When visiting Seal Cove Auto Museum, a variety of take-away activities are available for visitors of all ages. Whether visiting physically, or educating from afar, the museum strives to make its educational resources easily accessible for teachers and students. Explore this section to discover ways to enhance your visit and continue learning in your classroom or at home.
Around America to Win the Vote
Are you planning a trip to Seal Cove Auto Museum and looking for a way to get your students excited for their experience? Before visiting, the museum encourages educators to take part in this schema building activity with their students by reading the children’s book, Around America to Win the Vote by Mara Rockliff. The story is set in 1916 and follows Nell Richardson and Alice Burke along their cross-country road trip in a little yellow car, campaigning for women’s voting rights!
Seal Cove Auto Museum incorporates stories from the Women’s Suffrage movement into its exhibits and features a replica of the little yellow Saxon driven by the two women in Around America to Win the Vote. Our 1916 Saxon was donated and built by Seal Cove Auto Museum Board Member, Jerryl Schriever and husband, Alex Huppe. Students visiting the museum often get the chance to sit in this car, with the supervision of a staff member. Around America to Win the Vote can be found online, or here in our gift shop. If you are a local educator and wish to borrow one of our copies before your visit, please contact our Program Coordinator, Jane Parlee
The Bertha Benz Video
Apart of one the museum’s current exhibits, Engines of Change, our 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen Replica is on display alongside a video of Bertha Benz taking her famous drive. The video is often viewed by school groups as a part of their tour, leading into a discussion about how women influenced the car industry, and how the car industry played a role in women’s suffrage. The video can be viewed before a field trip if educators would like to familiarize their students beforehand.
Widely regarded as the world’s first automobile, the 1886 Benz Motorwagen was first driven on a long-distance road test by none other than Bertha Benz, wife of Karl Benz, the car’s designer. Bertha had lost patience with Karl because he continued to delay road testing his new invention. Taking matters into her own hands, Bertha and her sons snuck into Karl’s workshop, stole his machine, and drove it 65 miles to visit her mother. Along the way, she took meticulous notes about the vehicle and made her own repairs as well. Watch the video here to follow Bertha along her journey!
Scavenger Hunts and Activity Books
Seal Cove Auto Museum has several activities for visiting youth designed to encourage them to interact with the exhibits. Upon arrival at the museum, front desk staff offers scavenger hunts for anyone wishing to take part, with a range in difficulty to accommodate visitors of any age. The museum now offers a new activity book filled with games, coloring pages, writing prompts and DIY activities, to enjoy either in the museum or at home. Inquire with the attendant at the front desk about our youth activities! If you are an Educator and would like activity books for your class, contact Program Coordinator, Jane Parlee to reserve enough for your whole group.
LESSONS AND ACTIVITIES FOR DOWNLOAD
Electric Battery Homopolar Motor
1-2 Hours, Ages 10+
To demonstrate the simplicity of electric motor technology, participants are tasked with building a homopolar motor with items that can commonly be found in a household drawer. Participants will develop an understanding of electrical energy by seeing firsthand how electricity flows through a conductor and when placed in a magnetic field, results in the “motor” making a full rotation. Even though the technology is simple, it can often take quite a bit of tinkering to successfully get your motor to run. This project is best suited for children over 10 years of age and requires good hand eye coordination. If you are looking to execute this with your classroom and would like some additional information, contact Program Coordinator, Jane Parlee, to receive the full lesson plan.
Link to downloadable PDF: Electric Motor Activity
DIY Balloon Car STEM Activity
1 hour, Ages 5+
Experiment with Newton’s Laws of Motion by building a self-propelling vehicle out of items you might find around your home. This stem activity is a fantastic way to practice hand eye coordination and to teach your student about wind energy and how it can be used to send an item into motion. To demonstrate Newton’s second law of motion, add weight to the inside of the vehicle, causing the mass of the object to reduce in acceleration.
Link to downloadable PDF: DIY Ballon Car
Downloadable Coloring Pages of different Seal Cove Auto Museum Automobiles
Link to Downloadable PDFs: FRP Coloring Page, Mount Wagon Coloring Page, Huckster Coloring Page, Crane Coloring Page, Knox Coloring Page
Downloadable Crossword Puzzle with questions about Seal Cove Auto Museum
Link to Downloadable PDF: Crossword Puzzle
Downloadable Word Search
Link to Downloadable PDF: Word Search