Museum Classes
Classes at the Museum
- Maximum class size: 25 students
- Program length: 2 hours
- Please provide one chaperone for every eight students
- $6 per student
- Lead teacher, 1:1 aides and bus drivers admitted free
- One adult admitted free for every eight students
- $6 per additional chaperone
- All programs tailored to class needs
- Please register at least 2 weeks in advance
- Pre-visit materials are provided via e-mail
Register today! Call 518.352.7311 ext. 116 or education@adkmuseum.org
All museum programs support New York State Learning Standards. Listed under "targeted teaching" are specific curriculum points for each program.
Lumberjack Life
Discover what it was like to be a lumberjack when logging was the number-one industry in the Adirondacks. Try traditional tools used in the woods, explore the dangers and thrills of the river drive, and imagine life in a logging camp.
Targeted Teaching: Authentic sources, natural resources, tree species, simple machines, local history, mathematics and science.
Journeys through the Great North Woods
Learn about the rough rides and scenic cruises that were part of Adirondack travel and transportation systems. Journey around the museum to discover trains, boats, stagecoaches and wagons, all part of the transportation network of the Adirondacks in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Targeted Teaching: Transportation, timetables, economics and social studies.
Adventures in the Wilderness
Using "Adirondack" Murray's 1869 bestseller as a guidebook, hear about the adventures of early visitors to the Adirondacks and the guides who showed them the way. Investigate gear, clothing and shelter to learn what has changed over the years — and what has stayed the same.
Targeted Teaching: ELA, teamwork, recreation, occupations and social studies.
Messing about with Boats
Whether rowed or paddled, run by gas or steam, boats have always been essential to the Adirondacks for hauling goods and gear, shooting the rapids, or simply getting from place to place. While exploring a world-class collection of boats, investigate their practical uses and potential for play on the region's many waterways.
Targeted Teaching: ELA, transportation, recreation, and the importance of waterways.
New — Out of the Earth
What effect did geography and geology have on the settlement and industry of the region? Discover how the search for minerals such as iron and garnet shaped the lives and communities of the region's residents; and learn how the minerals were put to use during the nineteenth century.
Targeted Teaching: Industry, immigration and natural resources.
For a limited time — Nature's Art
From buildings to furniture the tradition of using natural materials — twigs, bark, burls and roots, has long been a part of Adirondack life. In this program students will learn about the use of rustic materials in architecture and furnishings, study unique pieces of rustic art and create their own rustic masterpiece.
Targeted Teaching: The arts, tree identification, natural resources, local traditions and historic practices.
New — Design your own class!
Life in the Rugged Backwoods
Early Adirondack settlers had to be jacks-of-all-trades mastering many skills to eke out a living in the wilderness. This lively lesson gives a glimpse into the lives of early settlers as students try their hand at tasks that would have been part of daily life on an Adirondack homestead.
Each class gives an introduction to early Adirondack settlement; you choose two themes to make the program unique for your students.
Themes — Choose Two:
- Quilting: Women made quilts for pleasure and necessity. Make a four-patch block using a treadle sewing machine.
- Carpentry: Men made useful tools from materials at hand. Make a rustic wooden mallet.
- Food-Ways: Adirondack farmers made most of their foods and goods. Make butter the old fashioned way.
- Kitchen Gardens: Adirondack women kept large vegetable gardens. Plant seeds in egg shells. (spring only)
- Animal Husbandry: Adirondack farmers relied on the strength of animals for doing heavy labor. Learn how to harness a horse. (spring only)
- Wash Day: Laundry took an entire day when washers ran on woman power. Do the wash as they did in 1850. (spring only)
- Tracking & Trapping: Men trapped fur-bearing animals and sold their pelts as a way to earn much needed money. Learn the art of tracking animals and setting traps.
Targeted Teaching: Family consumer science and technology.
