WHAT OUR SCHOOL TOUR CAN DO FOR YOU
A guided tour to our Museum brings your lessons to life. The Museum offers tours that directly address the Sunshine State Standards in Social Studies, Language Arts, Visual Arts and Science.
By viewing exhibits, listening to the presentations, responding to questions, and reading signs and hand-outs your students will understand:
- historical chronology and historical perspective (SS.A.1)
- the world from its beginnings to the time of Renaissance (SS.A.2)
- U.S. history to 1880 and from 1880 to the present (SS.A.4 and 5)
- the world in spatial terms (SS.B.1)
- the history of Florida and its people (SS.B.1)
- interactions of people and the physical environment (SS.B.2)
- the role of the citizen in American democracy (SS.C.2)
- how scarcity requires individuals and institutions to make choices about how to use resources (SS.D.1)
- the characteristics of different economic systems and institutions (SS.D.2)
Ultimately, our visitors and your students recognize that actions and decisions made by people in the past affect our lives in the present. They also make the connection that the choices we make now, both individually and as a group, influence our future.
While actively participating in a school tour, a student also:
· uses the reading process effectively (LA.A.1)
· writes to communicate ideas and information effectively (LA.B.2)
· uses listening, viewing and speaking strategies effectively (LA.C.1,2 and 3)
· understands the visual arts in relation to history and culture (VA.C.1)
· makes connections between visual arts, other disciplines and the real world (VA.E.1)
· understands the consequences of using limited natural resources (SC.G.2)
· understands that science, technology, and society are interwoven and interdependent (SC.H.3)
WHAT AWAITS YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS
The Museum displays artifacts that relate to the history of the world’s first scheduled commercial airline and the history of St. Petersburg, Florida, and the U.S. Interactive exhibits encourage students to touch the screen, push a button, pull-out drawers, read signage, listen and watch multi-media displays. A scavenger hunt page, hand-outs and hands-on activities at the Learning Center are available upon request.
Exhibits are housed in five galleries. A short introductory film, "Keepers of the Past, Builders of the Future,” is presented at the Hough Gallery. The Flight One Gallery celebrates the first commercial airliner. The Strum Gallery displays rotating exhibit. The “Haunted History” exhibit is featured at present. It is about ghost stories and folktales of familiar bay area landmarks.
The Main Gallery has sections devoted to the pre-historic cultures of Pinellas, the pioneers, and the early history of St. Petersburg. The rest of the Main Gallery displays artifacts that clue us on our citizens’ lifestyle and our cities’ neighborhoods, past and present. Other displays include “oddities” like the “Lady of the Nile,” our Egyptian mummy, and the Webb City Drug Store.
