Snowglobe Classroom Activity

The most popular activity for children at the Met's Celebration on the Boulevard event was the creation of snow globes. Here are the instructions so that you can recreate the simple project in your classroom. The activity requires some advance shopping.

Snowglobes
Snowglobes were invented in France in the early 1800's. Originally they were a dome of glass with sparkly objects floating inside and were used as paperweights on desks. Over the years, because of fresh ideas, the snowglobe has evolved into what it is today. The Met uses silver glitter for our magical snowglobes, but many of today's globes have small pieces of plastic to replicate an icy storm. Use your imagination and create your own kind of snowglobe.

The Fresno Metropolitan Museum offers three types of outreach for classrooms: the Mobile Met, Visual Thinking Strategies and the Docent Outreach Program. All require advance booking. Please refer to the Met's website for details by checking the links below.

Mobile Met

Flower Dissection for Kindergarteners
In an investigation of nature, children dissect various types of flowers and identify their major features. Students are given magnifying glasses and parts of flowers then explore how the features look, smell, and feel. During the second half of the lesson, pre-cut tissue paper is given to each child for a flower re-construction. Students place the petal, stem, leaves and stamen in their proper place and the staff helps them glue their finished illustration together. Learning about parts of a flower fulfills a science standards requirement for kindergarteners.

Bottle Biology
The Bottle Biology project can be linked to many science subjects. It is an in-depth project that deals with photosynthesis and ecology and is designed for students in the fifth and sixth grades. This inquiry-based project aids students in learning how living things depend on one another for survival.

Electro-Magnetic Motor
Technology is apparent in everyday life, but seldom do we get a chance to see how the simplest machines really work. Through this project, students have the opportunity to make a simple motor using basic materials that can be found in most homes. The electromagnetic motor demonstrates how circuitry works.

Docent Outreach Program
The Docent Outreach Program allows students in first through third grades to take advantage of the Met's high quality programming without traveling to the museum.

The popular projects, developed in 2005 by the Education Department under the leadership of Diadre Metzler, Director of Education, include printmaking, sculpture, and collage.

Cat and the Fiddle, Dutton Nister, 1890, Cardboard, paper, ink

The program has recently been expanded to include jigsaw puzzles and Native American baskets. The Cat and the Fiddle puzzle shown here was made in 1890 and is used for the third grade lesson. Drawn from the Met's permanent collection, the new lessons provide an insight for children on the nature of a Permanent Collection, its relevance to their lives and a standards-based art experience. Each of the five inquiry-based lessons is one hour long and features hands-on art instruction on the related topic. Further information may be found at fresnomet.org or by calling Ann Wanger at 559-441-1444 extension 224.

Visual Thinking Strategies
Visual Thinking Strategies, VTS, is both a method for engaging beginning viewers in the visual arts and an innovative curriculum for grades K - 8. The program, which meets Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools, increases visual literacy and develops communication and critical thinking skills by means of student-centered discussions.

Since its inception, the Met's VTS course, which has been offered as a 10-week outreach program to elementary schools, has been widely praised. Teachers note improved reading comprehension skills, listening capabilities, observation powers, evidential reasoning and speculative abilities in their students. For further information contact Teresa Espana at teresae@fresnomet.org. There is currently a waiting list for this highly acclaimed program.

Visit the Reeves ASK Science Center before April 20, 2006.
Over the past year, the Reeves ASK Science Center has been located at 933 Van Ness Avenue to the delight of many faithful visitors. The Met's extensive renovation will be completed in the next few months and the science center and the Met's permanent collection will be reinstalled in the newly renovated building. In the mean time, to experience the science center this school year, you must bring your class by April 20th, the last day available for school tours. Call to make arrangements for your class today.

A tour of the Reeves ASK Science Center includes three inquiry-based experiences in 90 minutes: the science center exhibits, a hands-on activity in the Michaelis Classroom and a science demonstration by an Explainer.

Michaelis Classroom Project at the Reeves ASK Science Center:

Boomerang
One of the most popular exhibits at the Reeves ASK Science Center is the Momentum Machine. This science exhibit invites visitors to stand on a platform and spin. In addition to being an exciting exhibit, different scientific phenomenon such as force, inertia, and angular momentum are experienced. A project that also shares these scientific principles is a unique and stimulating project called the boomerang. By making their own boomerang, visitors see how simple materials can be turned into a sophisticated gliding machine.

Multilingual Signage at the Reeves ASK Science Center
The three most commonly spoken languages in the Valley are English, Spanish and Hmong. The Fresno Metropolitan Museum is proud to display all three languages at the science center. Here's an example:

English:
Art is science made clear.
Jean Cocteau

Spanish:
El arte es ciencia clarificada.
Jean Cocteau

Hmong:
Txoj kev kos duab yog txoj kev tshawb nrhiav uas pom tseeb dua.
Jean Cocteau

Space remains available in winter camp for your students



Coming in the fall of 2007: Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origins of Flight.
Book your tour now.

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