COVID-19 Series

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VIRTUAL EVERY KID OUTDOORS (EKO) FIELD TRIPS FOR 4th-8th GRADE- THE COVID SERIES

Fort McHenry and Hampton National Historic Site present four virtual programs as part of THE COVID SERIES. Virtual trips about Soap, Safety and Freedom Seeking, and Six Feet of Separation at historic NPS sites connect the past with the present! We also offer an open-ended Collaborative Program for teachers to work with park staff and access park resources as tools for individual classroom projects. See program information below and click HERE to request a program.

Our partner organization, Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA) at Gwynns Falls Leakin Park/Carrie Murray Nature Center also presents three virtual programs on using the stream valley, human and animal adaptations, and collaborative programming. Check them out here.

All of these programs are free to fourth grade classes in all Baltimore City public and charter schools, as well as all Title I schools across Maryland, through our partnership with Every Kid Outdoors. To learn more about Every Kid Outdoors, click here.

Educational resources for these field trips are available for all teachers to access here on the website, either through individual program pages or the Educational Resources for Digital Learning page.

If you are a teacher in a different K-12 grade, teach at a non-Title I, private or parochial school and would still be interested in a program, please email the EKO Education Coordinator for ways to participate in the program.

VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS WITH ON-SITE GUIDES ZOOMING INTO CLASSROOMS

Virtual tours will connect history with current events and tie in with curriculum topics including:

• “Great Heart”
• “We Are Baltimore”
• American Revolution
• War of 1812
• Civil War
• Enslavement and Indenture
• Maryland History
• Arts Integration

VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS PROGRAM OPTIONS:

1. SOAP Teachers receive resources about washing clothes at Fort McHenry and making soap at Hampton National Historic Site. Women (both free black and white women) were the first government contractors to work at Fort McHenry, washing uniforms. At Hampton, stories of making soap in the slave quarters and the significance of different types of clothing being washed teach us about day-to-day life on a Maryland plantation. Videos of costumed interpreters and virtual onsite tours will spark discussion about work, power, and women’s roles.
2. SAFETY AND FREEDOM SEEKING Teachers receive resources about the essential work of freedom seeking at Fort McHenry and Hampton National Historic Site. Following the stories of Rebecca Posey (Hampton) and William Williams (Fort McHenry), examining Escaped Slave ads and using the powerful Slave Streets/Free Streets mapping software, students will explore the choices, dangers and possibilities of freedom seeking for enslaved persons in Maryland.
3. SIX FEET OF SEPARATION Teachers receive resources about how closely linked (and far apart) different forms of indentured servitude were in Baltimore, especially for people learning or performing a skilled trade. Following the stories of Grace Wisher, a black indentured servant who worked in Mary Pickersgill’s shop on the flags of Fort McHenry and John Willis, a white convict-servant who was indentured at Hampton’s Iron Furnace, students will learn about how people sought to reinvent themselves in early America.
4. COLLABORATIVE PROJECT Teachers and park staff work together to use park resources to help complete research, arts integration, math, writing, or science projects. Teachers must start with a topic and preliminary ideas in mind.

VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS ALL FOLLOW THE SAME STEPS:

STEP 1: Share materials from the program of your choice with your students.

STEP 2: Have students generate questions for their tour guide and choose which park (and what part of the park) they would like the tour guide to be on-site for during the virtual class visit.

STEP 3: Schedule an on-site tour guide as a guest in your Zoom classroom (Baltimore City) or Google Classroom (Baltimore County) for 1 or 2 10-20 minute visits. Tours can be scheduled Mondays-Fridays from 9 am-2:30 pm and require at least 3 weekdays' notice. Tour guides can connect with you from either or both sites.

STEP 4: Following your session/s with your tour guide, you will receive follow up answers and materials to continue to make connections in your classroom.