Museum Discovery

Last updated 08/19/2011

Proposed Activities for a Fernbank Museum Science Day

Developed 1-21-02 by Rossie, Elizabeth, and Evelyn of
 Girl Scout Senior Troop 4715 & the DeKalb County Schools Scientific Tools and Techniques Program

These activities are divided into separate segments that would be done: one at the Fernbank Museum and one at the Fernbank Science Center. We have not tried to sort them by age level, but several are appropriate for younger girls, and some are better for older girls.

Activities at the Fernbank Museum

Scavenger Hunt in the Walk Through Time in Georgia

Concept: A list of items to find in the exhibit would be developed and girls would walk through the exhibit and try to find them.
Contact: Permission would not be needed because this is a public exhibit
Needs: List of items to be found (include in patch project materials)

Sleepover in the Museum

Concept: Girls would arrive at museum closing time, bringing sleeping bags and sack dinners. Activities would be planned in the evening and the early morning. A simple breakfast would be served.
Contact: Dr. Albin could tell us who's permission would be needed.
Needs: Large room to sleep in (possibly the Dinosaur Room or one of the conference rooms upstairs)
Restrooms
Adult supervision
Place to eat food (possibly the cafeteria or one of the conference rooms upstairs)
Possible activities: If transportation were available, the observatory at the science center would be great. The early morning might be a good time for bird watching in the Museum garden.

Finding fossils in the floor

Concept: Girls would identify fossils in the floors.
Contact: Permission would not be needed because this is a public exhibit
Needs: List of fossils to be found (include in patch project materials)

Bird watching

Concept: Girls would try to identify birds in the Museum garden.
Contact: Mrs. Neal or Mr. Showalter
Need: Bird identification materials

Stroboscope

Concept: Girls would learn about the stroboscope and time-lapse photography. We could explore having a time-lapse photo taken that girls could take home with them, but we would have to find out about costs that we would need to reimburse Fernbank for (e.g.: film)
Contact: Dr. Finkle, Mr. Dowling
Needs: Stroboscoe operator
Time lapse photography information, especially costs

Special Exhibit

Concept: The current special exhibit on dinosaurs is very interesting. Girls could pretend to be a curator and make a 3x5 card with a description of the exhibit as if they were making an exhibit card.
Contact: Permission would not be needed because this is a public exhibit
Needs: 3x5 cards and pencils

Tour of Reptile/Insect House

Concept: Girls would be taken on a tour of the facility and would be asked to learn the difference between venomous and poisonous animals.
Contact: Dr. Wilson
Needs: Tour guide

IMAX Theater

Concept: Girls would see one of the current IMAX theater offerings
Contact: Permission would not be needed because this is a public exhibit
Needs: Information on costs

Activities at the Fernbank Science Center

Planetarium Show

Concept: A special Girl Scout theme planetarium show would be presented on Girl Scout Day at the Science Center. Topics might include constellations which represent women or a group of Girl Scouts at camp trying to learn to identify constellations.
Contact: Dr. Albin or Dr. Dundee
Needs: Planetarium operator (Rossie, Elizabeth, and Evelyn might be allowed to operate the Planetarium since they've done it before.)

Observatory

Concept: Girls would be allowed to look through the telescope either in the daytime looking for sunspots or at night looking at the stars.
Contact: Dr. Albin or Dr. Dundee
Needs: Telescope operator
Discussion questions, such as what causes sunspots, how big are they, why are we interested in sunspots; or can we see a double star, star clusters, etc.

Seismograph

Concept: Girls would learn about the uses of seismographs, different types of waves, and possibly see the computer program on earthquakes
Contact: Mr. Bush
Needs: Operator

Aerospace Lab

Concept: Girls would make aerodynamically superior paper airplanes and fly them, perhaps even race them.
Contact: Dr. Huffman
Needs: Instructor
Computer program that instructs students on making the paper airplanes
Paper and any other materials

Fernbank Forest tour

Concept: Girls would have a guided tour of the forest. Bird watching and other observations would be made.
Contact: Dr. Wilson
Needs: Worksheet with suggestions of things to see