EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
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School programs at Sandy Spring Museum focus on recreating the experience of rural life in the 19th century. School groups, home school communities, scouting troops, and other groups of young people are invited to participate in manufacturing staples like food and clothing, learn from our resident blacksmith, try out dowsing sticks and try carrying heavy water buckets on a shoulder yoke. Exhibits of farm tools, household craft and production tools, and recreated childhood leisure activities provide a memorable and enjoyable program experience.
School programs can be scheduled by calling the Museum or emailing our education director, Stephanie Boyle (sboyle@sandyspringmuseum.org ).
We also welcome inquiries for customized programs, including teachers and students wishing to do research in primary historical materials, wishing to pursue particular topics or curriculum goals. With sufficient lead time, Museum educators can create exactly the program you are looking for.
MSDE Standards-based Trips to Sandy Spring Museum
Description and Resources
The Sandy Spring Museum is located in Sandy Spring, Maryland. It is a local history museum dedicated to the preservation of the area's long and varied tradition of innovative, practical leadership, locally, regionally, and even nationally. Students will explore the lesson theme at three stations throughout the Museum grounds. One of the major goals of our school program is to make learning about the history of Sandy Spring a fun and interesting adventure.
To schedule a visit, call Stephanie Boyle, Education Director at 301-774-0022, or email to sboyle@sandyspringmuseum.org
Program Offerings, click relevant grade for details
Grades 1-2
Grade 5
Grade 8
Theme for Grades 1, 2: “Past and Present”
Download a PDF of the Past and Present Learning overview with MSDE standards.
Station 1: In the Museum students will identify and discuss goods and services that were available in the past in Sandy Spring from private business and by the government with our Hands-on History Trunk (4.A.1, 4.B.2). Students will discover what a market is and what types of markets were available in the town of Sandy Spring over 100 years ago (4.B.1). Students will examine the museum’s kitchen tools and discuss how changes in technology affected the way people lived in the past. Students will identify ways in which modern technology helps people in the present (4.A.3, 5.B.1).
Station 2: In the Blacksmith’s Shop students will learn about the production process by identifying the natural, capital, and human resources used in the blacksmith’s shop (4.A.2). Students will examine the role technology plays in the way the blacksmith works (4.A.3)
Station 3: In the Dr. Bird Room students will use geographic tools to map the town of Sandy Spring circa 1900 (3.A.1). Students will describe the environment of Maryland and of Sandy Spring with physical characteristics and discover human-features that still exist today (3.B.1.). They will use secondary sources like maps, pictures, and graphics to see how the community has changed over time (6.F.1, 6.G.1).
Theme for Grade 5: Machines and Motion
Download PDF with program description and MSDE standards
Station 1: In the Museum students will tour the gallery and discover how producers provided goods and services to the Sandy Spring community (5.1.5.3). Students will learn how taxes financed some of Sandy Spring’s public services (5.6.5.1). Students will describe the motion of a piece of 19th century kitchen technology using distance traveled, time, and speed (5.5.A.1)
Station 2: In the Blacksmith’s Shop students will see how the blacksmith acts as a producer in his community and provides goods and services to satisfy economic wants (5.5.1.3). Students will explore how changes in technology have impacted the economy and see how specialized work results in trade, interdependence, and economic growth (5.4.5.4, 5.7.5.2). Students will also learn about the role that different types of motion, friction, gravity, and energy (kinetic and potential) play in the forge (5.5.A.1, 5.5.A.2, 5.5.A.4).Station 3: In the Barn students will identify simple machines and discover how they were used to adapt and modify the natural environment of Sandy Spring through the Civil War time period (5.4.4.1). Students will also discover how changes in farm technology impacted the Sandy Spring economy (5.4.5.4). Students will be able to use and identify different types of simple and complex machines and describe the motion they make and the types of energy they use (5.5.A.1, 5.5.A.4).
Theme for Grade 8: Montgomery County and the Civil War
Download PDF with program description and MSDE standards
Students will use primary sources to explore Maryland’s divided positions on secession and slavery. They will argue in groups about whether to vote for or against secession, and determine how the people of Montgomery County lived within the deeply conflicted atmosphere of a border state. The lesson engages divisions across the county, in the communities of Sandy Spring, and even inside families. Students will interact with each other in a debate format to discover various opinions held in Montgomery County. Additional primary document resources have been assembled for use by the teacher in the classroom, or by students for further study.
This program can be used by teachers in their own classrooms, by a Museum educator visiting the classroom, or during a class visit to the Museum. Please contact Education Director Stephanie Boyle or call the Museum 301-774-0022 to discuss your options. We want to work with teachers to make this a successful program for every group of students.
Estimated time: 90 minutes
General Museum information
Hours and Days open: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9 AM - 4 PM.
*Please call ahead to schedule an educational field trip
Group Sizes for Field Trips: flexible, can accommodate up to approx. 50 students.
Fees: $5.00 per student; chaperones, no charge.
The length of the tour is flexible, between 90 minutes to 2 hours. Handicapped accessible.
To schedule a visit, call Stephanie Boyle, Education Director at 301-774-0022, or email to sboyle@sandyspringmuseum.org
17901 Bentley Road • Sandy Spring, Maryland 20860 • 301.774.0022 • electronic mail • sitemap
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