Hands-on-History

Grades 4 – 8
Immerse your students in the life of a 19th- century seaport village through any three of the following hands-on activities. They may be apprentices in the Shipsmith, Carve Shop or Print Shop; learn to cook on an open hearth; meet a roleplayer or hear a chantey performance; make a craft to take home; and board the L.A. Dunton.

Seaport Sampler

Grades pre-K–12 (1 hour)
Not sure what theme to focus on? Is it your first time visiting Mystic Seaport? Your best bet is to go on a Seaport Sampler Tour to experience a sampling of what the Museum has to offer. Your museum teacher will take your group to one of our historic sailing ships, visit a 19th-century home and explore one of the many shoreside trades as well as give your group insider information about the more than 45 other exhibits to tour on your own.

Sailor’s Work

Grades Pre-K–1 (1 hour)
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 have the opportunity to:

• 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 casks were made
• Participate in a sailor’s story and tie a sailor’s knot.

Life in a Seaport Town

Grades 2–8 (1 hr. 45 min)
Coastal communities were the international entry and exit points in America for new ideas, people, products and technology. Seaport towns had symbiotic relationships with their ships and the people who worked aboard them.

Students will have the opportunity to:

• Discover why coastal communities developed and flourished;
• Learn how families lived by visiting the Buckingham-Hall House;
• Investigate a working craftsman’s shop to examine traditional tools and compare them to their modern counterparts;
• Visit the general store and learn about the local economy. Discover what types of goods were available in a seaport town;
• Explore the important skill of ropemaking by actually making rope, or participate in a 19th-century school lesson.

Whaling

Grades 2–8 (1 hr. 45 min)
Students will explore the whaling industry from a broad perspective, comparing and contrasting the social, economic and environmental concerns of then and now.

Students will have the opportunity to:

• Examine the reasons we hunted whales in the past and why we do not today, comparing the past and present search for energy sources;
• Explore the National Historic Landmark vessel the Charles W. Morgan and interpret how 19th-century whalers made their living;
• Learn about the economic impact of the whaling industry;
• Use a harpoon (weather permitting) or create artwork inspired by the traditional seafaring craft of scrimshaw.

Voyage to America

Grades 3–8
Travel through time and share the experiences of immigrants as they arrived in America for the first time in a coastal town.

Students will have the opportunity to:

• 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;
• Participate in a naturalization class in our 19th-century schoolhouse;
• Discuss what it means to be a U.S. citizen;
• Learn how important communication and the printing industry were to new immigrants finding their way in America.

Force and Motion

Grades 4–8
Explore Mystic Seaport’s historic vessels and village to experience the concepts of force and motion in action.

Students will have the opportunity to:

• Use simple machines on board or on shore to concretely understand mechanical advantage;
• Visit a historic to identify simple and compound machines in action;
• Learn what types of technological advances occurred in several shoreside industries;
• Discover how simple machines make housework easier.