The 5th grade recently visited Boise State Public Radio as part of their unit of inquiry: how media reshapes the way individuals, societies, and cultures perceive and understand the world. We’d love to share the following summary of the students’ visit, written by Grade 5 student Alexander, as well as share some photos from the visit:
Yesterday, we visited BSPR, or Boise State Public Radio. Radio broadcasts are a form of media, and we are in our media Unit of Inquiry. Before our visit, we learned that the radio station is an active workplace, so we had to be at our best. Once we arrived, we met with Scott Graf, the station news director, alongside Marcel Pacatte, a longtime journalist and professor at Boise St. University. We were split into two groups, one to tour the working station with Mr. Graf, and the other to discuss the important journalism concept of audience with Mr. Pacatte. During the discussion, Mr. Pacatte shared an article from the Washington Post with us and talked about how information is shared across the nation. We looked at one specific article about immigrants who came to Ellis Island and tried to think what audience it was directed toward.
On the tour of the station, we got to see the newsroom, where the reporters meet to plan what stories they’re going to share on the radio that day. We also learned about cool microphones: a shotgun microphone and a “heart” microphone. They’re named that way because of the shape that they capture the sound. We then visited the tech center, and learned about the importance of sound proof walls to keep all the beeping inside. Sometimes, they have to travel up mountains on snow mobiles to fix the radio transmitters in the winter! Finally, we saw a recording room where they were actually doing a live interview on the air! We wrapped up with many questions for our hosts. I learned radio is dependent on a lot of technology, and that it’s an effective form of media for sharing news and entertainment. Our visit to BSPR was amazing!
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