Our conference lessons are interactive and content rich. Students become engadged in learning as they are exposed to a variety of primary sources, and pre-session and post-session lesson plans are available for all lessons. Our staff is highly trained and we are prepared to help meet your instructional objectives using this innovative approach.
CONFERENCE LESSONS
Peppermint King and The Erie Canal (Grades: pre-K to 2nd )
This lesson tells the story of the Hotchkiss family in nineteenth-century Lyons, New York, who benefited and flourished by transporting their peppermint products via the Erie Canal. A museum educator will use the Hotchkiss family’s experiences, as well as many primary sources from the museums’ collection, to illustrate how the canal affected trade, commerce, population growth, material culture, and industry in towns along the canal. Read more ...
Meanings of the Mask (Grades: 3rd to 7th )
In this popular program, students will take a virtual tour of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, especially its series of Yup’ik ceremonial masks. While learning about these Alaskan masks, a museum educator will play an interactive game with students geared toward teaching important facts about a Native American culture and the importance of natural resources to these groups. Students will then be prepared for the post-lesson activity of making their own masks based on shapes, materials, and ideas included in the Yup’ik masks. Read more ...
Where In Native America-Elementary In this interactive lesson, students will learn about the geographical locations and natural features of North American regions. The one-hour lesson will connect how these elements shaped the cultures and traditions of various Native American cultures throughout the continent. Students will study political and physical maps to answer questions, and also view and interpret objects in the Eugene and Clare Thaw Gallery of American Indian Art at Fenimore Art Museum. Read more ...
Where In Native America-Intermediate
In this popular program, students will take a virtual tour of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art.
In the interactive lesson, students will learn about the geographical locations and natural features of North American regions. The intermediate level of this lesson will focus largely on the cultural geography. Students will see how geography can affect clothing creation, dwellings, trade and art based on the natural surrounds of the people who live in the area. Read more ...
Settle Down! – History In this lesson, students will learn about the daily lives of New York’s pioneers by looking at old account books from a general store. Students are encouraged to become history detectives as they use a primary source from 1790 to find evidence to support the main themes of pioneering. Read more ...
Settle Down! – Science This lesson teaches students about the lives of central New York’s pioneering settlers by exploring the science of maple sugaring. How did pioneers make maple sugar, and why was it so important for their survival? Students will learn about the physical science behind maple sugaring, while reviewing the importance of the sweet food in the New York pioneer economy. Read more ...
Settle Down! – Math tudents will learn about the lives of New York’s pioneering settlers while performing math problems in this lesson. How would you make money and what would you spend it on if you were a pioneer? Students use primary sources from 1790 and their basic math skills to investigate the economy of pioneer life. Read more ...
Seek and Sketch Learn about the art of scientific illustration in this distance learning lesson. Students explore the history of this process as they study famous illustrators like John Audubon and Henry David Thoreau. They practice their observation of various specimens by drawing composite sketches and producing an enlarged final project using the grid transfer method. Read more ...
