Jayda+Smith+and+Saara+Bonakdar 

Part 1: NC Museum of History Field Trip Questions

 * 1) **How would you prep the students prior to their visit to the museum?** Prior to having the students visit the museum, we would have our students explore the museum website. They can see what exhibits are currently on display at the museum before arriving. This way, instead of wandering around aimlessly, we make the most of our time there by ensuring the student's are seeing what they want to see. We would definitely have exhibits that everyone would need to see to get the full experience but an exhibit/gallery like the History of Sports would be optional.
 * 2) **As a teacher how would you guide your students through the exhibits? (Would you provide them worksheet/scavenger hunt, what would they be looking for?** The most enjoyable way (and a way to make sure students are hitting every point we want them to hit) is a scavenger hunt. Based on whatever we were learning in class, we would have the student looking for specific artifacts or exhibits in the museum that would bring our classroom instruction to life. The Museum Website even has a Gallery Hunt worksheet that can be printed out and given to students. We would probably take that and add or take away whatever we needed to cater the worksheet to our class.
 * 3) **Which sections of the exhibits would you focus on the most? Why?** One of the most enjoyable exhibits that we had the pleasure of viewing was the museum's signature exhibit, "The Story of North Carolina." The exhibit goes in chronological order by date, starting with NC before it was settled by European colonists all the way to the late 20th century. This exhibit would be our main focus. History is all about cause and effect and seeing an exhibit that places students right in the middle of history would give them the opportunity to make important connections between various things and events in NC's past.
 * 4) **What questions or concerns might you have as a teacher taking a group of students to a museum with vast exhibits?** Time is our main concern. Our trip lasted a few hours and we didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted going around the museum. That's why in question one we propose students decided what exhibits they want to see before we even step foot in the museum. This minimizes wandering and helps the students and us to manage our time wisely.
 * 5) **What improvements could the museum make in terms of accessibility?** Some exhibits were rather dark so the option to have extra lighting for reading and viewing exhibits would be beneficial. We are unsure if the museum have this but maybe an audio tour feature would be beneficial for those students who have vision or reading disabilities.
 * 6) **What exhibits or exhibit items did not grab your attention? How could they have been presented in another way to boost engagement?** The exhibits that we didn't stay long in or just bypassed altogether were the were the exhibits titled "Photographs by Hugh Morton: An Uncommon Retrospective" and "Scent of the Pine, You Know How I Feel: North Carolina Art from the Jonathan P. Alcott collection." The exhibits were not boring in any respect but we didn't stick around for long because they didn't really fit into what we would want our student's to focus on.

Part 2: Field Trip Guide

 * 10 Higher Order Thinking Questions
 * 1. If the museum had to get rid of every exhibit except for one, which one should they keep? Defend your answer.
 * 2. In the "Story of North Carolina" exhibit, who is telling the story? How do you know? Be able to support your answer.
 * 3. Relate one exhibit to what were learning in class.
 * 4. Compare the uniforms in the "Call to Arms" exhibit of one war to another. What changed? Why?
 * 5. Compare the "Selma to Montgomery: A March for the Right to Vote: Photographs by Spider Martin" to the protests and marches going on today. Do you see similarities?
 * 6. What does the Confederate flag mean to you? What did the flag present?
 * 7. Do you see any discrimination in the museum exhibits? If so, can you explain why is it discriminating?
 * 8. If you were alive during these times what would you want to photograph and why?
 * 9. What was the most surprising or interesting part of the sports exhibit in the museum?
 * 10.What was your favorite exhibit and why? What was your least favorite and why?
 * Mini-Activity
 * Mini-Storytelling
 * Kids will select an item, article of clothing, or any other artifact from an exhibit and use it to write a short fictional story. They have to immerse themselves into the time period of the artifact and then create a story surrounding it. (ex. old canteen from the Vietnam War; student takes on the role of someone fighting in the war and writes their experience from one particular event of the war).
 * Compelling question
 * Does history repeat itself?

Part 3: Artifact Activity

 * The artifact that we chose was the The Confederate Flag from the "Call to Arms" exhibit named "1864-1865: The Last Campaigns." The Confederate flag in this case was the battle flag of the First Regiment North Carolina State Troops carried by Private John Reams. Private Reams and the flag were captured in hand-to-hand combat. The Confederate flag represents the Confederacy in the Civil War.
 * Many people argue that the Confederate flag has a different meaning now. Some claim that is no longer about race or division, but instead just to show Southern pride. Students will find other examples throughout the museum that feature the flag and discuss how the meaning of the flag has changed over the years, if it has changed any. Is the flag still a simple of hate or a harmless symbol of pride?

Part 4: Community Resource Inventory
This is the most obvious resource for a social studies class. Primary sources give the students a window into the past.
 * Primary Sources

We would invite speakers in the classroom to give students a real look into what we are covering.
 * Guest Speakers

This society protects history, architecture, and cultural heritage of Durham and Durham County-it also promotes heritage. I think this would be fun for students to learn about other heritage and the history behind them. We would incorporate this while doing a project about the history of NC.
 * Preservation Durham (Historica Preservation Society of Durham-HPSD)

If we teach in Wake County this would be one we would definitely use. It's essential for students to know the history of where they live.
 * Wake County Historical Organization

This is the largest professional organization and it serves all historians and professions. It provides a great voice for history education and the connection to the past and the present.
 * World History Association

This council promotes historical literacy by creating opportunities for teachers and students to benefit from history better taught.
 * The National Council for History Education

This NC History Museum passed these out before we left. They have new issues every month-they include kid friendly activities and information.
 * Tar Heel Junior Historian Magazine

The Biltmore Estate in Asheville is expensive, but it would be educational and fun. There's a lot of history in the estate and about the family.
 * The Biltmore Estate

This site is located in Durham. It is one of the largest plantations of the pre-Civil War South. It belong to the Bennehan-Cameron family who in total had about 900 slaves and 30,000 acres in land back in the 1860's.
 * Stagville State Historic Site

This association is good for valuing oral history. There is a lot of projects and activities which could be used with oral history's.
 * Oral History Association