What will I find at the museum?
by Brittney Maurer
Grade level: 3
Rationale
The museum gives us an opportunity to see many different things without traveling a long way. By seeing the things first hand it gives children a greater understanding of what they learned. For example, by seeing a kangaroo first hand, it gives the child a realism to what they learn. They are able see the color and size of the kangaroo, while comparing it to other animals around it and to themselves. This is something that textbooks can’t do. Visually they can see that a boa constrictor is nearly ten feet long and four inches thick without having to try to imagine it. It gives children a concrete learning experience that extends their knowledge.
Introduction
There are many different things that comprise science. The UWSP Museum of Natural History offers many exciting topics: animals, the earth, dinosaurs, minerals, eggs, only to name a few. By visiting the museum the children can gain a greater knowledge and awareness of the diversity within science. By making children aware of the many topics that lie within science, I hope that they can grab on to at least one thing and want to know more about it. Also, to lay a foundation that science is all around us in everything that we do and it doesn’t need to be attained from only a textbook.
Materials
Students will need to bring a pen/pencil and the field trip search worksheet.
Pre-Activity: Discuss what the museum is
Before going on the
field trip, (45 minutes before-about 12:30), I will hold a
discussion with the children. I will first explain why going to a
museum is important. It helps us learn more about our world.
There are many different things that we are not able to see here
in Stevens Point. For example, there are many animals that
don’t live in Stevens Point or even in North America. There
are some animals that live only in other countries. Such as a
kangaroo or koala bear. They only live in Australia. Going to
museums or zoos gives us an opportunity to see animals and other
things that don’t live around us. The only way we would be
able to see these animals is if we actually go to a different
country or look at pictures of them. Museums and zoos allow us to
see these things while only traveling a short distance.
I will ask if the
children if any of them have been to the UWSP Museum of Natural
History. I will then ask them to share some of the things that
they saw there. If there aren’t any children who have gone,
I will ask what are some things they think they may see at a
museum? What are some things they want to see there?
I will then pass out
the field trip search worksheet and I will read each question out
loud. During this time we will talk about any words on the
worksheet that they aren’t familiar with. I will also ask
the students if they know any of the answers already.
UWSP Field Trip Search
* No questions for dinosaur exhibit. Make sure to go see it!! |
Answers to Field trip Search (teacher’s key)
|
Then I will explain
to the children the basic layout of the museum. I will tell them
that within each exhibit there are a number of different features
(ex. There may be 5-10 animals in one exhibit). On the glass
there is a name tag telling the name of each animal. Underneath
the name lists the diet, habitat, and any thing else interesting
about that particular exhibit. On these tags, the children will
be able to find the answers to their worksheet questions.
I will break the
children into groups of 3-4. I will explain to the children that
while we are at the museum I will place them sporadically
throughout the museum. Therefore because the worksheets have
questions that start at the beginning of the museum and go
straight down the list while moving through the museum, the
children will have to find the questions starting at where I
placed them in the museum and then follow the questions from
there.
I will also go over
rules that need to remembered when were at the museum. No running
in the building. Talk quiet. No food or drink on the bus or at
the museum. No littering.
They have forty-five
minutes in the museum to look around and find the answers to
their worksheets. This is plenty of time to get all the way
through the museum, so there is no need to rush, just enjoy the
time and look closely at the exhibits. I would then ask if they
have any questions. After answering questions we will get ready
for the bus to the museum at 1:15.
Parents/chaperones
Field trip permission slip The third grade class is taking a trip to the UW-Stevens Point Museum of Natural History on Thursday, February 26, 1998 from 1:15 -2:30. By signing this release form you are giving the school permission for your child________________ to leave the school grounds. Also this form gives the school consent and doesn’t hold us liable for any event of an emergency during this time. My child may attend the field trip.__________ My child may not attend.___________ I volunteer to be a chaperone on the trip.__________ Signed______________________ Date_______________ |
On-site activity: Worksheet
Children will be in their designated groups. They will have their field trip search worksheets already. I will place each group sporadically through the museum to prevent the children from pushing or moving in large "herds." The children will have forty-five minutes to go through the museum and complete their worksheets. There will be chaperones moving throughout the museum making sure the children stay on task. We will then meet back at 2:15 to board the bus.
(If there is time remaining, I will have the children go back and look at the exhibits again more closely. If they have seen all they want and there is a large amount of time remaining, I will start the post-activity by asking the children what they liked/disliked, and the answers to the worksheets they completed.)
Post activity: Questions, discussion, research
The post activity will also be held as a discussion. We will go through the answers we found on the worksheets. I will ask each of the students to tell me what their favorite exhibit was and why? What was their least favorite. Why? Was there anything that surprised them? What was something new that they learned? Is their anything there that they saw that they would like to learn more about? I will make a list of the children’s suggestions and who said what. For their assignment that night, I will have them look for information on what they wanted to know more about. For example if a child said he wanted to know more about grisly bears, I would ask him to check out a book from the library on grisly bears, find a picture of one, or some interesting fact. Something they can bring into the classroom to add to the child’s knowledge base of a particular topic and to show to them that if they want to find out more about something, that information is easily available to them .
Assessment/evaluation
I will also assess the children by their participation in our discussions before and after the field trip. I will also assess them on their completion and correctness of their field trip search worksheets. Note: The last question on the worksheet centers around my objective. It asks "In your own words describe what science is." This question will help me assess how well they understand the concept that science is all around us.
Extension activities
Have students bring
pictures and information from home that extends on the topics we
saw at the museum.
We can do units on
animals, dinosaurs, endangered species, extinct species,
habitats, diets, climate, geography, different classes (ex.
mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, etc.), the earth, minerals,
rocks, and crystals.