Here you will find ideas for activities that can be used after a visit to the museum. These activities are designed to spark ideas but are not fully developed lessons or units.
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Activity Title: Questioning an Object
When: During Visit or Post-visit
Age level: K-12
Objectives:
Procedures:
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Activity Title: Object Addition
When: Post-visit
Age level: K-12
Objective:
Guiding question:
Procedures:
** Prior to this lesson students visit the exhibit and read/respond to the footnotes.
Activity Title: Object Debate
When: Post-visit
Age level: 7-12
Objective:
** Prior to this lesson students visit the exhibit and complete an activity using the footnotes.
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Activity Title: Build an Exhibit
Where: For students not able to visit the museum or as post-visit
Age: 7-12
Objective:
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Activity Title: Questioning an Object
When: During Visit or Post-visit
Age level: K-12
Objectives:
- Students will evaluate their role as visitors to
history museums.
- Students will explore and analyze how museum
staff create and design exhibitions.
- How do I as a visitor explore history
museums?
- How do history museum staff make decisions about
what objects to include and what information to pair with objects?
Procedures:
- Before
entering exhibit:
- Introduce
exhibition
- Introduce
the footnotes project
- Tell
students to write down questions they have about different objects/installation
areas as they are touring the exhibit; the questions should be about objects
that do NOT have a footnote associated with them. Questions should focus on the
content being covered.
- Introduce
exhibition
- Tour
the exhibition independently, with teacher as guide, or with a museum educator.
- After
the initial tour ask students to explore exhibition again, this time
independently reading footnotes (using the QR codes). Modification: choose
specific footnotes for students to view rather than use them all or allow
students to choose their own footnotes to view (a list can be provided). Another option includes asking the students
to respond to the prompts provided for each footnote.
- Gather
students to introduce next activity:
- Ask
students to select an object/installation in the exhibition that did not have a
footnote.
- Imagine
you have 15 minutes to talk with the curator of the exhibition about this
specific object. What 10 questions would you ask that are not addressed by the
materials currently on display?
- Ask
students to select an object/installation in the exhibition that did not have a
footnote.
- Possibilities
for expanding in classroom:
- For
secondary students, ask them to conduct research to answer their content questions
from the museum.
- For
secondary students, ask them to conduct research to answer their content questions
from the museum.
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Activity Title: Object Addition
When: Post-visit
Age level: K-12
Objective:
- Students will analyze what is in the exhibit and
what might be missing.
- Students will explore how museum staff make decisions
about what to include in an exhibit.
Guiding question:
- How are history exhibits created? How are exhibits incomplete?
Procedures:
** Prior to this lesson students visit the exhibit and read/respond to the footnotes.
- Secondary
students – use research to find an extant object, write about it, and
provide a picture.
- Think
about an area of the exhibition that you thought could be improved. Do research on this area and come up with an
additional object to include in this area. Be sure to explain why you selected
that area how your addition of the object will strengthen the argument made.
- Think
about an area of the exhibition that you thought could be improved. Do research on this area and come up with an
additional object to include in this area. Be sure to explain why you selected
that area how your addition of the object will strengthen the argument made.
- Primary
students – invent an object, develop a story, and draw a picture of their
made-up object.
- Think
about an area of the exhibition that you thought could be improved or where you
thought there weren’t enough objects.
What would you add to make this section better? Why would you include it? How does it fit in
this exhibit?
- Think
about an area of the exhibition that you thought could be improved or where you
thought there weren’t enough objects.
What would you add to make this section better? Why would you include it? How does it fit in
this exhibit?
Activity Title: Object Debate
When: Post-visit
Age level: 7-12
Objective:
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of
how museum staff choose objects to include in an exhibit.
- How do museum staff choose objects to include in
an exhibit?
** Prior to this lesson students visit the exhibit and complete an activity using the footnotes.
- Divide
the class into two groups.
- Tell
class: You are the curators of the
exhibition we saw on our fieldtrip. You want to buy one more object to complete
the exhibition and you have narrowed it down to the final two! They both cost exactly the same amount, so
the cost is not an issue. Remember all
of the things we learned about how curators make decisions about the objects to
include in an exhibition as you make your arguments. [Possible issues to
include in discussion: availability of objects, power of objects, target
audience, interest and expertise of staff, original objects vs. reproductions,
choice of narratives and perspectives to include or leave out, the purpose of
the exhibit].
- Object
1: A diary that was kept by a young boy during the burning of Fairfield by the
British during the American Revolution. It has a leather cover with the boy’s
initials on the front. Inside, in the
boy’s handwriting, daily entries for all of 1779.
- Object
2: A silk kimono brought to Fairfield by a family from Japan. This family immigrated to Fairfield in
1892. While the kimono was rarely worn
by members of the family after arriving in the United States, its connection to
Japan and the ancestry were highly prized by the family.
- Object
1: A diary that was kept by a young boy during the burning of Fairfield by the
British during the American Revolution. It has a leather cover with the boy’s
initials on the front. Inside, in the
boy’s handwriting, daily entries for all of 1779.
- Assign
each group to an object; their job will be to make a case for purchasing that
object over the other.
- Allow
students time to form their arguments.
- Debate
(chose a format appropriate for your students).
- End
with a class vote.
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Activity Title: Build an Exhibit
Where: For students not able to visit the museum or as post-visit
Age: 7-12
Objective:
- Students will explore and analyze how museum
staff create and design exhibitions.
- How do history museum staff make decisions about
what objects, perspectives, and stories to include in an exhibit? What types of
questions do they need to ask?
- This
activity is a class project that will take several periods to complete.
- In
this activity, the class will design and create a hypothetical exhibition. This
could be done in small groups or as a whole class.
- Select
a theme for the exhibition and have students conduct research on that theme.
Guiding questions for the exhibit might help focus the research. The exhibition
could be a culminating activity for a unit, or for the year, where students can
apply and evaluate content knowledge.
- Walk
through the development of the exhibition using the footnotes as a step-by-step
guide.
- Example:
“Footnote 1: Why This Exhibit,” Why did you choose your theme? Why is it an
important story to tell?
- Example:
“Footnote 2: Reproductions vs. Originals,” Why did you select the display area
you selected? Why did you choose to use the materials you did?
- Example:
“Footnote 3: Interactive Parts of Exhibit for Visitors” Would you want
different parts of your exhibit to be interactive? Why or why not? Who is your
desired audience?
- Example:
“Footnote 5: The Dented Silver Cann” What objects are available to you? What
objects will help to tell your story in an interesting way?
- Example:
“Footnote 1: Why This Exhibit,” Why did you choose your theme? Why is it an
important story to tell?
- Students
present their exhibition to each other (if small groups) or to
administrators/parents/other classes if done as a whole class.