Outreach Programs
Dear Valued Educators, please see below for outreach programs available.
Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum & Doon Heritage Village School Programs
Outreach education programs by Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum and Doon Heritage Village cost $9.00 per student (no tax). We do not charge for teachers, Education Assistants, Early Childhood Educators, other education professionals, or adult classroom volunteers. We require a teacher be present for the duration of the outreach program. This does not have to be the booking or homeroom teacher.
Human Body Systems - Outreach
Grade 5 - Science and Technology
Learn how the human body works! Students explore major human body systems - digestive, circulatory, and nervous. Inflate real pig lungs, conduct an experiment on catalase, and test your senses of touch and smell!
Life Systems: Human Health and Body Systems
75 minutes, minimum 17 students to a maximum of 25 students per session, consecutive sessions can be booked on the same day to accommodate more students. If you would like to book fewer than 17 students, please still fill out the online booking request form. Smaller bookings will be considered upon request.
Coding Robots - Outreach
Grades 1 to 8 -Science and Technology, Mathematics
Teach your class the basics of coding - no laptops or tablets required! Using Ozobots, our staff will introduce your class to creating clear instructions, simplifying problems, debugging programs, producing different outputs, and coding sequential, concurrent, and repeating events. $9.00 per student
Coding and Emerging Technologies, Algebra - Coding
75 minutes, minimum 17 students to a maximum of 25 students per session, consecutive sessions can be booked on the same day to accommodate more students. If you would like to book fewer than 17 students, please still fill out the online booking request form. Smaller bookings will be considered upon request.
Schneider Haus National Historic Site School Programs
Do you want us to come to you? Aspects of any of our programs are available in your classroom! Please indicate "outreach" on the online form, and a member of our team will contact you!
McDougall Cottage School Programs
In-Person Outreach Programs
We bring the museum to you!
McDougall Cottage is offering in-person outreach programs that we will bring right to your classroom! In-person visits are one hour in length and $100 per visit.
Traditions and Celebrations
Grade 2 - Social Studies
This program combines Social Studies, The Arts, and Mathematics as we explore our changing family and community traditions using the Scottish heritage of the former residents of McDougall Cottage as a focused exploration. Students will explore Scottish celebrations by looking at traditional music, foodways, dance, and clothing, and conclude with an Art and Mathematics design challenge!
Heritage and Identity - Changing Family and Community Traditions; Mathematics - Algebra: Patterns and Relationships
1 hour in-person outreach OR virtual program
Emigrant’s ‘Kist’
Grade 3 - Social Studies
With only a small 'kist' to carry their most important practical and sentimental belongings to a new home in Upper Canada, how and why did an immigrant family select those precious items? In what ways might this have changed for families moving to a new country today? In this inquiry-based program, students will unpack and explore artifacts essential to Scottish emigrants in the nineteenth century, drawing comparisons between their own lives and the communities that formed new beginnings in Waterloo Region between 1780 and 1850.
Heritage and Identity - Communities in Canada, 1780 - 1850
1 hour in-person outreach OR virtual program
Murals and Illusions
Grades 4 - 6 - Art
We will take your class on an exploration of the recently revealed 100-year-old trompe l'oeil murals and friezes at McDougall Cottage. Students will compare and contrast historic mural art with modern examples of optical illusion mural, street, and body art, and then try their hand at creating their own ‘trick of the eye’ art piece.
The Arts - Exploring Forms and Cultural Contexts
1 hour in-person outreach OR virtual program
Etiquette
Grade 3 to 6 - Language, Mathematics & the Arts
Help teach your students how to be thoughtful about their conduct both in the classroom and online in this engaging etiquette course. This program includes a brief history of etiquette, its importance, and showcases how we uplift ourselves and our community when we lead with kindness and consideration. Students will experience hands-on etiquette for high tea (a staple at McDougall Cottage) as well as how to translate etiquette online.
Digital Media Literacy; Spatial Awareness; Audience Etiquette
1 hour in-person outreach OR virtual program
Letter Writing
Grade 3 to 6 - Language
Unlike digital communications, written letters provide a physical history of our relationships and communications with each other and give writers space to slow down and collect their thoughts. In our letter writing program, students will learn about the history of letter writing, the importance of physical letters, experience cursive reading and writing exercises, and get hands-on experience writing letters. Our final activity will allow students to write a letter to their future self or a friend to practice their letter-writing skills.
Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts (Cursive)
1 hour in-person outreach OR virtual program
Currents of Change
Grade 4,5,7, and 8 - Social Studies and Geography
Through an engaging blend of history, geography, ecology, and art, students will examine the profound and dynamic connection between the Grand River, Cambridge’s heritage, and our collective future. This two-part field trip features content from McDougall Cottage’s newest exhibit - “Currents of Change – Inspiring Action Along the Grand River” - and includes a visit to the nearby Idea Exchange River Room.
At McDougall Cottage, students will explore the history of the Grand, examine maps, and consider the impact of industry on the environment and ecology. They will explore the exhibit through a scavenger hunt and reflect on how they can contribute to protecting the Grand River for future generations. Additionally, in partnership with the Cambridge Art Galleries and the Cambridge Public Library, students will participate in an art exercise and a reading activity, fostering their connection to the Grand River.
People and Environments: Political and Physical Regions of Canada; Heritage and Identity and People and Environments; Interrelationships between People and the Physical Environment and Natural Resources and Sustainability; Global Settlement: Patterns and Sustainability
1 hour in-person outreach OR virtual program