2025 Summer Discovery Program

Our Summer Discovery Program is done in partnership with the New London Salvation Army.  For the fifth year we have immersed local youth in science and humanities professions. This year our curriculum included archaeology, genealogy, and natural history.

The Archaeology Program

Our garden is used for an archaeological dig. We select different areas in the garden and begin to excavate. We have discovered the garden was not the typical Victorian garden you find behind historic homes like the Shaw Mansion.  The Shaws used the garden to unpack maritime goods as evidenced by the amount of nails we found in our dig. Additionally we found vast amounts of broken dishware, including red ware, cream ware, white ware, and flow blue. Many bits of broken pipe were in evidence speaking of the amount of workers.  Additionally charcoal, seashells, and slag were found through out the garden, telling us that they were forging iron, and repairing metal items.

Our students performed all the functions of an Archeologist.  They corded off the dig site, excavated the test pits, sifted the soil, sorted artifacts, washed the artifacts, then helped identify and curate the artifacts. The exhibit was created using the artifacts they unearthed. In addition to the nails, shells, and slag, the students discovered bones.  As they excavated and collected these bones, they discovered teeth.  With the teeth were were able to identify the bones belonged to a white tailed deer.

The Natural History Program.

In Natural History, the students learned how to identify the various insects, plants, and animals found in our garden.  We focused on teaching the students where to find the answers instead of having them memorize the characteristics of the things being identified. We asked all of them to report on their findings in a journal.  We also constructed terrariums from flowers the students found. Creating terrariums for a collection cabinet was commonplace in the 19th century.

 

The Genealogy Program

 Our students were the subject of the genealogy program.  We put them at the center of inquiry. Defining family as the people in your home who care for you, we asked our students to tell us about their lives.  By taking an interest in their stories, we demonstrated to them that their stories matter, so they mattered.  Each student created a narrative about their families and we added them to our summer discovery program collection.

Each morning we discussed the plans for the day and divided the students into groups.

Breaks throughout the day were essential.

During the hot summer, it is not surprising that washing the artifacts was their favorite task.

Preparing the walls to install the exhibit turned out to be one of the most desired jobs.  It was quite exciting to see our students participate in all aspects of the program.  Our summer exhibit will remain in the classroom at the Shaw Mansion through September.