PREFACE
TO ON-SITE ACTIVITIES
The museum and grounds
at Whitman Mission are primarily designed as self-guided tours for adults.
Your students' trip to Whitman Mission will be greatly enhanced if you
give them some activities to help guide them through these areas.
Whether you choose
to use the activities provided below or use your own, students will be
more successful if they have the tools for the job. Please provide each
student with a pencil or pen and a rigid surface to write on, such as
a clipboard, piece of cardboard, or a folder. Also, please advise students
that they may not lean on or use any of the surfaces in the museum to
write; they may use the floor or a friend's back if they wish. With your
help, we can enhance student learning while at the same time protecting
our park and exhibits.
RANGER
PROGRAMS
For a short explanation
of available ranger programs, please see the "Planning
Your Field Trip" section.
FILMS
An introductory 10-minute
slide show, "The Whitman Saga" is available.
THE
MISSION SITE
The Mission Site includes
a ¼ - mile paved loop trail. Along the way you will pass wayside
exhibits with text and audio, as well as bricks marking the locations
of the First House, Mission Mouse, Blacksmith Shop, and Emigrant House.
As you walk
around the loop, ask a student at each site to either read the text aloud
or press the button. When students have heard the information, ask them
a couple questions. Or, ask them to fill in the related answers on the
"Grounds Worksheet" (found on following pages). If they do the
Worksheet, you may decide that you do not have time for students to complete
all the questions. Tell them to choose ten questions to answer instead.
THE
GREAT GRAVE AND SHAFT HILL
The Great Grave is
where the Whitmans and eleven other people are buried, (there are 14 names
on the slab, but only 13 people are buried there). The memorial on Shaft
Hill and the Great Grave were dedicated in 1897, fifty years after the
deaths at Waiilatpu. The trail up Shaft Hill is quite steep; students
or adults with mobility impairments may bypass the hill on the trail that
follows its base. Also, please advise your students to walk on
the trail on this hill — running leads to hurt students and off-trail
travel leads to hurt plants and wildlife. Have
students read the signs and listen to the audio boxes. Then either ask
them questions or have them work on the related questions on the "Grounds
Worksheet."
THE
OREGON TRAIL AND WAGON
The location of our
Oregon Trail wagon varies with the season. It may be on the Oregon Trail,
by the Great Grave in the "tipi grove," or behind the visitor
center. PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB ON THE WAGON — this is dangerous for
the students and damages the wagon. Use
the Oregon Trail to travel between the Great Grave/Shaft Hill areas and
the Mission Grounds. Although these are reconstructed, not original, ruts,
this is where the trail once was. There are questions on the "grounds
worksheet" related to this area.
THE
MUSEUM
Our museum holds original
and reproduction artifacts and photographs portraying the lives and cultures
of the Cayuse, the Whitmans, and the Mission. A worksheet will help to
focus students while visiting the museum. If rangers are not occupied
with another group, we will be happy to answer questions in the museum.
See "Museum Worksheet."
LUNCH
ACTIVITY
Our picnic area has
tables, a drinking fountain, trash cans, and recycling cans, as well as
some shade trees and a rock with petroglyphs. Bathrooms are located at
the visitor center building. Please be aware of the nearby parking lot
and road; cars often travel through quite quickly. Also, please help us
to protect the trees in the picnic area by not allowing students to climb
on them. The following activity can be used during lunch.
"Eco-Lunch"
As a part of preserving
the park for the future, we try to have as little impact on the land as
possible. An "eco-lunch" activity is a good way to get your
students to become aware of how much trash they create, filling landfills
and using natural resources.
Supplies: paper and
pencil/pen for teacher, prizes, the students' lunches (NOTE: if all of
your students have a school lunch, the activity doesn't work very well.)
Activity: When students
finish their lunches, they must count their pieces of trash. Each piece
counts for one point.
Special exceptions:
- fruit peels (orange,
banana) that are biodegradable and healthy are ½ a point.
- cans or bottles
that they recycle are ½ a point (since they still use resources
to recycle)
- bags they promise
to reuse are 0 points
- each piece of trash
counts; if a bag is torn in half, it's now two points.
- juice boxes are
automatically three points (box, straw, and straw wrapper)
- "Lunchables"
are usually at least 5 points
The student(s) with
the fewest trash points win(s) a prize. (you decide how many prizes and
whether students will be awarded for 0, ½ or 1 point)
Discuss ways to reduce,
reuse, and recycle during lunch:
- use tupperware
instead of plastic bags (reusable and no more mushy sandwiches!)
- use cloth lunch
bags instead of paper (insulated ones keep food cold or hot and don't
break!)
- use real silverware
or reuse plastic
- use cloth napkins
- don't buy over-packaged
items (lunchable-type products and juice boxes are in this category)
- use a thermos instead
of packaged drinks (a juice box has 3 pieces of trash!)
- Remember the 3
R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Buy recycled products to complete the circle.
- make sure trash
goes in the trash can.
- talk about how
these actions can save their parents money!
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