Museums can be adventurous
by Kathy Johnson
Rationale
Children should be aware of learning environments that are readily available for their exploration. Museums are one such resource available to children and their families. Through exposing the children to the museum and giving them activities in which the museum is used as a learning resource I hope it will inspire them to seek out other learning environments in which to increase their knowledge.
Pre-activity: Predator/prey
Objectives
Children will be able to classify animals as either predator or prey. They will list at least five animals under each category. Children will be able to list three other learning environments besides a museum.
Materials
Easel, big piece of paper, marker, and open space
Procedure
I want to find out how much the children know about museums so I will just ask the question, "Has anyone been to a museum?" Allow the discussion to unfold before going to the easel to write down some questions. I will leave space between each question so I will be able to write down the children’s responses. The questions I will ask are:
What did you see at the museum?
Did you like the museum?
and then I will . . .
ask "What does a
lion eat?" and "What does a deer eat?" Also,
"Can meat eaters and grass eaters be put into groups known
as predator and prey?"
make two headings one predator and
one prey.
ask the children for examples of both
and write down their responses.
tell them that tomorrow we will be
going to the museum and I want them to think about what animals
they will see there and be able to tell me if they are predator
or prey. They will have to give me two reasons why they would
classify that specific animal as predator or prey.
Closure
Before they leave for the day I will encourage the children to go home and try to find out more about what makes an animal a predator or prey. That way they will have more information to use when we get to the museum.
Considerations
Some children might not be interested in what we are talking about. I think you have to try to bring them into the lesson by asking them questions and giving them a good chance to answer without making them feel uncomfortable. Make them aware that their input is valuable.
Assessment/evaluation
I will use the list of answers they give for assessing their knowledge.
Extension activities
Can things that live in water be classified as predator or prey? If so what are examples of a predator and prey. Do you feel this predator is bad or good? Why?
On site activity: My favorite animal is . . .
Objectives
Children will identify the animal they choose as predator or prey. Labeling a picture of their animal will do this.
Children will say where their animal
came from. This again will be labeled on their picture.
Children will tell me two reasons why
they chose to categorize their animal as predator or prey.
Listening to their reasons will assess this.
Materials
Paper, pencils, colors
Procedure
The children will have a complete tour of the museum. When the tour is over we will meet in the museum's auditorium. We will talk a little bit about what they saw. I will ask them if they remember what we talked about yesterday regarding predator and prey. We will discuss that briefly. I will then give them paper and pencil and tell them to go find their favorite animal and draw it. When they are done drawing they will have to label the picture with the name of the animal, whether it is predator or prey and where do they think the animal lived before it got to the museum. Each child will be asked for two reasons to justify their choice of predator or prey. When labeling adults will be able to help the children write.
Closure
Before we go home for the day I will tell the children that we will be making a class museum so they should think of names for the museum. I also want the children to think about the animal they drew and where it came from. They can ask other people if they know where their animal came from and remember the information. Tomorrow I want them to write a story, either real or make believe about how their animal got to the museum. They should be able to answer:
What kind of a vehicle was used to
get them to the museum?
What did the animal eat just before
getting to the museum?
Does the animal like being at the
museum? Why or why not?
Considerations
Some children may be afraid of the animals they see at the museum. I would explain to them that these animals can’t hurt them but if they are more comfortable in another part of the museum they can stay there.
Assessment/evaluation
The information that they write on the picture and what they tell me will be what I base their learning on.
Extension activities
Crayons will be provided to put more
detail in the picture.
Pick out another animal that has an
effect on your animal and tell me how. You can draw this
animal’s picture or just write about the animal.
Post activity: This is my animal!
Objectives
Children will be able to give the name of the animal that they drew, say if it is predator or prey, tell me where the animal came from and how it got to the museum. This will all be assessed through the child’s story.
Materials
Pictures, crayons, paper, pencil and markers
Procedure
I will bring out the easel we used in the pre-visit activity and see if their opinions of museums have changed and see if they want to list three more animals under predator and prey. I will then hand them back the pictures they drew at the museum and tell them that I want them to put more detail in the picture. Put things that they think their animal would be around. Examples are rocks, trees and grass. Tell them after they are done drawing they are going to write a story about their animal. This story can be realistic or make believe. Whatever they decide they have to include the name of the animal, whether it is predator or prey, and where it came. I will then tell the children that we will be putting the pictures on the wall to make our own museum and that each child will be asked to tell their story before hanging up their pictures.
Closure
I will ask the children if there are any other places they could go with their families to learn about animals or other things that they are interested in. We will have a little discussion and I hope that children will mention zoos, libraries, planetariums, their backyard etc.. If they don’t I would mention those things.
Considerations
Some children may not be able to finish on time. I will make sure they are still a part of the discussions and assure them that they will have time to finish.
Assessment/evaluation
I will assess what they have learned through the stories they tell and how well they answered the questions that I asked.
Extension activities
See if the child can find a book
about the animal they chose and gather some more information.
Then they can share some of the things they learned with the
class.
Have them be available to help the
other children. That way they can earn about different animals
without doing so much work.