Third grade explores the USA and Brazil

Third-grade students in Tracy Stadler’s class at Taft Elementary School recently presented their research projects to their peers. 

For the past week, students have been studying the culture, sports, food, music and traditions associated with the United States of America and Brazil. 

They used nonfiction books and research on Google that was guided by Ms. Stadler. As they researched their country, they took notes and made a booklet that they presented to their peers. 

Hailey Granata, a student in Ms. Stadler’s class, studied Brazil and learned all about their culture. 

“Brazil has lots of colors on their homes,” Hailey said. “I also learned that they have Carnival and there are a lot of colors and pretty costumes. I saw a lot of people dancing during Carnival and that was my favorite part.”

As the students learned about the country, they also learned about how that country is different from the USA. For example, Brazil has a popular statue, Christ the Redeemer, located in Rio De Janeiro and the USA has the Statue of Liberty. 

In Brazil, it is also not required for children to attend school, as some of them have to work to help their families earn money. Typically, they end school at the age of 14. They also don’t have much access to clean water and farm land whereas the USA is most known for its viable farm land. 

Olivia Edwards, another student in Ms. Stadler’s class, studied the U.S. for her project and liked learning about symbols from the U.S. and what they mean. 

“A famous symbol from the U.S. is the bald eagle. It represents freedom.”

Now that they have wrapped up this topic in their science and social studies unit, they’ll be moving on to learning about the weather.