Virtual Junior Ranger Activity

Explore Guilford Courthouse National Military Park's artifacts virtually!

You can explore the park's museum and become a Virtual Junior Ranger with this online program! Print out the badge below when you finish. If you have questions, please email us.

 

This powder horn was used by a Virginia militiaman in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

NPS Photo

How to explore the online museum

To complete this Virtual Junior Ranger program, open the online museum link in a new tab to compare to the questions listed below. Each of the following question will direct you to a webpage on the online museum.

Each activity corresponds with a webpage title. For example, you will start on "Exhibit Overview" and continue on "Weapons of War" , and follow this pattern on the web headings.

You will analyze the artifact's pictures to answer questions about their use during the American Revolution and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

 

The first edition of Common Sense by Thomas Paine is in the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park exhibit

NPS Photo

Activity 1 - Exhibit Overview page

Select the Exhibit Overview tab and read about the history of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse to answer the following questions below.

1. What date did the battle occur?
2. How many soldiers fought on each side? What is the percentage of soldiers lost on each side?
3. What battle occured after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse seven months later? Do you know where this battle is located?
4. Select the image of the book to read the description. This is actually not a book, but a pamphlet! Why were pamphlets important to the colonists? Who wrote Common Sense?

 

Activity 2 - Weapons of War

Select the "Weapons of War" tab and read about British and American soldiers' weapons and tools for the war.

1. What was the most important weapon of the Revolutionary War?
2. What are two types of edged weapons the soldiers would use?
3. Identify the inaccurate weapon used by soldiers. How did they overcome this problem?
4. What is the name of the edged weapon that soldiers used to cause a panic? Hint: look for the tool in row 6 and 7 of the grid below.

In the online museum page, explore the picture grid at the bottom of "Weapons of War"

1. Musket balls were made of what type of metal?
2. What items, made of wood and leather, would a soldier use to carry musket balls?
3. This type of sword was carried by musicians and non-commissioned officers of the 23rd Regiment of Foot.
4. Examine first artifact in the top left square of the grid? What is its purpose?
5. Identify the musket ball mold in the grid. What type of rock was used to create a mold?

 

Activity 3 - Leisure Hours

Select the"Leisure Hours" tab to read about how soldiers passed the time outside of battle. Soldiers did not constantly fight in war. Soldiers hung out in camps with other soldiers and had to find a way to pass the time.

If you have ever camped, how do you think your experience would compare? What kind of soldier pasttimes do you think you would also participate in if you went camping?

 

The pair of dice has red markings of British crown and GR visible.
Ivory. H 1.0, L 1.0, W 1.0 cm

NPS Photo

Camp Entertainment

1. Name two activites a soldier might participate in after a day of drilling, which is the act of practicing military movements and commands for battle.
2. These pair of dice are from the 18th century. Do you have your own pair of this historic toy at home? What board games do you use it for today? What markings are on these 18th century dice?

 

Camp Tools

Click on the images in the grid to connect the artifact to the listed camping activity. Remember that some of these artifacts may look different to camping items today! Select the item that you would use for:

1. Drinking tea
2. Straining tea leaves
3. Finding your way in the dark
4. Dipping your quill into ink to write a letter to your family
5. Extinguishing a candle at night
6. Playing a puzzle game
7. Reading a letter or book

 

A physician bandaging the foot of a soldier

Illustration by Don Troiani, 1983
National Park Service

Activity 4 - Medicine

You are a doctor in Colonial America, and now you must select the tools on the medicine page to perform surgery on a battle victim. While 21st century doctors are trained in school, an 18th century doctor learned his profession from a book! Do you feel ready to practice on the battlefield?

Junior Ranger, if you are too grossed out, feel free to move onto the next activity. Not everyone wants to be a doctor or a surgeon!

 

Match the Medical Tools

Your job is to help heal the wounded soldiers from the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, select the different images on the website to read their descriptions and match to the questions below.

1. Looks like tweezers, used for dressing wounds

2. Brings blood to the surface of the skin with heat and vacuum pressure

3. Saws through bone

4. Large enough to collect bodily fluids/liquids

5. Used to lance wounds

6. Used to cut skin precisely

7. Grooved - used to remove bullets

8. Used to cut the cloth bandages for wounds

 

Activity 5 - Food and Spirits

Select the "Food and Spirits" page to learn about the types of food soldiers ate, who fed the army, and the types of dishes and tools they used! Answer the following questions by reading the text on the webpage and comparing the questions to the artifacts by selecting the individual images in the grid on the left side of the page.

Soldier Food

It's time to eat! After a long day of marching and drilling, it is time for the soldiers to set up their camp and cook their meals. General Washington relies on his Quartermaster General to determine how much food is needed for you and your fellow soldiers.

1. How many barrels of flour should the Quartermaster General purchase?
2. What is the number of pounds of meat required to feed 15,000 soldiers for one year?
3. Many soldiers die in war, and the army numbers drop to 10,000. Using the number figures from the previous question, how many pounds of meat must the Quartermaster General purchase for a year?
4. What are some typical foods, or "staples" that a soldier would eat in the Army? Choose six types of food from the webpage summary to list.

 

 

Compare the camping artifact to what you would use today!

People use cups, plates, utensils, and food containers everyday to eat. But the apperance of these items have changed over the centuries. If you look closely at these artifacts you will see similarities to what you use today. Select the pictures in the left side of the grid on the "Food and Spirits" page to see how they compare to the words below.

1. Water bottle
2. Mug
3. Shish kebab
4. Utensil
5. Cup
6. Trivet
7. Water cooler

 

Women cared for children in war camps, this woman is feeding her children. She encourages her son to "Be a Brave Soldier"

Painting by Don Troiani, Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Museum Collection

Activity 6 - Women

Women were actively involved in the American Revolution, at home and in the war camps. Let's explore the different items women would have carried by analyzing the text and artifacts on the "Women" page.

1. Some rural women stayed at home to run the farm, but many also followed and worked for the army. List four of their jobs.
2. Look at the first artifact on the webpage. What is in the woman's "Etui Case"? There are so many things packed in. List the nine objects. Can you think of a modern type of object that women use to carry tools?
3. During the colonial period, women made their own clothes if they could not purchase them from a store. It was very hard to get supplies during war! What would a woman use the Niddy Noddy artifact for? See the last artifact in the grid.
4. How does life as a woman following the army differ from what women do today? Interview your mother, aunt, grandma, sister, or cousin and ask them what role they would have taken during the American Revolution. How does their daily life compare to these colonial women?

 

Print out the Virtual Museum Visit Junior Ranger badge to add to your collection!

NPS Photo, Rebecca Barefoot

Virtual Junior Ranger Pledge & Badge

Congrats on completing this Virtual Junior Ranger program by exploring our online museum! Now its time to take the pledge to earn your badge. Recite the following and then print out the virtual badge.

I, (state name) promise to keep exploring National Parks online and in-person.
I promise to keep reading about the past to learn about the American Revolution.
I will study historic papers and artifacts to learn more about the people who made them.
I will think about how the past is connected to today, and to the future.
I will respect historical places by keeping them safe and secure.
And, I will visit other safe, fun, and parent-approved websites to keep learning!