What Is That, Part I: Mrs. Head & Mrs. McLean's Classes Guess

In anticipation of their museum field trip, Whitehall Elementary third and fourth-grade students were asked to try and identify a mystery item from the museum's thousands of artifacts. Their answers were creative!

Given the nicknamed the “Big Red Barn” by a few participating students, during their visit teams of two will go on a scavenger hunt on museum grounds trying to locate specific items. All scavenger hunt participants received an ice cream coupon from A&W.

The museum is open from noon to 4 PM, Memorial Day weekend through September 15. It is closed on Mondays. Admission is free-donations are welcome.

Mrs. Head and Mrs. McLean’s students provided written guesses; next week we will have Mrs. Loomis and Ms. Wimmer’s student guesses via quick interviews with the Ledger.

MRS. MCLEAN:

• It looks like a bird feeder. And a traffic cone. It also looks like a light. People might have used it to see in the dark. And it could block things. Spencer Clements

• I think they would use it to shred something or like a lantern to find your way to somewhere in the dark. I think they use it for shredding because they have those things on the side of it. It cuts or grinds something and. I think they would use it for a lantern because it is in the shape of the lantern and the little holes are where the light comes out. Rilee Ervin

• I think it is a cheese grater or a lamp. You would either put a light bulb in it or shred cheese with it. Payton Cruea

• The item might have been a cheese grater; they might have used it to shred cheese and make tacos or other food. Michael Raty

• It looks like you would use it for laundry, light bulbs or to make orange juice and apple juice. For laundry, you would put soap in it and dip the dirty laundry in water and put it on the thing and scrub hard to wash the dirt out. For light bulbs, you would put it on a light bulb, and it would catch all the bugs or make a cool pattern. To make apple juice or orange juice you put the thing in a bowl and scrub the fruit on the side. McKinley Ostrander

• My first idea, it could be a lantern used to light up the area. My second idea is it maybe could just be a cheese grater. It could be a water filter to clean out the water. Lyric Schroeder

• I think it is a cheese grater to cut the cheese, and have little cheese strips for your nachos, pasta, and other foods. Another idea is it might be a statue of a building or like one of those Chinese houses. But I think it’s a cheese grater. But it might be a pot to put your flowers in. Layla Gonzales.

• I think it is a cheese grater, or the shape of the thing could be a lamp. Isaac Emerson

• I think it is a cutting food thing and you have to scrape the food and maybe fruit too. But you scrape the stuff on the cutting board, and you have to cut up food/fruit. I also think it could also be a laundry scraper to get the dirt off the shirt so then you get clean clothes. Emma Martinez

• They might have used it for washing clothes. Or a really old cheese grater or maybe on a fire truck to hold the hose in place. Dustin Hansen

• I think they used it as a cheese shredder. I also think that they used it to shred food. I also think that they used it to carve a statue. They also might have used it to mold stuff. I think the item is a type of cutter. Or maybe they used it for the soap to wash the clothes. Calliope Hamilton

• I think it is a cheese cutter. I think in the olden days they would make cheese then when they wanted to have some salad; they could grind the cheese and put some cheese on the thing. Then they will have cheese. Brody Doyle

• It’s a cheese shredder. It shreds cheese. Boston Babcock

• I think it is a cheese grater because it looks like a grater because you can grate cheese to eat but it also looks like a part of a car and a part of a tractor because it is old and rusty, but it could be a part. Aryana Garcia

• I think it was used for those things that shred bread or a lamp top thing that goes on top of a lamp to keep the light in so it doesn’t blind them or for the old-fashioned people that shred bread. Jameson Roman

MRS. HEAD

• Mrs. Head brought a mystery item today. I think it is a cheese shredder from the old days. It looks like a hat. It has a couple of spaces on it that’s what I think it is. Zoe Huber

• I think the mystery item is a cheese cutter. First, it is very old and gray. Next, it is almost as tall as a bird feeder. I think it is a cheese cutter because it has lines on it that makes it look like a cheese cutter and it looks like a triangle. People use cheese cutters to shred cheese to put in food. These are the reasons why people use cheese cutters. Sage Wilson

• I think the mystery item is a bird feeder. Because it has holes. The color is brown. It is smaller than a water bottle. It looks like a cone. Justen Edwards

• I think the mystery item is a cheese shredder. One reason is that it had the shredding thing like a cheese shredder does. It also has the shape of a cheese shredder. That’s why the mystery item is a cheese shredder. James Hunter

• I think the mystery item is a cheese grinder. The detail looks like it can shred cheese. It has grinders. It’s as tall as my water bottle and it’s rusty. This is why I think it’s a cheese shredder. Colten McElderry

• I think it is a cheese cutter that is back in the older days. It is blackish. It is shaped kind of like a pyramid. It is almost as tall as my water bottle. That is what I think it is. Jared Kirkham

• I think the mystery item is a cheese grinder. It has four sides on it, and you can put a cup under it and it will grind the cheese, and it will be right there for you to make anything. It looks kind of like a hat but just a little smaller. It is brown and has no bottom. It is from a museum in Whitehall, Montana. That is what I think the mystery item is. Caedan Lacey

• I think the mystery item is a bird feeder. It looks old and It looks like it was silver now it is brown.To me, it looks like an old bird feeder. Bird feeders in the old days might look like that. Bird feeders now are different. It looks like a triangle shape kind of. It is about the size of my pencil. This is why it is a bird feeder. Brianna McRoy

• I think the mystery item is a cheese grater. The item is almost as big as my head. The item has holes in it. It is brown and rectangular. Pushing up and down, it cuts things. This item is old so not a lot of people use it. This is why I think it is a cheese grater. Westen Wock

• I think the mystery item is a cheese grater. I think the object looks like a cheese grater because it is in the shape of a triangle and is colored brown. It also looks like a traffic cone. I think it could be used for signaling traffic. It has features with sharp sides and looks like it could hold tiny pieces. These are the reasons why it looks like a cheese grater. Parker Wirth

I think the mystery item is a cheese cutter. First, it looks very old and gray. Next, it has a triangle shape at the top and about 2 inches of a bottom. Finally, it has little handles at the corners and it has tiny spikes on the sides to cut the cheese. These are the reasons why I think the mystery object is a cheese cutter. Taylin Hildreth

• I think the mystery item is a cheese cutter. It has tiny holes in it. The color of it is black. It is like a 3D shape and you can probably put the cheese in the middle. It will make tiny little cheese bits. You can put it on a pizza because cheese is good for pizza. That is why I think it is a cheese cutter. Audrianna Duersch

• I think the mystery item is an old cheese grater. It is not too big but it is not too small. I would compare it to a bird feeder. It is able to grate cheese and it has sharp little things that look like teeth on the side. It is brown and it has a pyramid shape. It is used to shred cheese and make it smaller for things like salads and potatoes and other things like that. This is why we use this. Charlie Morris

• I think the mystery item is a cheese grinder. So you put the cheese up to it and start moving the cheese up and down. They build it in triangle and square shapes. Once you move the cheese fast the little blade in the holes all shred it up into small pieces. It is as big as a normal-sized water bottle so then there is room for the cheese to go up and down. The colors are most likely silver and blue. I hope you like my thoughts. Ty McLean