Interpretive Center Field Trip Activities
Tips for Teachers

 

v    Adult chaperons

o       Have one adult for every five to seven children.

o       These adults should be with the children as they visit the exhibit areas and Museum Shop.

o       Ask the chaperons to help the children interpret the exhibits.         

o       It is helpful if the groups visit the exhibits on a rotating basis so no one area becomes overcrowded.

o       No writing materials (pens, pencils, markers or crayons) may be used in the Interpretive Center.

 

v    We recommend several items to be used as teacher reference material before or after your field trip.

o       A 32-page children’s activity book, Journey to Cahokia, details a young boy's first visit to Cahokia and includes classroom activities and a glossary.

o       The general audience book, City of the Sun, provides a good source of current information known about the site.

o       Cahokia Mounds - Ancient Metropolis – the multi-award winning hour-long video is an excellent teaching aid. This video is available for purchase or two-week rental from the Museum Shop. Note: Ancient Metropolis is different from the "Orientation Show" (17 min.) shown in the theater.

o       Also available is a guidebook for outside walking tours. Mail order is available on this website. (See Museum Gift Shop)

 

v    It is highly recommended that teachers engage in pre- and culminating activities in the classroom such as:

o       Art projects

o       Essay writing (artifacts, uses of animals, tools, etc.)

o       Constructing maps showing trade between the Mississippians and other cultures.

o       Books and pamphlets are available in the Museum Gift Shop with ideas for many projects that can be constructed in the classroom.

 

v    Traveling Suitcase Exhibits and Education Kits

Traveling suitcase exhibits and education kits allow you to bring resources into the classroom. They are available for loan up to one week. They must be picked up and returned by the borrower. Fee: $5.00 charge for up to two kits or exhibits.

 

o                   Traveling Suitcase Exhibits

These displays depict different aspects of the prehistoric city of Cahokia Mounds.

·                    The City of Cahokia Mounds – This photo exhibit shows the three types of mounds on the site and includes basic information about Cahokia.

·                    Woodhenge Photos and illustrations explain the solar calendar and how it functions.

·                    Mound 72 – Photos and illustrations revealing the discovery of and artifacts uncovered at this important ridge-top mound.

·                    Stockade Wall – Photos and illustrations describing the defensive wall surrounding the center of Cahokia.

 

 

o                   Educational Kits

Educational Kits are an excellent resource to enable the students to touch and experience hands-on activities. These kits contain replicas of Mississippian artifacts and a teacher’s handbook.

 

·                    Astronomy – Learn how the Indians watched the stars, sun and moon, and about the legends associated with them.

 

·                    Figurines, Tablets & Effigies – This kit can be used for show and tell or table display in the classroom. Contained within are replicas of figurines and effigy pottery. Learn what we have discovered by studying these representations made by the ancient inhabitants of Cahokia.

 

·                    NEW! Illinois’ Fossils – Create your own piece of history with this kit that contains replicas of fossils, books, posters and molds so you can create your own!

 

·                    Indians and the Marsh – Contains books, posters, music CDs exploring the flora and fauna of the Illinois Wetlands.

 

·                    Lewis & Clark Journey – Five kits: Journal Writing, Identification, Team Building, Leadership & Reading (These kits free of charge).

 

·                    Mississippian Activity – This kit contains items representing a variety of Mississippian activities such as clothing, games, hunting and pottery.

 

·                    Mississippian House – A miniature representation of a Mississippian house accompanied by illustrations and artifacts, which would have been associated with the house. Can be used as a tabletop display.

 

·                    NEW! People and Animals of Illinois’ Past – Books, posters, videos, games, pottery and replicas of ancient animals.  

 

v    Vocabulary - Children will understand more if they learn these words before the visit.

 

Archaeology        

Artifact

Bastion

Borrow pit

Ceremonies

Charnel house  

Conical      

Cultivation

Equinox     

Flintknapping 

Granary House

Mississippians      

Mound

Pottery       

Solstice

Stockade

 

 

 

 

                                 

 

 

v    In order to have the best possible experience, plan to allow 1 - 1 1/2 hours for inside the Interpretive Center and 1 - 2 hours for walking the site and climbing Monks Mound. Dress for the weather.

 

v    No food may be brought into the Interpretive Center. There is a first-come first-serve picnic area approximately 1/4 mile west of the Interpretive Center.