Students get real-life experiences on train and at museum to help them learn in classrooms.

Asked about the prospect of riding a train, Brendal Shipley pulled a plastic version from his jacket pocket.

The 8-year-old had never been on a train before, but he’d seen them. Here’s what he knew: They carry lots of people and they travel fast. Riding one looked fun, but he worried it could crash.

About 50 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders from Hamilton Elementary in Sanford boarded SunRail on Monday morning for a field trip to the Orlando Science Center. The trip, a reward for good attendance and grades, was paid for through donations.

Many of the children had never been on a train, said Michelle St. Amour, coordinator of the engineering and technology magnet program at Hamilton. Nearly all students at the school qualify for free or reduced price lunches, an indicator of poverty.

Providing real-life experiences, she said, gives them important background knowledge that helps them learn in the classroom.

“I think that when you’re trying to grow good citizens, the more experience you give them about their community, the more they’re able to be productive citizens and give back to that community,” St. Amour said.

When Hamilton students took a trip to the Crayola Experience in Orlando, St. Amour said, many of the children had never left Seminole County. When the bus passed through downtown Orlando, one of the children asked whether they were in New York City.

District administrators, including Seminole County Superintendent Walt Griffin, chaperoned the trip. Griffin said it was his first time riding SunRail. The train, he said, should provide a different experience than the typical field trip.

“We’re a very green district, so we wanted to give them a chance to use public transportation,” he said.

The day started at the Sanford station. When the buzzer sounded and the lights flashed, alerting riders the train was approaching, the children shrieked in excitement.

They craned their necks to see the train as the adults motioned them away from the edge of the platform.

The children piled onto the train, calling out to each other as they claimed their seats among a few other riders.

Dale Beall, 9, a fourth-grader, appreciated the train design, especially the two-tiered passenger cabins.

“I think it could get us somewhere pretty fast,” Dale said.

Fifteen minutes into the ride, Brendal was lost in a book, leaning over a table like a commuter as his seatmate stared out the window.

Brendal said he liked the train and the opportunity to dive into a chapter book about a sled dog.

“I knew [the ride] would take a while, and I was almost done with [the book] anyways,” he said.

Amariona Douglas, 9, a thirdgrader, said she had been on trains before, but not SunRail. She said someday she’d like to ride the trains in New York City, where her relatives live.

“I think it’s a big opportunity because there are cool things on the SunRail,” she said.