Fourth-graders at Wading River School expanded their understanding of lessons they are learning in the classroom when they recently took an up-close look at Native American history with the help of guest speaker Jeff Gottlieb, a naturalist and primitive technology and skills expert.

The sessions, which were part of the student’s Native American studies, helped to engage them with different aspects of the culture and look at history from a different perspective. The full-day workshop focused on tools and items found in nature that were typically used by the Native Americans to create new useful items.

The students inspected and handled a variety of historically accurate artifact replicas and learned about their significance. Gottlieb shared his extensive collection and noted that items made by Native Americans can still be used today, including arrows made from tree branches, moccasins sewn from deer hide and turtle shells used as bowls.