Field Trips to Menokin:
Click here for information on scheduling a field trip to Menokin
Watch our Visitors Center Video
Lesson Plans:
History:
The history lesson plan, Journey to the Philadelphia Conventions, tracks Francis Lightfoot Lee's travels to Philadelphia to serve in the 1775 Continental Congress. The lesson compares social, economic, and political life on a southern plantation to life in a Midatlantic Colony. The lesson places an emphasis on the political and social climate leading to the Revolution.
Download Journey to the Philadelphia Conventions
History/Art:
The history/art lesson plan, How to Read a Historic Building or Object, uses an object or building found at Menokin as a source of learning and information. Students learn to look closely at an object to deduce historical, cultural and social information and to draw inferences about people, events and life then and now. The lesson plan asks questions that draw on observational skills and powers of deduction, inference and creativity.
Download How to Read a Historic Building or Object
Science:
Download our Woodland Trail Guide
The following lesson plans were developed by the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge staff in partnership with the Menokin Foundation.
The Testing the Waters lesson plan, places emphasis on water quality and healthy life systems using Catpoint Creek, located on the edge of the Menokin property, and nearby Wilna Pond, part of the Wilna Tract of the wildlife refuge. Students will perform dissolved oxygen, nitrate and phosphate tests on water samples and record and analyze results. Emphasis is placed on identifying sources of water and its use in agriculture and industry, as well as protecting and maintaining our water resources.
The Nutrient Nuisance lesson plan examines the excess nutrients in water that cause the rapid growth of algae populations, known as algal blooms. As algae die and decompose, they deplete the oxygen supply in the water, leaving aquatic species to suffocate. In addition, the cloudy water caused by the bloom blocks sunlight to underwater grasses, which depend on sunlight for photosynthesis. As the underwater grasses die, critical habitat for juvenile crabs, fish, and other aquatic organisms is lost. In this activity, students conduct a nutrient experiment that demonstrates the growth of algae. They will also consider ways to minimize their own nutrient contributions to the Chesapeake Bay.
Development of this program was funded by a Preserve America grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation
