For students eager to delve into Iowa’s history, the State Historical Society of Iowa offers a dynamic field trip experience. With interactive exhibits and educational insights suitable for all ages, the museum provides a captivating way for educators to share knowledge with their students. Spanning 13,000 years of Iowa history, the museum offers a comprehensive understanding of the state’s formation and the significant events that shaped its rich history.
With a variety of historical collections throughout the museum, students and teachers can explore exhibits that span the building and highlight key findings. From books and periodicals to census and county records, newspapers, and manuscripts, the opportunities to research and learn about the culture and legacy of Iowa are endless. Explore over a million photographs, films, and recordings capturing Iowa’s history from the 1840s to today. The collection features prints, daguerreotypes, tintypes, glass plates, lithographs, slides, film, video cassettes, and digital formats. Perfect for students wanting to do their own research, the Library and Archives Research Centers can help research goals by providing access to 209 million documents, photographs, newspapers, and more.
The museum has a variety of educational exhibits for teachers to choose from based on the grade level and age group of the classroom. Goldie’s Object Search invites preschoolers through 2nd graders (ages 3-8) to explore the museum at their own pace, using images of artifacts to spark curiosity and discovery. Goldie Tweets, designed for 3rd-8th graders (ages 9-14), provides a fun and interactive way to dive into Iowa’s history through self-guided scavenger hunts and artifact searches. High school students (grades 9-12, ages 15-18) can take a deeper look into the state’s past with the Museum Exhibit Guide, offering in-depth information on highlighted objects from the museum collection. These exhibitions create a nurturing and exciting space for students to learn about Iowa history in an interactive and meaningful way.
For students who can’t make it out of the classroom, the museum offers virtual classroom lessons that teachers can use for a digital and accessible activity. Through staff-led programs, classroom theme-based lessons allow students to learn remotely about important historical themes and connections to Iowa’s past. Learn about Iowa and the Civil War and their important role while exploring historic artifacts and images that tell the stories of Alexander Clark’s fight for equality. Students who want to learn more about the territory of Iowa can ascertain what happened before statehood and the land’s territorial history. The museum does a great job of including accessible options for classrooms that can’t make a physical field trip.
The State Historical Society of Iowa is a thrilling field trip destination, perfect for history classrooms and students eager to learn more about the Iowa narrative. With engaging exhibits and a vast collection of artifacts, the museum offers an immersive learning experience that brings the state’s past to life. The hands-on activities further enhance this experience, fostering a deeper appreciation for the people, events, and cultural influences that shaped the state’s development over time. A visit to the museum is not just a field trip, it’s an adventure that sparks curiosity and discovery.
