*This is a guest piece from Grand Island Public Schools Communications Specialist Kelli Mayhew

GRAND ISLAND (Neb.) — The classroom grew from desks to barns and sunshine for over 700 third graders at Grand Island Public Schools, as they explored the state’s largest classroom that is the Nebraska State Fair.

Third grade classes from Engleman Elementary and Jefferson Elementary, among others, were able to gain new experiences and knowledge. Learning topics ranged from soil health and where food comes from, to the difference between shark teeth and alligator teeth.

“I’ve never seen one in real life before,” said Jefferson student Christopher Reyes Machuca. Christopher referenced one of his favorite creatures, alligators, which happened to be roaming a pen in the Wildlife Encounters exhibit.

In the same exhibit, students like Christopher were able to act as paleontologists and find fossils of shark and alligator teeth.

“I found, I think the sharpest ones are the shark ones. The ones that aren’t as pokey, I think are alligator ones,” Christopher said of his observations. 

Third grade teachers Andrea Brunk of Engleman and Ashley Andersen of Jefferson said the trip to the State Fair connects with learning happening in the classroom.

“This correlates with our curriculum that we teach in third grade,” Brunk said. “There's animals that they’re able to see, there’s an electricity section…just lots of fun activities that gets the kids thinking about our curriculum.”

Engleman third grader Adaline Mills learned about the spread of germs and bacteria while in the Raising Nebraska exhibit. 

“I got to get stuff on my hands, look under the black light and then wash my hands and see how clean I got them,” Adaline said.

In the electricity exhibit in Kramer’s Sustainability Pavilion, Jefferson student Meghan Hernandez Lopez answered trivia questions.

“[The question] was, What is the most important liquid in the world?” Meghan said. She used critical thinking skills to determine her answer.

“Lava is harmful, and any type of other liquid could be harmful. I thought water because we drink water every single day,” Meghan said.

“They get so much new information,” Ashley Anderson said. “We teach about Grand Island, so this is a great place [to learn]. It's incredible. There are so many different things to do. And then we take it back and we write about what we did. It's memories that they’ll always have."

River Nelson, a third grader at Engleman, agreed. He learned about soil health, and how when it rains, the water can wash away nutrients in the dirt.

“I’m mostly happy that we got to learn,” River mentioned when asked about the best part of the day.

The memories made at the State Fair only further the learning that happens later on in the classroom.

“We take it back [the information they learned] and we write about what we did. It’s memories that they’ll always have,” Ashley explained about her students’ experience.

Andrea said the learning that happens in this one day exposes students to a variety of topics.

“It's awesome because we can remind and relate what they learned here at the fair to what we’re doing in the classroom,” Andrea said. “They [students] have that background knowledge already in place, so we can kind of shoot forward with our learning and they can relate to what they already know.”