Culminating Activity
Our trip to The Franklin Institute was a culminating activity in our investigations with magnetism and electricity. The museum experiences were planned to review and reinforce much of what my students had learned. The displays and exhibits were to provide concrete referents for their newly acquired knowledge, and also provide another venue for our investigations and information. We worked on this unit, completing the activities and experiments every day for approximately three months. We were especially interested in the following exhibits:

Replica of Franklin's Print Shop

Benjamin Franklin National Memorial

Planning
Careful planning for the trip was a necessity. There were seven chaperones and 22 students. Students were grouped into small groups of three or four. Each chaperone was given a map of the museum, list of all children and chaperones, itinerary of the day's schedule, popular exhibits to visit, and some questions to focus students' attention and review major concepts.
Sample questions: Which exhibits involved magnets or electromagnets?  Did you see the generator?  Which exhibits demonstrated something about static electricity? What do you remember about Franklin's life and his inventions?  Did the exhibits help you remember? 
Chaperones had notepaper to record students' responses and observations.

The groups were able to move through the exhibits on their own. Our schedule indicated when we would meet for the mini lesson in the Franklin Gallery and lunchroom. The lunch schedule and our entry to the museum (our lunches and coats were stored, and museum rules were explained) were organized by the museum's staff. This was very helpful and contributed to a structured and well-planned day.

Exhibits

The mini lesson scheduled that day fit very well with our unit of study. The children really enjoyed the demonstration of static electricity. One of my students was involved in the demonstration. This captivated the children's attention even more and it was a dramatic display of static electricity.

Other exhibits that the children really enjoyed were the Heart, Changing Earth/Weather Center, and the Sports Challenge. The students were active participants and were experimenting with many of the concepts we learned in the classroom. The Sports Challenge exhibits provided a physical "workout" for many of the children. Many children remembered and made connections with the exhibits to things we had learned. Exhibits in The Changing Earth/Weather Center, in particular, activated prior learning about weather related concepts, tornadoes, storms, and clouds. Even the Astronomy exhibit helped prepare the children for our next topic, the solar system and universe.

Our visit to the museum took place in February. Appropriately for Black History Month, there was a scavenger hunt of famous African American scientists. Some of the children were interested in this activity and participated.

During the entire trip, the students were very excited and enthusiastic. There were plenty of activities and stimuli to keep all the children interested and entertained. At the end of our trip, all the children were tired and ready to rest on the bus during our ride back to school.