FIELD TRIP GUIDE

The Frontier Culture Museum has committed itself to helping Virginia schools enhance their understanding of early history that impacts both the state of Virginia as well as the nation. In order for students to have a meaningful and successful learning experience while visiting the Museum, the following preparatory materials have been included.

Introduction to the Frontier Culture Museum
The Frontier Culture Museum is an outdoor, living-history museum and educational institution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The Museum currently features six permanent, outdoor exhibits comprised of original farm buildings from Ireland, England, Germany, and Virginia.  These buildings have been carefully documented, dismantled, transported to Virginia, and restored.  The Museum's exhibits serve as the settings for interpretative and educational programs designed to increase public knowledge of the diverse Old World origins of early immigrants to America, of how these immigrants lived in their homelands, how they came to America, and how the way-of-life they created together on the American frontier has shaped the success of the United States.  The Museum's plans for the future include the expansion of its exhibits and programs to include a American-Indian and West African exhibits, a working grist mill, and mid-1800s American village.

Using the Museum as an Extended Classroom
The Museum offers a unique opportunity for teachers to use our exhibits as an extension of the classroom. This self-guided option gives teachers the freedom to focus more clearly on topics of European history (British history, Irish history and German history), and early American/Virginian history, as well as other lessons geared towards creative writing projects and art. Please see the Museum as a Classroom guidebook.

PREPARING YOUR STUDENTS

I. Assess what your students know
Create a chart in the classroom of topics you covered that are relevant to what they might learn at the Museum.

II. Research and Gather
Students can research different areas of history that are covered at the Museum. Encourage the students to look for primary sources as well as the Frontier Culture Museum website.

III. What do the students want to learn while visiting the museum?
Depending on your focus, the museum covers 17th and 18th C. Europe as well as the settlement west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Have the students create a list of questions or topics to bring with them during their tour. The students are welcome to ask questions of the interpreters to find more specific answers.

Historical Themes Represented at the Museum

• 17th and 18th C. European History i.e. Great Britain and Germany
• 17th and 18th C. European Architecture
• 18th and 19th C. Early American Architecture
• Daily lives of 17th and 18th C. European and Early Americans
• Historic Woodworking
• Settlement west of the Blue Ridge Mountains
• Fiber processing
• European Immigration to Early America
• Historic Food ways

PLANNING YOUR FIELD TRIP

Your Field Trip at the Frontier Culture Museum can either be Self-Guided or Guided.

VISIT THE MUSEUM
We recommend that you visit the Museum before hand to help you decide what you want your students to see and learn as well as get a feel for the time.

CHOOSE A FOCUS
Your visit should be an extension of the classroom. Decide carefully which of the many focus you would like to cover. If time permits, you may choose more than one.

DRESS
The Frontier Culture Museum is an outdoor living history Museum, therefore it is important that students dress for the current weather.

LUNCH
Your group may eat at the Cochran Pavilion or at our picnic area near the Octagonal Barn.

SHOPPING
The Museum has a wonderful store with great gift ideas and children's section. If your group plans to shop, please allow 20 minutes and chaperone them in small groups.

CHAPERONES
The Museum recommends 1 chaperone per 5 pre k-2nd and 1 chaperone for every 10 students above 3rd grade. This is to ensure safety and accessibility to small exhibits.

CONFIRMATION
You will receive a confirmation by mail stating the approximate cost and schedule for that day. Please review this carefully and make any necessary changes before arrival.

ARRIVAL
Please plan on arriving at least 15 minutes prior to your tour. This will give you time to organize your groups/chaperones, restroom break and for check-in.

A FOCUSED FIELD TRIP

The Frontier Culture Museum has a wide variety of fascinating information and history. With that said, it is our mission to make sure that you have a meaningful learning experience. This can be achieved by preparing your students prior to the visit. We have included some examples of pre-visit activities.

The Museum's educational programs are centered on key Virginia Standards of Learning (VA SOLs). When choosing a program, check to see if the program matches your study and the VA SOL you are focusing on. If you need assistance with this, please call the Education Department at the Museum.

Each of the focuses offered has a theme and objective that is supported by classroom learning. Each focus concentrates on very specific areas of the Museum, rather than seeing all the sites in little time. During these focus programs, students will have the opportunity to touch, see, smell, and use all their senses to be active learners. With the proper preparation, a field trip to the Frontier Culture Museum can be more than fun, it can be meaningful.

Questions to help you prepare for your museum visit:

1. How will the Museum focus fit into my classroom studies?
2. What do I want the students to learn during the visit?
3. How will the students record what they have learned?
4. How will information be processed and analyzed?

CHOOSING A FOCUS

The Frontier Culture Museum has a wide variety of programs from which to choose. Decide what program best suits your educational needs.

From Germany to the Valley
In this program, students learn the similarities between the German Farm and the 1820 American Farm (a.k.a., the Bowman Farm) in architecture, culture, and daily life. Students learn why many in the Palatinate emigrated to America in the 18th century. The 1820 American farm showcases the life of an established Valley farmer of German descent. Students will experience in-depth hands-on activities on both farms.

From Ireland to the Valley
Visit the Irish Farm to see what life was like in the north of Ireland in the 18th century and learn why many people made the decision to emigrate to colonial America. Students will then visit the Settlement Farm to learn how an Irish family started their life in the Valley. Hands-on activities vary by season.

Frontier Settlement to Farmstead:
Becoming an American Farmer
Participate in the recreation of a 1750 farm like those built by some of the first settlers in the Valley of Virginia. Students will work with traditional tools and building techniques, and cultivate the land with hoes and other hand tools. They will also learn about foodways, daily life, and survival on the frontier. The students will then travel to the 1820 American Farm to see how a farm matured as it became established. Hands-on activities will vary by season.

Logs & Rakes, Rails & Shakes: Working with Wood and Iron
Two-man saws, wedges, augers, draw knives, lathes and planes: these tools and many others were used in building fences, splitting shingles and building houses. How did a farmer differ from a professional woodworker in level of ability? Students try their hands at using some of these tools. Location: English Farm, Irish Forge. Specific hands-on activities vary by season.

"First, Catch your Hare":
Historic Foodays/Foodways on the Farms
From planting and tending crops, raising livestock, to baking bread and making soup students learn how food was prepared in the past. Modern methods require precise measurements, electricity and ultimate cleanliness. How was it different in earlier times? Location: Choose two farms. Hands-on activities vary by season.

Early to Rise: The Life of an Historic Farmer
Step back into the lives of early farmers and discover the roles livestock, field crops, and gardens played in people's lives. Your students try different farm chores and learn how families and communities were organized, and how natural resources affected life for both consumers and producers. Location: Choose two farms. Hands-on activities vary by farm and season.

People on the Move: Immigrants to America
Learn about the factors influencing decisions by Europeans to come to America. How do you choose what to take with you on such a momentous journey? What was that journey like, anyway? How did they change the cultural landscape in the American colonies?. Storytelling is used to emphasize the experiences of colonial immigrants. Location: European Farm/ American Farm.

The Thread That Binds: Flax and Wool Processing
Today, clothing is cheap and sold off the rack. But in the past, our ancestors had to make their clothes from scratch.. Learn the tools and techniques used to transform fibers from the flax plant and wool from sheep into cloth and clothing. This program is conducted on the Irish Farm and the 1820 American Farm. Hands-on activities vary by season.

CURRENT EXHIBITS

GERMAN EXHIBIT
CIRCA 1710, Once Located in the Rhineland-Palatinate Region. The Museum's German farm originally stood in the small farming village of Hordt, located in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. The peasant farmhouse was one of the oldest surviving houses in Hordt, dating back to 1688. The house and barns show fachwerk or timber-frame building. The roofs are constructed using clay tile. The second barn is the Hayna barn which helps to illustrate the typical arrangement of buildings in a village setting.

IRISH EXHIBIT
CIRCA 1730, Once Located in County Tyron & County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland The Irish farm buildings came from Northern Ireland, near the village of Drumquin, in County Tyrone. They show a traditional architectural form. The thatched one story stone farmhouse was typical in Ulster during the 18th and 19th C. The double sandstone walls have a cavity filled with rubble and are whitewashed inside and out. The blacksmith's forge is from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

ENGLISH EXIBIT
CIRCA 1690, Once Located in Worcestershire, England The English farm buildings came from two locations in England. The farmhouse is from the West Midlands, in Worcestershire, and dates to 1630. The house has leaded glass windows, a roof of clay tiles, and elaborate Jacobean chimneys. The open cattle shed on the hill is from West Sussex near Petworth, England.

EARLY AMERICAN EXHIBIT
CIRCA 1773, Historically Augusta County (Present Rockingham County) VA CIRCA 1850, Botetourt County, VA The Bowman House originally stood in northern Rockingham County, Virginia.  The oldest section of the house dates to 1773 and was built either by or for a naturalized German immigrant named Georg Baumann who purchased 260 acres of land in what was then Augusta County in 1772.  Baumann arrived in America in 1751, and lived in Berks County, Pennsylvania until the early 1770s when he relocated to Virginia with his son John.  Early in Georg Baumann's time in Virginia his name began to appear in official records as George Bowman.  The Barger Farm dates to the 1800s and originally stood in Botetourt County, Virginia.  This farm and its surroundings represent the farms and landscapes created by the American descendents of the colonial immigrant-settlers from England, Ireland, and Germany.  Farms such as this were often the homes of those Americans who sought new opportunities further west and pushed the American frontier across the North American continent.

PRE VISIT CLASSROOM DISCUSSION

Making Predictions
Why do you think the people from Germany, Ireland, and England were emigrating, and why do you think there were going to America? Was it for economic, political, or social reasons? After investigating the agriculture, social history and geography of the areas, what are your predictions? The time periods were:
Germany - early 1700s
Ireland - early 1700s
England - late 1600s

Making Choices!
You are leaving for a new country. You do not know what your life will be like in this new country. It is likely you will never see your family and old friends again. You will be traveling on a crowded ship across the Atlantic Ocean for at least 14 weeks before you reach your destination. Choose three items to take with you to your new home and explain the importance of each item. Choose carefully, as you can not return to your home for more items!

How'd They Do That?
Farming in the 1800's was a tough job. Think about all the tools you would need to be a successful farmer and make a list. Compare that list to what today's farmers use. Do you think it would be easier being a farmer today or then? Give differing examples.

Hey Mom, What's For Dinner?
The early frontier settlers worked very hard, so they needed to eat much more than we do today. Think about where these people might have gotten their food and what types of food they ate. Do you think we eat the same food today? What do you think is different and why?

Our House Is A Very Fine House
Draw a picture of your house. Next to your picture make a list of what your house is built from. Take your picture and list with you when you come to the Museum and discover how houses were built and why they were built that way! See if there is a difference from houses today!

POST VISIT CLASSROOM DISCUSSION

What's Old is New Again!
Do you remember the tools on the farm site? Draw three or four of these old tools in one column and in the other column draw what they look like today! What difference do you see? Why do you think our tools today are different?

Mail a Postcard
On a large index card, draw a picture of your favorite thing from the Museum. On the back side write to a friend or family member about some of the things you saw on your field trip and what you learned! When you are all finished, mail your postcard to them.

Write a Short Story
Imagine that you had to leave behind your family, and you would never be able to see them again. Early American immigrants experienced this loss in order to create a better future for themselves and their family. Write a short story using examples and information you received during your Museum visit to create a short story.

Lights Camera Action!
Using what you saw and learned from your museum visit, create a play that depicts a day in the life of _______. To make it manageable, choose one location such as the American Farm Site, English Farm Site etc. Have members of you class act out the parts!

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