Description: This school program provides students with an opportunity to learn about the exhibition Layers of Time: Archaeology at the Abbe Museum, which explores decades of Abbe fieldwork, collections and research in Maine.
In this program, participants will:
1. Explore the exhibition "Layers of Time" to learn how archaeologists answer questions about how Native people lived in Maine in the past.
2. Investigate artifacts during hands-on lessons to learn how Native people in Maine used the resources available to them.
3. Use what they have learned about how archaeology works to decipher a mystery site and report their findings to the group.
Sample connections to the Maine Learning Results:
• Use artifacts and documents to gather information about geography and Native Americans
• Formulate historical questions based on examination of primary and secondary sources including artifacts, real or simulated historical sites, charts, diagrams and written text
• Make observations, participate in brainstorming activities and discover relationships and patterns
• Describe the effects of historical changes on daily life.
Description: Students will learn about the environment of Maine and how the Wabanaki lived and thrived as hunters and gatherers. Students will then compare this to the environment in the American Southwest and how Native people there live as farmers and herders.
In this program, participants will:
1. Investigate objects from Maine and the Southwest to compare basketry, pottery, jewelry, housing, and objects unique to the Wabanaki, Navajo, and Pueblo tribes.
2. Explore exhibits at the Abbe to uncover more cultural differences between Native American tribes.
3. Play the Abbe's regional differences game, where students apply what they've learned about each region and the objects used by the Native people by sorting a series of images into regional categories.
Sample connections to the Maine Learning Results:
• Use artifacts and documents to gather information about geography and Native Americans
• Formulate historical questions based on examination of primary and secondary sources including artifacts, real or simulated historical sites, charts, diagrams and written text
• Make observations, participate in brainstorming activities and discover relationships and patterns
• Describe the effects of historical changes on daily life.
• Human Interaction with Environments. Students will understand and analyze the relationships among people and their physical environment
Description: Students will explore the differences between Maine hunters and gatherers and the farming communities of southern Maine. Students will learn about hunter and gatherer systems of trade and objects of value through hands-on activities with objects, and compare those with a farming economy. Moving through time, student will examine objects common for trade with the first Europeans to Maine, and later the rise of art and its importance in transitioning to a cash-based economy.
In this program, participants will:
1. Use objects to explore three periods of time to learn in which Native economies changed in Maine. Starting with life and trade prior to European contact, changes occured at the time of European contact, and ending when Native people switched to a cash-based economy and rise of Native American art, students will decipher which period of time each item would have been used or traded.
2. Explore Abbe exhibits to learn more about how Native Americans lived and traded, and the different art forms created by Native people and how each contributes to their survival today.
3. Try their hand at trading objects in our mock trading post game.
Sample connections to the Maine Learning Results:
• Use artifacts and documents to gather information about geography and Native Americans
• Formulate historical questions based on examination of primary and secondary sources including artifacts, real or simulated historical sites, charts, diagrams and written text
• Make observations, participate in brainstorming activities and discover relationships and patterns
• Describe the effects of historical changes on daily life.
• Personal and Consumer Economics, students will understand that economic decisions are based on the availability of resources and the costs and benefits of choices.
• Comparative Systems, students will analyze how different economic systems function and change over time.
• International trade and global interdependence, students will understand the patterns and results of international trade.
Description: Through hands-on study, students will learn about the different types of baskets made by Wabanaki weavers, the materials, and the techniques used. Students will then decode a mystery basket based on their new knowledge and compare it to others in the Abbe’s collection.
In this program, participants will:
1. Explore the wide range of materials used by the Wabanaki to make baskets through touchable examples of each.
2. Learn about how museums catalog baskets by investigating the purpose, materials, and weaving technique of a mystery basket.
3. Discover how basketry is an enduring tradition by exploring exhibits and comparing baskets from many generations of weavers.
Sample connections to the Maine Learning Results:
• Formulate historical questions based on examination of primary and secondary sources including artifacts, real or simulated historical sites, charts, diagrams and written text.
• Make observations, participate in brainstorming activities and discover relationships and patterns.
Description: Young students will enjoy two stories to learn more about the 4 tribes of the Wabanaki.
In this program, participants will:
Using puppets and props, students become part of the story. Teachers have the option of including an art activity or a brief exhibit tour after the stories are complete.
Sample connections to the Maine Learning Results:
N/A
Stereotyping
Description: Indian or Native American? Deconstructing Stereotypes About American Indians - Find answers to all those things you wonder about Native Americans but are afraid to ask. Tribal Historian for the Penobscot Nation, James Eric Francis, Sr. and Curator of Education for the Abbe Museum, Raney Bench, will examine words and stereotypes about Native Americans and help explain them, prepare students for encountering new ones, and answer questions about positive and negative stereotypes surrounding the Native people of Maine. This presentation lasts about an hour and is designed for Jr. high and high school students. The presentation includes pre and post visit classroom activities, and a discussion with students giving background information about the tribes in Maine, a short skit about stereotypes, and the opportunity to directly address stereotypes students have in a safe environment. For more information or to book this program, please contact Raney Bench at 288-3519 or educator@abbemuseum.org
In this program, participants will:
1. Gain understanding of the tribes in Maine
2. Share their knowledge and vocabulary about Native people
3. Watch a short skit about stereotypes
4. Interact with experts to directly address stereotypes in a safe environment
Sample connections to the Maine Learning Results:
B3 Connection in Civics and Government
D2 Connections in Geography
E1 Historic Knowledge, Concepts, Themes and Patterns
E2 Global Connections in History
Cultural Adaptations
Description: This program is offered in connection with the Dorr Museum and Whale Museum as part of a series on Adaptation. Each museum examines a different aspect of adaptation, cultural, environmental, and biological. Teachers may book a program at one, two, or all three museums for a discounted rate. Students will gain a more comprehensive understanding of the concept of adaptation and how it shapes the world around us.
Through the use of hands-on activities, students will learn about the environment of Maine, how the Wabanaki lived and thrived as hunters and gatherers, and the adaptations needed to make life successful here. Students will then compare this to the environment of the American Southwest, how Native people lived as farmers and herders in this region, and the different adaptations needed to thrive in this environment.
In this program, participants will:
1. Investigate objects from Maine and the Southwest to compare
adaptations in basketry, pottery, jewelry, housing, and objects unique
to the Wabanaki, Navajo, and Pueblo tribes.
2. Explore exhibits at the Abbe to uncover more cultural differences
between Native American tribes.
3. Examine the changes in Wabanaki baskets over time and the
contemporary use of baskets as economic and cultural drivers.
Sample connections to the Maine Learning Results:
- Use artifacts and documents to gather information about geography and
Native Americans
- Formulate historical questions based on examination of primary and
secondary sources including artifacts, real or simulated historical
sites, charts, diagrams and written text
- Make observations, participate in brainstorming activities and
discover relationships and patterns
- Describe the effects of historical changes on daily life. Human
- Interaction with Environments.
- Students will understand and analyze the relationships among people and their physical environment
For more information, please call Astra Haldeman at (207) 288-3519 or email her at astra@abbemuseum.org.
Note: Each year, many teachers budget for membership in the Abbe in order to take full advantage of the professional, educational resources we offer. Call or stop in and become a member today. The Abbe is a great resource for homeschoolers.