Bring the Museum to your school! The Florida Museum currently offers five Inquiry Box outreach programs for use in the classroom. All activities are designed to integrate social studies, language arts, math and science in a unified learning experience.

Suitable for: All ages but geared to 3rd-5th grade

Participants will:

• Discover the people who inhabited South Florida, descendants of the Paleoindians and Archaic people who came to Florida thousands of years ago.
• See replicas of early Indian crafts – a wooden Ivory-billed Woodpecker plaque, a mask, a hammer, a scoop and the feline statue.
• Find out what middens (old trash heaps) tell us about diet, culture and climate.
• Learn how the early people made cord and rope.
• Read a translation from Spanish records about the Calusa.
• Handle ancient tool artifacts – points, knives, drills and scrapers.

Shared Boxes

The Southern Florida Early Native People Inquiry Box (a large red suitcase and a small red duffle bag) contains books (both fiction and nonfiction), a video, word cards, laminated teaching aids, replicas, artifacts, a timeline, a game, a sorting tray and a teacher’s guide (including a suggested approach sheet). This Inquiry Box features 14 shared boxes, each designed to be explored by 1-3 students.

Each shared box contains:

• Sealed packet of 1,000+ year-old midden.
• Packet fishing gear – hook, net, net gauge and illustration.
• Packet containing artifacts of tools with identification cards.
• Packet of fiber from which to make cord.
• Replica of the famous feline.

This Inquiry Box was designed using the Sunshine State Standards and is intended to enhance FCAT preparation.

Teacher’s Guide to Florida’s Native People

This teacher’s guide may be used for Inquiry Box presentations, Inquiry Box loans and Museum visits. The guide contains information on Florida’s Indian people, information on associated subjects and related fields of study, vocabulary and suggested activities. All activities are designed to integrate social studies, language arts, math and science in a unified learning experience. Permission is granted to reproduce the information and activities for student and teacher use. All guides are in PDF format.

Full Teacher’s Guide

Table of Contents

Part One – Introduction and General Information

Part Four – Florida’s Seminole People

Part Five – References (Answers, Vocabulary, Bibliography)

Pick Up & Payment Policies

• Inquiry Boxes may be picked up at the Museum between 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
• Acceptable forms of payment are cash, credit card, and checks made out to the University of Florida.

Reservations

Ready to reserve your inquiry box and/or presentation? Click a button below to get started!

Questions? Please email outreach@floridamuseum.ufl.edu or call 352-294-6950.