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Field Trip Education Programs
Discover More About the Flint Hills
In addition to exploring our dynamic and interactive exhibits, Flint Hills Discovery Center's Education Programs offer a fun, hands-on experience that excite students' learning. We offer several on-site education programs for all ages.
- Choose your topic by grade level below*
- Each program is 45-60 minutes
- Maximum 30 students, minimum 12
- Two week advance notice required to schedule
- Offered by reservation only
- Developed according to state standards and core concepts
Reserve Your Program
To book your field trip with an education program, call us at 785-587-2726, email fhdceducation@cityofmhk.com or complete our Group Visits Form. Please be prepared to provide:
- Number of youth in your group
- Grade or age level
- Date you would like to visit
- Time preference
- Education program preference
We will follow up to confirm details and send you a detailed confirmation packet.
Hands-On Flint Hills
Choose two of our most popular 30-minute hands-on experiences to make an hour of hands-on history and nature. Perfect way to explore the Flint Hills!
- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 per session
- Education standards vary depending on activities chosen
Choose two of the following:
Activity | Description |
---|---|
Bison Box | See and feel a full-size bison robe and skull and learn how Plains Indians turned the bison into dozens of tools, objects and articles of clothing. |
Cowboy Box | Handle all the tools of the trade from our trail driving ancestors through modern livestock managers. See what went into making a cowboy a cowboy from chaps to ropes to branding irons. |
Mammal Box | Explore the fur, teeth and tracks from the eight most prominent mammals of the Flint Hills from the beaver to coyote to wildcat. |
Reptile Experience | Come face to face with our reptilian friends. Learn about reptile biology and see one of our ambassador snakes and meet our official state reptile, the ornate box turtle. |
Flint Hills Exploration
Choose the areas of the Flint Hills that you want to explore. Combine three hands-on activities below, each one designed for young minds. Students move through the activities, keeping it fresh and fun!
- Learning Centers
- Time: 45-60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 per session
- Education standards vary depending on activities chosen
Select three activities below and one alternative:
Activity | Description |
---|---|
Painting with Plants | Use the different parts of plants to paint to create masterpieces grounded in the Flint Hills to take home. |
Furry Friends | With the help of pelts, and skulls, discover mammals found throughout the Flint Hills and experience them through touch. |
Animal Tracks | Learn what a raccoon, bobcat, and red fox’s footprint looks like and create a rubbing to take home. |
The Three Sisters Garden | Explore how working together has advantages by examining The Three Sisters: corn, beans and squash. |
Pottery Snake | Practice a technique used ages ago by Native Americans to create clay jars. |
Do Your Chores | Wash day is for fetching water, scrubbing clothes on wash boards, hanging them to dry, and ironing with a real iron, the way Ma and Pa used to. |
Fields to Food | Find out what happens to wheat and corn between the field and your plate! Grind wheat into flour and churn cream into butter. |
Reptile Experience | Get hands-on with our reptilian neighbors with a visit from a Flint Hills snake and box turtle. |
Engineer It! Assembly Line
Learn about assembly lines, participate in a human assembly line model, and redesign an assembly line to improve speed and efficiency.
- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 per session
- Standards: K-2-ETS1-1
Cowboys & Cattle Cars: The Making of the Flint Hills
In this interactive classroom game, students role play as cowboys driving hungry cattle to market, making important decisions along the way that determines the outcome.
- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 students per session
- Standards: Program focuses on Kansas History, Government and Social Studies (HGSS) 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 4.3 and 5.3
- Lesson Plan Available for Teachers (click here for a preview)
Rockin' Fossils
Is it a rock or is it a fossil? Learn how to think like a geologist to help you solve this riddle and many others through hands-on exploration.
- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 students per session
- Standards: 5-PS1-3
Engineer It! Windmills
Experience the engineering process first-hand as students work in teams to design a model windmill, test the creation, and redesign to perfection.
- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 students per session
- Standards: 3-5-FTS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2
- Lesson Plan Available for Teachers (click here for a preview)
Hands-On Flint Hills
Choose two of our most popular 30-minute hands-on experiences to make an hour of hands-on history and nature. Perfect way to explore the Flint Hills!- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students I Maximum: 30 per session
- Education standards vary depending on activities chosen
Activity | Description |
---|---|
Bison Box | See and feel a full-size bison robe and skull and learn how Plains Indians turned the bison into dozens of tools, objects and articles of clothing. |
Cowboy Box | Handle all the tools of the trade from our trail driving ancestors through modern livestock managers. See what went into making a cowboy a cowboy from chaps to ropes to branding irons. |
Mammal Box | Explore the fur, teeth and tracks from the eight most prominent mammals of the Flint Hills from the beaver to coyote to wildcat. |
Geology Box | What makes the Flint Hills the Flint Hills? See the rocks, minerals, and fossils that lie under our feet and make this place so special |
Reptile Experience | Come face to face with our reptilian friends. Learn about reptile biology and see one of our ambassador snakes and meet our official state reptile, the ornate box turtle. |
Flint Hills Tools | Explore the tools that Native people used in the Flint Hills for over 13,000 years. Handle reproduction items to learn about ancient technology |
All programs for 6th - 8th graders can be adapted for high school age learners.
The Natural Economy
In this historical economy game, students establish their team enterprise in ranching and farming and explore opportunities the Flint Hills offered, all while deciding which lifestyle strategies to employ.
- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 students per session
- Standards: Program focuses on Kansas History, Government and Social Studies (HGSS) 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 4.3 and 5.3
- Lesson Plan Available for Teachers (click here for a preview)
A Rocky Start
Create a geologic timeline and sculpt a topographic map of Kansas to discover how and when the Flint Hills were formed, and the geologic secrets held within them.
- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 students per session
- Standards: MS-ESS1-4
Engineer It! Prosthetic Leg
Practice the engineering process first-hand and design a prosthetic leg made from different materials including PVC pipe, dowel rods, sponges and more!
- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 students per session
- Standards: MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2
Bringing Archaeology Home
Dive deep into the past of Kansans as students recreate an archaeological dig site and employ the tools and methods used by professional archaeologists today. Developed in collaboration with K-State Archaeology faculty, this program uses data from a real Kansas archaeological site (c. 1000-1400 AD) to teach students how and why we investigate and protect the past.
Learn more about this program.
- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students | Maximum: 30 students per session
- Standards: Program focuses on Kansas History, Government and Social Studies (HGSS) 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.3
Hands-On Flint Hills
Choose two of our most popular 30-minute hands-on experiences to make an hour of hands-on history and nature. Perfect way to explore the Flint Hills!- Time: 60 minutes
- Minimum: 12 students I Maximum: 30 per session
- Education standards vary depending on activities chosen
Activity | Description |
---|---|
Bison Box | See and feel a full-size bison robe and skull and learn how Plains Indians turned the bison into dozens of tools, objects and articles of clothing. |
Cowboy Box | Handle all the tools of the trade from our trail driving ancestors through modern livestock managers. See what went into making a cowboy a cowboy from chaps to ropes to branding irons. |
Mammal Box | Explore the fur, teeth and tracks from the eight most prominent mammals of the Flint Hills from the beaver to coyote to wildcat. |
Geology Box | What makes the Flint Hills the Flint Hills? See the rocks, minerals, and fossils that lie under our feet and make this place so special |
Reptile Experience | Come face to face with our reptilian friends. Learn about reptile biology and see one of our ambassador snakes and meet our official state reptile, the ornate box turtle. |
Flint Hills Tools | Explore the tools that Native people used in the Flint Hills for over 13,000 years. Handle reproduction items to learn about ancient technology. |