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Call: 860.572.5322
Email:
education@mysticseaport.org
Download the 2012-13 Education Brochure
Mystic Seaport
Comes to You
Learn more about our
In-School Programs.
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School Group Kits
Guided Tour Program Descriptions
Below please find detailed descriptions of each of the guided focus tours available for your group. Our guided tours are aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Access these resources to enhance your guided tour.
Jump to a tour: Sailor's Work | Life in a Seaport Town | Whaling | Voyage to America | Hands-On History | Force and Motion | Ship to Shore | Black Hands, Blue Seas
Sailor's Work
Grades K - 5
Students explore the world of 19th-century sailors and their ships. The Museum's unique collection of historic vessels provides students with an authentic, hands-on experience for this tour.
Students will:
- Visit our fishing schooner, the L.A. Dunton, to learn about a fisherman's day and row a dory (on land!);
- Explore a cooperage to learn how wooden casks were made;
- Listen to a sailor's story or a traditional sea chantey;
- Learn how ships were steered, tie a sailor's knot and find out how sailors predicted the weather.
To access resources to enhance your guided tour, please click here.
Life in a Seaport Town
Grades 2 - 6
Seaport towns of the 19th century were vibrant centers of commerce in America. The wharves and waterfront streets bustled with the flow of goods and people from throughout the world. This tour provides students with the sights, sounds, and scents of the past!
Students will:
- Compare and contrast their world with that of a 19th-century seaport town;
- Learn how young people lived by visiting the Buckingham-Hall House;
- Investigate a working shipsmith shop where harpoons and other iron implements were made;
- Visit the general store and learn about the local economy. Discover what types of goods were available in a seaport town;
- Learn about the important skill of ropemaking;
- Climb aboard one of our historic ships to learn about a fisheries industry.
To access resources to enhance your guided tour, please click here.
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Whaling
Grades 2 - 12
Examine the New England whaling industry aboard the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaling ship in the world.
Students will:
- Read historic shipping papers at the ship chandlery and discover how ship owners outfitted 19th-century whaling vessels for three- to five-year voyages;
- Explore the Charles W. Morgan and read excerpts from sailors' journals to see how 19th-century whalers made their living;
- Learn about the Charles W. Morgan restoration project;
- Use a harpoon (weather-permitting) or create artwork inspired by the traditional seafaring craft of scrimshaw.
To access resources to enhance your guided tour, please click here.
Black Hands, Blue Seas
Grades 5 - 8
Investigate the role Americans of African descent played in the maritime industries throughout history.
Students will:
- Explore selected Mystic Seaport exhibits to learn about the contributions of African Americans at sea and at home;
- Visit the whaleship Charles W. Morgan and learn about the diverse ethnic heritages of a whaling crew;
- Tour the Preservation Shipyard to understand the tools and techniques used in building ships;
- Learn the craft of shipsmithing and take turns using a harpoon.
To access resources to enhance your guided tour, please click here.
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Voyage to America
Grades 3 - 8
Travel through time and share the experiences of immigrants, ocean traders, and explorers as they came to America for the first time.
Students will:
- Experience the immigration process by traveling through a mock Ellis Island immigration station;
- Visit the "Voyages" exhibit and learn about the journey many immigrants took to come to America, their reception upon arriving here and their integration into American society;
- Read and respond to 19th-century journals, letters and diary entries;
- Discuss what it means to be a U.S. citizen.
To access resources to enhance your guided tour, please click here.
Hands-On History
Click here for this experiential program description.
To access resources to enhance your guided tour, please click here.
Force and Motion
Grades 4 - 9
Explore Mystic Seaport's historic vessels and village to experience the concepts of force and motion in action.
Students will:
- Use simple machines on board or on shore to concretely understand mechanical advantage;
- Visit a historic ship to identify simple compound machines in action;
- Learn what types of technological advances occurred in several shoreside industries;
- Discover how simple machines make housework easier.
To access resources to enhance your guided tour, please click here.
Ship to Shore
Click here for details about our overnight school group program.