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FALL 2008 SCHOOL OUTREACH PROJECTSWHO:

WHAT: APS Museum WorksStops: These free workshops use 2-3 class sessions with an APS Museum educator in collaboration with you, the classroom teacher, to enhance and

Teachers pick a project from a short “menu” of interdisciplinary workshops. Subjects include elements of art, science, history, and composition/writing.

exhibition, UNDAUNTED: Five American Explorers, 1760—2007. Visit times are

are many forms of public transportation nearby the APS Museum. Participants do not pay a museum admission fee.

Follow-up WorksStops session(s) are held in the classroom during the regularly scheduled class time. You may arrange the classes back-to-back or space them out to allow the students a longer period of time for a more in-depth project.

WHERE:At your school and at the APS Museum (on Fifth and Chestnut Streets). One class is held at the APS Museum and the remaining 1-2 classes are in your own classroom.

WHEN:Teachers may book these sessions for October, November, and December 2008.

WHY:The APS Museum wants to provide area teachers with the best educational tools to enhance their curriculum and challenge their students. WorksStops allow a high school teacher to partner with another educator to achieve the teacher ’s academic goals. Students will view one-of-a-kind historical documents and objects belonging to the oldest scholarly institution in the United States, the American Philosophical Society.

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APS Museum/104 South Fifth Street/Philadelphia, PA 19106www.apsmuseum.org

A P S M u s e u m W o r k s S t o p s

T a r g e t s u b j e c t s :English/Composition, History, Current Events

D e s c r i p t i o n :

then pick the one that most interests them to study more closely. They write a short newspaper article, persuading us, as Americans, to remember the explorer they have chosen

they feel should (or should not) be remembered by Americans in the next 100 years. At the end of the project, the articles will be posted online on the APS Museum website.

C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g p o i n t s :

P r o j e c t 1 : C u l t u r A l l A m n e s i aW h o t e l l s t h e s t o r y i n A m e r i c a n h i s t o r y ? H o w d o w e c h o o s e t h o s e t h a t

a r e r e v e r e d i n t e x t b o o k s f o r e v e r , v e r s u s t h o s e w h o s e a c h i e v e m e n t s a r e q u i c k l y f o r g o t t e n ?

• Who are the people living today that we’ll remember as a society in 100 years? Politicians? Movie stars? Athletes? Scientists?

• What does this say about our culture?

• What are characteristics of the types of people that are “remembered”?

• Who determines what gets “remembered” in history? How are things “remembered”?

Art Laboratories Science Studios Social Studies

A P S M u s e u m W o r k s S t o p s

T a r g e t s u b j e c t s :Art, Environmental Science, History

D e s c r i p t i o n :This project begins with students examining the drawings and journals in the UNDAUNTED exhibition, with a discussion of the observational skill, artistic ability, and patience that each explorer-artist was able to achieve. For this project, students will make their own small journal through the help of a book artist, which will serve as a container for modern-day “urban” specimen drawings. Students will observe their own world: they will record up to a week’s worth of journal entries with daily assignments to guide their entries. Through a series of drawings and descriptive journal entries, students will observe the “un-natural” world of

the world around them.

C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g p o i n t s :

P r o j e c t 2 : U r b a n R e S p e c i t a t o rA p p r o a c h a s t u d y o f t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n w o r l d a r o u n d u s t h r o u g h a

p r e s e n t - d a y L e w i s a n d C l a r k m i s s i o n .

• How have our observation skills changed over time? What has brought about these changes?

• How does nature intersect with city life? How do our actions a�ect our surroundings?

• How has this project changed your perceptions of your daily surroundings? Were there things that you had not noticed before you had to observe?

Art Laboratories Science Studios Social Studies

A P S M u s e u m W o r k s S t o p s

T a r g e t s u b j e c t s :Science (Biology, Environmental Science), Art

D e s c r i p t i o n : Students learn about scientist Ruth Patrick—her accomplishments, and the environmental theory called the “Patrick Principal”—through visiting the APS Museum. Students will take a closer look at freshwater ecological systems. Students look at the layers of organisms that make up each level of the food chain in streams and rivers and learn about this interconnected system. Each student creates a mobile to represent the stream: each “tier” of the mobile will represent an organism from that level of the food chain, from the largest predatory animals being at the top of the mobile, to the microscopic creatures at the bottom.

C r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g p o i n t s :

P r o j e c t 3 : P a t r i c k A d d i c tW a l k ( o r s w i m ! ) i n t h e f o o t s t e p s o f a n a m a z i n g w o m a n s c i e n t i s t

t h r o u g h t h e c r e a t i o n o f a 3 - D s c u l p t u r e o f t h e f r e s h w a t e r f o o d c h a i n .

• What were Ruth Patrick’s contributions to environmental science?

• How do organisms in a freshwater system depend on each other? What types of organisms does each of the layers represent?

• Why is it important to us, as urban Philadelphia citizens, to study the food chain and our freshwater systems?

Art Laboratories Science Studios Social Studies