Sloan Museum's History and Social Studies Programs
For in-school program reservations, call 810-237-3409
Book hands-on programs at your school!
Use the 2021-2022 Education Guide to plan your field trip or outreach program.
View the PDF.
All social studies activities last approximately 1 hour and have limited seating.
Let us bring hands-on learning to your classroom with our in-school programs. These activities have been optimized to deliver engaging learning experiences right in your school. No need to stick to just one grade or subject; we can bring a variety of classes directly to you!
- Programs last one hour.
- $175 per class, $600 for four classes on the same day for schools in Genesee County.
- For schools outside Genesee County, travel expenses will be charged in accordance with the current IRS standard mileage rate.
- Serves individual classes of 35 students or less.
- Minimum booking is two programs per day.
- A minimum of one teacher from your school will be required to assist the museum educator with the activities.
⭐ Virtual Field Trips for Classroom Learning: Programs marked with a gold star are available as virtual experiences for in-person learners in their classrooms.
🟢 Virtual Field Trips for Remote Learning: Programs marked with a green circle are available as virtual at-home experiences for remote learners.

⭐🟢 Time Travelers
Grades K-1
Discover how museums play an important role in keeping history alive and exciting for future generations. Students will travel back in time to explore historical objects and learn about people from the past through hands-on activities. Compare and contrast historical artifacts with the objects used in the present, and think about what people in the future may use for a similar purpose.
GLCE: K-H2.0.1, K-H2.0.4, 1-H2.0.5, 1-H2.0.6

It All Starts With Me
Grades K-1
Students will explore the past, present, and future from the perspective of their own lives. Join a museum educator for historical story time, identify the important details and people from the story, and compare life today with life in the past while creating a hands-on project to take home.
GLCE: K-H2.0.1, K.H2.0.2, K.H2.0.3, K.H2.0.4, 1-H2.0.1, 1-H2.0.3, 1-H2.0.4, 1-H2.0.5, 1-H2.0.6

⭐ If I Could Build a City
Sponsored by Goyette
Grades 1-5
What is a community? It’s never too soon to learn how communities work. Join our educators as they focus on the importance of transportation, location, communication, and infrastructure to help “build a city” and make it successful. Each team will discuss, plan, and build a two dimensional model city.
GLCE: 1-G5.0.1, 1-E1.0.1, 2-G2.0.2, 2-G4.0.1, 2-G4.0.2, 2-G5.0.1, 2-G5.0.2, 2-E1.0.2

Trappers and Traders
Grades 2-5
Study the early interactions between the Anishinabek and the first European explorers in Michigan using primary and secondary sources. Learn how the People of the Three Fires and the French developed relationships with each other through the fur trade system in order to meet their wants and needs. Explore the incentives and opportunity costs involved with Michigan’s fur trade, and how it impacted life, culture, and the environment.
GLCE: 3-H3.0.1, 3-H3.0.2, 3-H3.0.5, 3.H3.0.6, 3-H3.0.7

Anishinabek: Michigan's First People
Grades 2-5
Explore how the people of the Three Fires Confederacy (Ojibway, Odawa, and Potawatomi) adapted to and used their environment and natural resources to meet their basic needs for survival. Investigate primary sources, visual evidence, artifacts, and replicas through hands-on activities in order to answer historical questions about daily life for the Anishinabek in the early history of Michigan.
GLCE: 3-H3.0.1, 3-H3.0.2, 3-H3.0.4, 3-H3.0.5, 3-G5.0.1, 3-G5.0.2, 3-G4.0.4

Michigan's Pioneers
Grades 2-5
Students will travel back in time to the opening of the Erie Canal and learn how it led to a significant population growth in Michigan. Go on a journey with a pioneer family who is migrating from New York to the wilderness of Michigan through hands-on activities. Discover how pioneers had to make difficult decisions, trek through the harsh landscape with few possessions, and adapt to and use natural resources and their environment to survive and create new lives in Michigan.
GLCE: 3-H3.0.1, 3-H3.0.2, 3-H3.0.3, 3-H3.0.7, 3-G5.0.1, 3-G5.0.2, 4-H3.0.2

⭐🟢 History Detectives
Grades 3-5
Working in teams, uncover the history behind a trunkful of mysteriously abandoned artifacts from the past. Investigate each object using keen detective skills, historical thinking, visual evidence, and primary and secondary sources. Can you figure out what the mystery objects are, where they came from, when and how they were used, and who made or used them?
GLCE: 3-H3.0.1, 3-H3.0.2, 3-H3.0.7, 4-H3.0.4

Plan Your Field Trip!
For reservations, call 810-237-3409
Use the 2021-2022 Education Guide to plan your field trip or outreach program.
View the PDF.
View the current programs:
General Information
Kindergarten Storybook STEM
History & Social Studies at Sloan Museum
Hands-on Science at Longway Planetarium
Planetarium Theater Shows
Portable Dome Theater