Show and tell.

Swift Middle School sixth-graders learned about ancient Egypt, and then they proudly displayed and articulated their findings.

It's all part of the school's annual Egyptian Fair, which was held in the great hall on Jan. 13.

The event is a co-project guided by social studies teacher Ben Miller and Literacy Enrichment Across Disciplines (LEAD) teacher Susan Dawson.

"When we do this activity, obviously we want the kids to learn about Egypt, but a lot of it's also learning how the research process works," Miller said. "Learning reading and literacy is a big part of the research aspect, so we combine my content with her skills, and we put them all together."

Students also learn about more subtle skills. "We have the kids working in teams," said Miller. "That's one of the big aspects that we really want the kids to take away, working with a team and learning how to interact with others and also time management."

The pupils began work on the projects after returning from Thanksgiving break. They finish following the holidays. "It's pretty much the month of December that students work on this project, so it is a lengthy endeavor," said Miller.

Family members are invited to come to Swift to see the displays, as are fourth- and fifth-graders from adjacent Clermont Elementary School.

"It's always nice, because then when we see (the Clermont students) in the years to come when they're in sixth grade, they always say, 'Oh, I just remember when I was there,' and I (respond), 'Now it's your turn to carry on the legacy,'" Miller shared.

Student Molly Stringer made a pyramid out of tiny building blocks. "I learned all about Egypt," she said. "I learned the Great Sphinx. I learned the pyramid of Giza, I learned about the Nile River."

Miles Tucker constructed a sarcophagus and could be frequently found lying in it during the event. He got some help building it from his mother, Melissa, who traced around his body, so Miles knew how big to make the sarcophagus. "I folded the cardboard up to make the base, and then I had to paint it and make sure it was structurally sound," said Miles.

Miles explained that students use the acronym GRAPES (geography, religion, achievements, politics, economics, and social structures) to understand what they are expected to learn.

Emma Olszewski built a replica king's tomb with King Tut in it. "I thought it was really cool how they structured it," she said. "It was the first tomb that they actually found that the tomb raiders hadn't stolen all the things from. I thought that that was really cool, and then I tried to make it as best as I could."

She said she gained a great deal of knowledge from the assignment. "I learned back in that time in Egypt it was really hard to live, but when they lived by the Nile River, it provided a lot of food and water for the crops," Emma said. "And I thought it was cool the way that they used the barter system, which is basically where they traded goods instead of using money to get stuff. I thought that that was a pretty efficient way of living, especially since they made sure all the things that they traded were equal."