One of the problems facing social studies education is a perceived lack
of relevance. One
remedy for this is to provide “authentic” learning opportunities for
students. A trip to a museum
can be just the thing to provide these opportunities. However,
trips are not always possible;
problems such as lack of funds, logistic difficulties, and lack of
time may prevent these
opportunities from being offered.
One solution might be to offer students a “virtual” trip to the museum.
How would you plan this
sort of trip for your students?
1. Where would you go?
Museums not only differ by their collections, but also how you learn
from them. Art museums
are where we look at the world through the eyes of an artist.
History museums and archives
introduce us to people, places, and things that have shaped major and
minor events of our world
and every day life. Natural history museums with their specimens
of animals, fish, birds,
plants, reptiles, and other natural forms such as rocks and minerals,
give us a chance to
understand how the Earth has changed over time and how it has stayed
the same. Science and
technology museums explain how things work. Zoos are great places
to encourage children’s
interests in the natural world and to introduce them to animals, their
habitats, and how they live.
Aquariums give students a firsthand look at life in our oceans and
lakes.
2. What would you do?
What can students learn from objects in museums? Careful observation
acts as a springboard for
new thoughts and ideas, stimulating the use of critical thinking skills.
Some of these skills
include:
• comparing and contrasting
- recognizing similarities and differences in objects
• identifying and classifying
- recognizing and grouping things that belong together
• describing - giving verbal
or written descriptions of the objects viewed
• predicting - guessing
what might happen
• summarizing - presenting
information that has been gathered in a shortened form
3. What are some pre-visit activities?
Children will be more excited if they are involved in the planning.
Ways to do this:
• talking about what they’ll
see; include some information about how objects got there and
why people collect
objects
• finding out what excites
them; check for special exhibits on meteors or mummies or
whatever
• relating what’s being
learned in school to a museum
4. What are some post-visit activities?
Look for opportunities to continue the learning after the visit.
To reinforce the learning
experience you might:
• relate what the children
have seen to things they already know
• suggest they start a collection
of their favorite objects and build a class museum
• encourage student’s creativity
by suggesting they make a sculpture or mobile of
something they
saw in the museum; or try experiments seen in the science museum
• ask children to talk about
their favorite things; and what they didn’t like; and why
Assignment: (due week 7)
Plan a trip to the “virtual” museum. Be sure to include pre-trip
activities and post-trip activities,
as well as a detailed itinerary of your actual visit (what to see first,
etc.). You should include
artifacts (“printed pages”) from the visit whenever possible.
And most importantly, every field
trip (or activity) requires a rationale, that is, why is this important,
so make sure that you include
your rationale.
If you would like to plan a “real” field trip, rather than a virtual
one, do so. Please provide the
information requested in the “virtual” experience, along with documentation
of your museum
planning experience: artifacts, ideas, writings, observations, other
“stuff.”
Try to discover new and unusual exhibits -- but if you get stuck
check out some of these links
Link to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum