FIELD TRIPS WITH A STRUCTURED EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY

PRE-SCHOOL AND GRADES K, 1 & 2

Children in primary grades participate in an interactive educational program of three 30 minute segments.   For 1st grade students from Montgomery County Public Schools, we use the activities below (classroom session, street car ride, vist to Street Car Hall) as opportunities to discuss Transportation Past & Present Museums Classification of objects, people or events as belonging to the past or present
In our classroom with their teachers and chaperones, the students typically Listen to a trolley story, Use a fare box, Sing a trolley song and Ring a demonstration trolley bell.
The group will board the street car for a ride into Northwest Branch Park where they might see a deer or other animals (birds, butterflies).   After the ride a docent will guide the group through Street Car Hall, the model street railway and the silent movies.

GRADES 3 TO 5

• How people adapt to and modify their environment
• How cities change geographically over time due to human activity

• How people lived in the past, based on primary and secondary resources and
• History of communities with special reference to street car service along the Route 1 corridor in Laurel, Beltsville, Riverdale and other communities.

The third grade program includes the following concepts and activities: Identifying natural/physical and human-made features of places/regions, Describing population distribution of rural/urban places, Describing how transportation networks link places through the movement of people and Identifying reasons for the movement of people from one community or region to another using the example of the development of Chevy Chase, Maryland in the late 1800's early 1900's.

From NCTM's Lt. Col. John E. Merriken Collection Early map of street car line to Chevy Chase

In their classroom exercise, students will Work Cooperatively to Complete a Model Railway from the City to Develop the Suburbs Build a Model Community According to 1895 Building Restrictions Understand How Development Changes the Natural Environment See How Cities Change In Geographic Characteristics and Human Activity Over Time Compare/Contrast Rural, Suburban and Urban Communities Learn How People Modify Their Environment

On their ride on the electric street car, the class can Imagine the advantages of speed (& distance) compared to walking on foot or using horse-drawn street cars Learn that electricity provides the energy to move the street car Understand that the route is determined by the rails and switches See that if a street car line is built into undeveloped areas, it would be an attractive way to travel into the city
	During their visit to Street Car Hall, the class will Learn about passenger and utility street cars How street car size changed with time
During their visit to Exhibit Hall, the class will Operate the model electric railway Generate electricity for the buildings along the route
	A few minutes at the silent movie demonstrates Entertainment that was popular when street cars were the most popular form of transportation Horse-drawn street cars still operated when electric street cars were introduced Compared to today, there are very few automobiles on the street

TO BOOK A FIELD TRIP

• The museum requests that the organizer group the participants into classes of approximately 25 students prior to the visit.
• The educational program fee of $25 per group of 25 students must be submitted by mail or in person at least two weeks prior to the visit. Please note: we are unable to accept payment by credit card except in person at a time the Museum is open to the public.
• At the time of the visit, the organizer will pay the reduced fee of $4 per person for each of the students, teachers and chaperones; this fee covers museum admission and a street car ride.
• Each class of approximately 25 will rotate through a series of 30 minute presentations including
  • An interactive age-appropriate classroom lesson
  • A ride aboard a vintage street car,
  • A guided tour of the Museum exhibits including
    • A visit to the street car collection
    • A stop at the model of Connecticut Avenue street railway in the 1930's and
    • A silent movie experience from the 1920's featuring street cars.
• Up to 125 students (5 groups) can be accommodated with one scheduled booking.
• Please note: with multiple groups, each group may be doing a different activity at the same time. Not every group will start their activities with the educational session.

• Food, snacks and drinks may not be brought into the Museum or onto the street car except for groups that charter a street car and rent the party room by prior arrangement.
• Currently, there is no picnic area available on the grounds but picnic facilities are available at Layhill Park, 1 mile north of the intersection of Layhill Road and Bonifant Road.

LESSON PLANS

INTRODUCTION (131 KB)
 
CONDUCTOR'S HAT (181 KB)
(A craft activity)
 
COUNTING WITH A FARE REGISTER (233 KB)
(Subtraction; graph report)
 
MY STREETCAR REPORT (85 KB)
(Creative writing)
 
TICKETS PLEASE (212 KB)
(Addition and subtraction with play money; quantity discounts)
 
Curriculum guides with these and additional exercises are available for school groups upon request.