题的展览馆、庙宇和名人墓地组成了广富林遗址公园。置身其中，孩子们仿佛回到过去，并纷纷在任务单上记录自己的所见所思。
The aborigine society is divided into 3 types, Songze Culture, Liangzhu Culture and Guangfulin Culture, which are the cultural antecedants of New Stone Era in Tai Lake area. The park is comprised of multiple exhibition halls, temples and tombs. Immersing themselves in history, students took a journey to the past, looked for the origins of Shanghai and recorded what they found.
每个年级的孩子都有各自的任务。一年级的孩子观察环境，识别公园里的标志性事物，记录上海土著居民在不同时期的生活特征。二年级小朋友用已学过的传统建筑知识，对比广富林里的实际房屋，来验证书本和课堂上的理论学习。三年级的孩子正在练习英语叙事文写作，一路上孩子们认真记下所见事物，准备好自己的写作素材。四年级的任务是标注公园地图，记录探究痕迹。返程后，还要将自己印象最深的事物用绘画和文字的形式向同学们介绍。
Grade 1 students were tasked to observe their surroundings and identify culturally-significant markers throughout the park. Students also recorded the differences in the ways Shanghai indigenous people lived over time. Grade 2 students used their knowledge of traditional structures to identify key buildings along the route. The students could record what they learned from the adventurous day and suggest other places they might want to visit. Grade 3 students used the cultural site as a learning tool to guide their writing in a narrative activity for our ELA class. Students recorded parts of their day and will have to revisit their notes to add in certain elements of a narrative such as setting, characters and problem & solutions. Grade 4 students marked where they had visited on the map of park, and they drew one of the things that impressed them the most for an introduction and the reflections on inquiry.
文化展示馆建于水下，造型别致。内部栩栩如生的蜡像、一比一大小的商店模型、遍布四周的展示板，还原了历史的样貌。孩子们犹如乘上时光机，从上海的起源出发，穿梭于人类生生不息的画卷面前。
There are wax statues, life-size models of shops, interesting display boards… It was like riding in a time machine. Children learnt the origins and history of Shanghai and how our ancestors lived.
正如参天大树根植于滋养它的土壤，上海的发展离不开孕育我们的文化。希望通过每一次的实践活动，都能让孩子们对知识、对生活，增添感性认识，在探究学习的旅程中，多一份自信和回忆！
A towering tree is rooted to the soil. The development of Shanghai is rooted to the culture. And the children’s learning is rooted to different kinds of inquiry.