Teacher Galleries

Created by: Andrea

This gallery features ceremonial masks from countries across Africa now in the Grand Rapids Public Museum's Collection. They demonstrate the variety of styles, ritual uses as well as the powerful creative expression in their design. 
 

Created by: Alex

These thought-provoking natural science specimens are used for an annual collaboration with Forest Hills Central High School and the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids. Typically the program includes about 350 students who visit the Zoo and GRPM has provided 64 Tier 3 specimens from its Collections to place at stations around the Zoo. Students visit each station to do a hands-on activity about an aspect of evolutionary biology, ecological niches, anatomy and physiology, etc.

Created by: Erin

At the Grand Rapids Public Museum High School, 9th grade social studies teacher Lindsay Lane and English language arts teacher Holly Postma collaborated to lead a unit of study on immigration. The students were asked to create a classwide virtual museum exhibit on immigration as the culminating performance task.

The learning took place via 100% Virtual Instruction in the Fall of 2020. At the beginning of the module, students completed an activity related to the Newcomers Exhibit. They viewed the Newcomers Exhibit Tour Video, as well as analyzed chosen artifacts from the exhibit. The purpose of viewing the exhibit tour video was so that students who were unfamiliar with the exhibit could "experience" the exhibit in a virtual format, however, it was also useful for all students to see an exemplar of a museum exhibit. The artifact exploration was used to help students gain an understanding of how certain objects play a role in the lives of immigrants, and how they serve a role and purpose in a museum exhibit. This knowledge would then help to guide them in both their individual and group contributions to the class-wide museum exhibit. To provide inspiration and advice on the exhibit development process, a panel of GPRM staff joined with students via zoom. Finally, students presented their virtual exhibit presentation to a panel of Museum staff members who provided verbal and written feedback to the class.

A detailed rubric for the virtual exhibit can be found  here.

Check out the student-developed virtual exhibit

Created by: Alex

The Grand Rapids Public Museum has over 250,000 artifacts in its collections. These artifacts have been donated by community members since 1854. Only 5% of the total collection is on display at the Museum.  In an effort to make the collection accessible to the public the Museum has been working to add photos and descriptions of these artifacts into an online database. In the freshman year of Museum School students will contribute to this work by selecting an artifact of which they are interested and researching the object from multiple perspectives and using diverse lenses. They are unearthing the hidden stories that artifacts carry.

Created by: Ben

This gallery was created as part of the Public Museum High School's curation class. It represents a cross-section of the Public Museum's Covid-19 artifacts and the stories these artifacts help to tell.

Created by: Alex

A group of artifacts and specimens from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.  These objects will be used by a group of 10th grade students at Forest Hills Eastern High School for a project related to their U.S. History/U.S. Literature classes.  Students visited the GRPM's archives and received a tour as well as training on artifact handling, reading an artifact, and how to write significance statements.  The artifacts then traveled to their classroom where the students were able to select an object to research and write about in greater detail.  Significance statements of high quality written by students will be added to the official GRPM database record for the object.

Created by: Alex

This selection of artifacts was used by the Grand Rapids Public Museum School in 2018. High school students will study the Industrial Revolution through hands-on exploration of artifacts.

Created by: Ashleigh

A glimpse into the GRPM's collection of presidential mementos. What souvenirs or mementos do you like to collect?

Created by: Ashleigh

Eighth graders from the Grand Rapids Public Museum Middle School hosted Student Docent Day on March 11, 2020 at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. As part of their Place Based Design class, students collaborated with Museum staff to chose an artifact from the Museum’s Collections and, through their classwork and research, designed a story to guide Museum visitors to a deeper understanding of their chosen artifact and how it relates to existing exhibits. The Student Docent Day project is a culmination of what the students have learned and experienced throughout their time at the middle school. This project allows students to share their work with a real audience; their interpretation provides GRPM visitors and field trip groups with an engaging, fresh perspective on our exhibits.

Created by: Ashleigh

Shapes are all around us! Explore this gallery to hunt for a variety of geometric shapes. Designed as an elementary math extension to address Michigan Math Standard 3.G: Reason with shapes and their attributes. Check out the  Lesson Plan and  Student Worksheet

Created by: Ashleigh

What do you wonder about working in the logging industry at its height from the 1840s through the early 1900s? What do you think it would be like to be a logger at this time of year?

Created by: Holly

She Persisted

2020 is the centennial of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote and affirming the goals set by suffragettes in their fight against inequality.  This collaborative exhibition will explore one hundred years of women who refused to be silenced, committing themselves to breaking stereotypes and shattering gender roles through their persistence and successes.  With objects on loan from the Grand Rapids Public Museum we will showcase the work of strong women from West Michigan.

 The dates of this exhibit will be August 26 – September 24, 2020

Created by: Sara

Created by: Ashleigh

Investigate historical Grand River artifacts and specimens highlighting the develop of the city of Grand Rapids. The following driving questions are considered: How has the Grand River shaped the development of Grand Rapids? How has the Grand River affected the lives of the people who live in Grand Rapids? And, how has the Grand River changed over time? This gallery was developed for Canoemobile 2019. Canoemobile is a “floating classroom” that brings students out on local waterways in 24-foot Voyageur canoes to learn about science, history, geography, and culture.

Created by: Andrea

This Collection of objects illustrate themes surrounding life and religion in ancient civilizations. It will be used for 7th and 8th-grade ancient civilizations and world religion taught at the Grand Rapids Public Museum School. The curriculum specifically focuses on classical civilizations, Eastern/Western Europe (up to 1500), Africa (up to 1500), Greece, Persia, Egypt, Rome, Byzantine Empire, Assyrian Empire, Chinese civilization, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism. 

Created by: Erin

120 eighth grade students from Valleywood Middle School in Kentwood Public Schools participated in an exhibit design project in partnership with GRPM. Student groups selected an artifact or specimen from the GRPM's Collections and researched their object. These objects were loaned into the classroom for students to engage with more deeply. Valleywood students visited the Museum to gain insight on what goes into successful exhibit creation. They interviewed a panel of exhibit designers and curators to get advice on design considerations and how to engage audiences around the stories that artifacts hold. To wrap up the project, Valleywood hosted an exhibit gallery showcase where community partners and other students were invited to view the students' exhibit designs, featuring the real GRPM artifacts and specimens.