This week I took a virtual field trip to Ellis Island. This tour really interested me because I have learned about it in school, however, I only knew the basics and had much more to learn. The field trip began with a short story and photos to explain how more than 40 percent of family heritage can be traced back to Ellis Island. Next, it introduces all of the stops and how the passengers felt or went through. It includes a picture of the ship and a message saying “You are here” to express which part of the ocean you were exploring. After the third stop, the tour begins to tell you about each room and what it was used for. The Registry room was used for medical and legal inspections and the Medical exam room was used for a “six-seconds physical” to check out the immigrant’s health conditions. One of the stops I found interesting was the stairs of separation. I learned that after all of the inspections, people exchanged their money and were separated by which direction they were going in. This virtual field trip was so interesting to me because it gives you a sense of how America came to be and how all of us came about since most of our ancestry could have been from Ellis Island.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/index.htm