All Grades
Scavenger Hunt Park provides scavenger hunt boards and dry erase markers to groups of students tasked with finding items within the historic buildings. This keeps the younger students engaged in a simple but fun activity eye spying various historic furnishings and uniform pieces.
Grades 3-8
Footsteps Through the Fort (2 hrs) Students in small groups with sponsors experience an interdisciplinary Social Studies - Math - Science adventure. Emphasizes map reading skills. At each stop, students answer color-coded questions. Can help improve TAKS/STAAR scores in a fun, hands-on, real-world way! Program for Grades 6-12 has Algebra & more involved Math, and it includes a "Mystery Photo" that requires clues and deductive reasoning to identify.
Grades K-5
Touch the Past! (1½ hours) An Apache cradleboard…a pen to dip in an inkwell…a button hook for shoes? This bag is just full of the strangest things! They must be leftovers from olden days at Fort Davis. Handle an object. Imagine it's yours. But who did it really belong to? Students are challenged to locate similar objects in the refurbished buildings as they explore the Fort with a sponsor who carries objects in a haversack like the soldiers used. This multi-disciplinary program is hands-on learning at its best.
Grades 4-6
Historic Native Plants - An Outdoor Scavenger Hunt (2 hours) In this lesson, students will identify and research historical uses for plants indigenous to Fort Davis National Historic Site. The lesson will weave history and science together to incorporate medicinal and economical uses by both native and other settled inhabitants on or atound the fort. The study will culminate in a challenging and competative scavenger hunt of native plants. Evaluation will include students recognizing the physical appearances and characteristics of native plants found on the fort grounds, and presenting their historical uses to the group. This lesson could be used on or off-site. Indoor adaptations are included.
All Ages Park Video
15-minute video shows in the auditorium every ½ hour or upon special request. A short history of Fort Davis. Teachers who prefer to maximize their time at the park can purchase this video at 15% discount (approx. $20 total) and show it ahead of time to students or on the bus.
All Ages Retreat Parade Sound Program
Plays outdoors on loudspeakers at 11:00, 2:00, and 4:00; length 18 minutes. This audio program is based on a historic ceremony performed at Fort Davis in 1875 to honor former U.S. President, Andrew Johnson, who died that year.
