Virtual Education Resources

Are you an educator? The Historical Museum of Bay County now offers FREE virtual education programs for area schools!

These programs utilize Google Slides to teach Bay County history through informative texts, photos, videos, audio bits and YouTube links. Programs are designed for various age groups and can be adjusted and edited if needed by teachers. Optional exercises and activities are included in these programs. We can also work with you for custom programs specifically designed for your classroom or history topic.

For a complete description of each activity click here. For access to virtual programs or for more information contact Education Coordinator Sam Fitzpatrick at (989) 893-5733 or at: samf@bchsmuseum.org.

Programs

Age range: Elementary up to High School: “Joe Fournier and Saginaw Valley Logging”

This educational slideshow and following activities are aimed at students anywhere from elementary school up through high school. Because I had younger audiences in mind, I recorded my voice on every slide talking about what is on the slide and have placed them in numerical order making them easy to follow. I also include some photos and videos of myself discussing a few things and to put more of a “face” to the voice recordings, and to give students perspective on their community. Topics here include the lumbering industry in the Saginaw Valley, its importance, and the role Bay City played with lumber mills and wood manufacturing. I also included many maps and photos to aid in visuals. After lumbering, the next topic is the local legend of Joe Fournier—the real-life lumberjack from Bay City who’s life and story helped to shape the tall tale of Paul Bunyan (yes, really!).

Age range: Middle School to High School: “Four Exhibits from the BCHS”

This tour and the following activities are mainly aimed at students in middle and high school—I tried to balance out a good amount of photos, reading, maps, and linked and embedded YouTube videos. There is a lot on display at the museum, so what I did here is take four exhibits and expand upon them. I picked out four displays I thought students would find interesting (I wanted to highlight music history, STEM history, manufacturing history, and something most find to be truly bizarre and fun—Victorian hair wreaths!)

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Age range: All Ages: “Future Exhibit 2320”

This activity is designed for all ages and meant for students to be as creative as possible. Sort of a play on words with our current exhibit “A Century of Preservation”, “300 Years of Preservation” is a fun “what if?” scenario. Let’s say over the course of 300 years the BCHS just kept updating our exhibit space all the way to the year 2320! While out on an archaeological dig, or maybe through a recent donation, BCHS staff may stumble across an artifact that they feel needs to be put on display at the museum. And that artifact once belonged you in our time!

The Bay County Historical Society & Historical Museum of Bay County
321 Washington Avenue ▪ Bay City, MI 48708

989-893-5733

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