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How to prepare your students for a trip to the Old West Wax Museum
Displays in the museum include quotations and first-hand accounts from those who lived at that time. Choose one of the displays and find a copy of the book in your local school or public library. Find other passages that tell more about that particular event and either add to what you learned or give you a different impression. If the book is not available, check out interlibrary loan. Find out why it is hard to find. Advanced: Find another source that provides a different point of view of the same event. Advanced: Discuss the difference between folklore and history. Write a short paragraph describing the difference. Give an example of each. Write a diary or journal entry as if you were a part of one of the events in a display in the museum. How would you use the senses -- sight, smell, taste, touch, hear -- to convey what was happening? Advanced: Write about the same event from a different point of view. (Example: If the first entry was written by a female, write the second from a male standpoint. What are other possible viewpoints?) Write a short story using one of the events displayed in the museum. The museum collection includes newspapers from the 1850s to 1908. How were newspapers printed at that time? How does the process differ today? How are the jobs of artist, writer and editor different (then and now)? Analyze the style of writing. How does it compare to news stories today? Judging from the stories, what affect do you think journalism had on the attitudes people from other parts of the country/world had about the American West? How accurate were those impressions? Compare this to today's journalism standards. Write a story for your student newspaper covering one of the same topics found in the newspapers in the museum. What are the similarities? Differences? Write a television or radio news show script on one of the events depicted in the newspapers. Project 2001 The Wax Museum is developing an educational display showing plant and animal life in each of the specific geographic locations of the state (high plains, mountains, wetlands, deserts, etc.). Each area should include photographs of and information about the general landform (geography) or special features in the area, as well as plants and animals. This can be a collaborative effort of several classes or age groups. It may include photos, maps, artwork, charts, specimens, three-dimensional pieces and/or visuals. The work should be the best from your class or school. (You may wish to have a contest and let your students choose the best of the work to be entered. You may include ideas on display layout if you wish.) Deadline for the project is September 15, 2000. This will give time to let students take photographs or do field work during the summer. Possible classroom approach: You have been hired as curator of a new museum for all ages. Your assignment is to prepare a state display showing geography, plant life and wildlife. Ask the class to choose whether they wish to work together as an entire class or break up into smaller groups. Important questions for discussion: How can you make the display appeal to all ages? What do you have to consider? Make a list of all the things you might gather for the assignment. Narrow the list down to 10. Work as a group or committee to narrow the list. What problems does working as a committee/group present? How do you gather material? How or where would do you get all the things you need? Are some things available? If so, can you use them? What is in public domain? What is copyrighted? What does that mean? How do you make a pleasing display? Draw on paper what you think it might look like. (Again, this can be a group effort or if several groups, have the class choose the best of the display ideas. Evaluate why some are better than others (easy to read, easy to understand, attractive design, covers the material best, etc.) If there is more than one, how do they incorporate the best points of several to create a better or more comprehensive display? What will we look for? We are especially interested in photographs to show plant and animal life in each region of the state. Geography - Show, identify, give important historical information about landforms. How did the region form? Plant life - Do you use samples or photographs? Discuss the merits of each. Animal life - What basic information about each animal is critical to understanding why it has survived in that area? Note: Make a list of important points before beginning research. Have students create a form to help them be sure to cover all the important points. Social Studies/Life Skills Discussion Pilanthropy What is a community? What is the responsibility of the community to an individual? What is the responsibility of an individual to his community? What is philanthropy? Why do people help community organizations, such as museums, libraries and culture centers? What help are such community organizations to the community? Interview a business people in a large corporation and in a small corporation in your community and ask the value of such museums. Note to Teacher:
Woodworking, Metal working, and other hand skills: What basic tools would a farmer of 1890 have to build his house and barn? How would that compare to today? Find a pattern for an old tool. What improvements have been made since the original? Has technology had any effect upon the job the tool was used for or the tool itself? Advanced: Make the tool. Advanced: Make a miniature of an item used during frontier days (canoe, cabin, wagon, tools, etc.) Textiles and daily life skills: Choose a group of people in the West (Native Americans, early settlers, military, etc.). What textiles and clothing did they use? How were they made? What skills were needed? How are these items similar or different today? Advanced: Choose a garment or
textile (miniature or life-size). Make the garment. What foods had to be purchased? Track your family's grocery shopping for one week. What items are similar/different to those that might have been purchased in frontier days? Advanced: Compare costs on the frontier to costs for the following foodstuffs today: flour, sugar, coffee, salt, potatoes, beans, rice, baking powder. Create a week's worth of meals using only the items listed above. (Assume milk products, meat and eggs were produced on your farm by your own labor and would be available for your meals also.) Advanced: Compare the nutritional level of frontier foods with today's foods. What is lacking then or now? How Your Class Can Get Involved One of the first displays when you walk in the main hall of the museum is a large three-dimensional, fired-clay tile map of Wyoming. Each tile represents a county; rivers, railroads and other important items are shown, as well as three-dimensional mountains. The map was a project of students of Emily Jensen, Douglas Middle School, Douglas, Wyoming. Our thanks to the teacher and students! If you are interested in having your class develop a project for the museum, contact Curator, Old West Wax Museum, PO Box 71, Thermopolis, WY 82443 USA. Or contact us by email. We are interested in:
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