Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites

FRED THE MASTODON

PreK–Grade 2

Join us as we travel back in time and learn about what made our Ice Age animals so special. Using fossil casts and more, we’ll investigate how animal adaptations helped them survive. We’ll finish our time together with a short interactive puppet show where we meet a young mastodon who wanders the Indiana landscape searching for his herd.  

MIND-BOGGLING SCIENCE SHOW

Grades K-5

We need your students’ help to solve a BIG mind-boggling problem. Our favorite mastodon tooth is a mess! Using science, chemistry and trial and error, we’ll work together to find the best solution to fix this fossil.  

FOLEY SOUND: BE PART OF THE SHOW!

Grades 3-6

Learn about sound engineering, the properties of sound and generate sound energy. Find out how the techniques of sound effects, started by Jack Donovan Foley, in the early days of motion pictures and radio, translate to today’s media. Students will help create some of the common sounds they hear in their favorite TV shows and movies. Come hear the difference that Foley Sound makes!

THE LIAR’S BENCH

Grades 4-12

What is that object?! Could it be a cheese grater or is it a toaster? Students will use deductive reasoning to determine which story is true and which is a tall tale. This highly interactive show emphasizes the innovation and ingenuity of people from around the state and beyond as we explore curious items from the past.  

Grades 3-5: Focus on goods from Indiana and how items from the late 1800s – early 1900s evolved to objects we use today.  

Grades 6-8: Focus on the ingenuity of Hoosiers to make everyday life easier before modern technologies were easily accessible.  

Grades 9-12: Focus on how science and technology improved everyday life by exploring the evolution of objects.  

SEEDS OF FREEDOM

Grades 3-12
10 – 11 a.m. and 12 – 1 p.m.
2024: Nov. 8, Dec. 13
2025: Jan. 24, Feb. 14, Feb. 28, March 7, April 11 & May 2

“Seeds of Freedom: The Spiritual Roots of the American Civil Rights Movement” is a creative exploration of how belief and conviction can change the course of history! Watch video teaser.  

This production by Asante Art Institute of Indianapolis, takes the audience on a historical journey predating enslavement – migrating through the transatlantic slave trade to the Civil Rights movement, while highlighting local Indiana connections to historic moments in our nation’s story.   

Using spoken word, dance, call-and-response and music, the rhythm of resilience is relayed in the compelling account of the ongoing struggle for equity and the eradication of racial discrimination of African Americans. See how they found strength, joy, resolve and purpose in the reconciliation and activation of their faith in the face of injustice.   

“Seeds of Freedom” is not only an artistic retelling of our history, but an invitation for reflection and personal response to the call for Unity in helping our country keep its promise to its people of “liberty and justice for all.” 

Price: $3/person; $50/per program non-refundable deposit required at time of booking to secure reservation. Deposit will go towards total program fee.

This program is a great addition to scheduled field trips! If you’re a school, homeschool group or out-of-school time group, contact Brittney Basaran at 317.409.7136 or [email protected] to make your reservation or learn more about scholarships.