Docent-Facilitated Experiences

RMSC Docents are guides who spark hands-on active exploration using artifacts and objects that are available on docent-facilitated tours only. They will work with you to highlight specific content to meet your curriculum goals.

Add $1 per student, per tour, to general admission.
50 minutes long unless otherwise indicated.

Choose from programs in: 
Science
Grades: PreK-2, 3-5, 6-8
or 
Social Studies
Grades: PreK-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12


Science, Grades PreK-2

Animals and Plants Around Us
Expedition Earth Exhibit
PreK: 25 minutes ; K-2: 50 minutes
Students observe plants and animals, how they are similar and different, what features help them survive, and how plants and animals are all connected.
A: 1 ; CDOS: 1,2; ELA: 1,4 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,2,3,5,6,7)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Native Peoples of the Americas; Inquiry Room: Insect Investigations; Planetarium: Our Changing Seasons; Native American Skies.

Glaciers & Giants 
Expedition Earth Exhibit
PreK: 25 minutes with dig site
K-2: 50 minutes with dig site experience, or 25 minutes without
Docents lead students back to a time of immense melting ice sheets and roaming mastodons. Students learn how a paleontologist uses fossils and bones as clues to the past.
CDOS: 1,2 ; ELA: 1,4; MST: 1,4LE(1,2,3,4,5,6,7),4PS(2) ; SS: 1,5
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Native Peoples of the Americas; Inquiry Room: Discovering Weather; Rocks, Fossils and More; Solids, Liquids and Gases; Planetarium: Our Changing Seasons.

How Things Work
Recommended for Grades K-2
Docents facilitate hands-on exploration of simple machines, electricity, magnetism, and sound.
CDOS: 1, 2; ELA1 ;
MST: 1(1,2,3), 3(1,2,5,6,7), 4PS(1,3,4,5), 4LE(7), 5(1,2,4,5,6), 6(1,2,3,6), 7(1) ; SS: 1(3), 2(3), 3(1)
Suggested Connections: K'NEX; From Here To There; Light Here | Light Now; Inquiry Room: Magnet Exploration; Simple Machines.


Science, Grades 3-5

An Ever-Changing Planet: Earth Science Focus 
Expedition Earth Exhibition
Students explore rocks and fossils hands-on and learn about plate tectonics and glaciers. Docents help students observe evidence of dramatic changes in our physical planet from deep time till now.
ELA: 1,4 ; CDOS: 1,2 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,2,3,6,7),4PS(2,3,4)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Be the Dinosaur; Inquiry Room: Rocks, Fossils and More; Planetarium: Face of Earth; Solar System 2010.

An Ever-Changing Planet: Living Environment Focus
Expedition Earth Exhibition
Docents lead students back into deep time and forward through the last major extinctions to see how life here in "Rochester" has adapted to the changes on planet Earth.
ELA: 1,4 ; CDOS: 1,2 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,2,3,6,7),4PS(2,3,4)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Be the Dinosaur; Inquiry Room: Insect Investigations; Rocks, Fossils and More; Planetarium: Face of Earth; Wild Ocean.

Animals and Plants Around Us
Expedition Earth Exhibition
Docents challenge students to explore how the behaviors and structures of plants and animals help each survive in its changing ecosystem and how plants and animals are all connected.
ELA: 1,4 ; CDOS: 1,2 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,2,3,4,5,6,7); SS: 1,3,5
Suggested Connections: At the Western Door; Native Peoples of the Americas; The Haudenosaunee; Be the Dinosaur; Inquiry Room: Insect Investigations; Planetarium: Cycles in the Sky; Face of Earth; Wild Ocean.

Glaciers & Giants 
Expedition Earth Exhibition
90 minutes with dig site experience, or 50 minutes without
Students explore with docents a time of immense melting ice sheets and roaming mastodons. Students learn how a paleontologist uses fossils and bones as clues to the past.
ELA: 1,4 ; CDOS: 1,2 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,2,3,4,5,6,7),4PS(2) ; SS: 1,2,3,5
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Be the Dinosaur; At the Western Door; Native Peoples of the Americas; The Haudenosaunee; Inquiry Room: Discovering Weather; Rocks, Fossils and More; Solids, Liquids and Gases; Planetarium: Face of Earth; Wild Ocean.

How Things Work
Docents help students explore the mechanisms behind everyday objects and machines. Concepts include: simple & complex machines, sound, electricity, and magnetism.
CDOS: 1, 2; ELA1 ;
MST: 1(1,2,3), 3(1,2,5,6,7), 4PS(1,3,4,5), 4LE(7), 5(1,2,4,5,6), 6(1,2,3,6), 7(1) ; SS: 1(3), 2(3), 3(1)
Suggested Connections: From Here To There; K'NEX; Inquiry Room: Fantastic Forces; Magnet Exploration; Simple Machines; Planetarium: Solar System 2010.


Science, Grades 6-8

An Ever-Changing Planet: Earth Science Focus
Expedition Earth Exhibition
Students explore rocks and fossils hands-on and learn about plate tectonics and glaciers. Docents help students observe evidence of dramatic changes in our physical planet from deep time until now.
ELA: 1,4 ; CDOS: 1,2 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,3,5,6,7),4PS(2,3,4)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Be the Dinosaur; Inquiry Room: Rocks, Fossils and More; Planetarium: Face of Earth.

An Ever-Changing Planet: Living Environment Focus
Expedition Earth Exhibition
Docents lead students back into deep time and forward through the last major extinctions to see how life here in "Rochester" has adapted to the changes on planet Earth.
ELA: 1,4 ; CDOS: 1,2 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,2,3,5,6,7),4PS(2)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Be the Dinosaur; Inquiry Room: Insect Investigations; Rocks, Fossils and More; Planetarium: Face of Earth; Wild Ocean.

Ecology 
Expedition Earth Exhibition
Docents and students explore the ecology and biodiversity of our region, how animals and plants adapt to their environment, and the importance of the preservation of endangered species.
ELA: 1,4 ; CDOS: 1,2 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,3,5,6,7) ; SS: 1,3,5
Suggested Connections: At the Western Door; Be the Dinosaur; Native Peoples of the Americas; The Haudenosaunee; Inquiry Room: Insect Investigations; Planetarium: Cycles in the Sky; Face of Earth; Wild Ocean.

Glaciers & Giants
Expedition Earth Exhibition
80 minutes with dig site experience, or 50 minutes without
Students explore with docents a time of immense melting ice sheets and roaming mastodons. Students learn how a paleontologist uses fossils and bones as clues to the past.
ELA: 14,4 ; CDOS: 1,2 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,2,3,4,5,6,7),4PS(2) ; SS: 1,2,3,5
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Be the Dinosaur; At the Western Door; Native Peoples of the Americas; The Haudenosaunee; Inquiry Room: Discovering Weather; Rocks, Fossils and More; Solids, Liquids and Gases; Planetarium: Face of Earth; Wild Ocean. 

How Things Work
Docents help students explore the mechanisms behind everyday objects and machines. Concepts include: simple & complex machines, sound, electricity, and magnetism.
CDOS: 1, 2; ELA1 ;
MST: 1(1,2,3), 3(1,2,5,6,7), 4PS(1,3,4,5), 4LE(7), 5(1,2,4,5,6), 6(1,2,3,6), 7(1) ; SS: 1(3), 2(3), 3(1)
Suggested Connections: K'NEX; From Here To There; Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition; Inquiry Room: Simple Machines; Planetarium: Solar System 2010.


Social Studies, Grades PreK-2

Native Peoples of the Americas 
Recommended for Grades K-2
Students explore how different peoples meet their needs, such as clothing, housing, and food, in different ways according to the local natural resources.
A: 4; ELA: 1, 4 ; LOTE: 2; SS: 1, 3
Suggested Connections: Animals and Plants Around Us; Expedition Earth; Glaciers & Giants. 

Our Town – Early Rochester
Recommended for Grades K-2
Docents immerse your students in 19th century Rochester – its shops and homes and how families lived in their community differently then from now.
ELA: 1, 4 ; SS: 1, 3
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.


Social Studies, Grades 3-5

Native Peoples of the Americas
Docents lead students in an exploration of how people meet their needs differently according to the local natural resources.
A: 4; ELA: 1, 4 ; LOTE 2; SS: 1,3,4
Suggested Connections: Expedition Earth; Glaciers & Giants; Planetarium: Native American Skies.

Our Town – Early Rochester
Docents immerse your students in 19th century Rochester – its shops and homes and how families lived in their community differently then from now.
ELA: 1, 4 ; SS: 1,3,4
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone (Erie Canal Exhibit); Rochester's Underground Railroad; Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition; Planetarium: Freedom Under the Stars.

Rochester's Underground Railroad
Immersion Experience
Students take a role-playing journey – from slavery, to the doors of Rochester's abolitionists, to freedom. What were the decisions and risks along the way?
A: 1,4 ; ELA: 1,2,4 ; SS: 1,2,3,4,5
Suggested Connections: Our Town— Early Rochester; Planetarium: Freedom Under the Stars.

Haudenosaunee
At the Western Door and Native Peoples Exhibits
80 minutes includes our trade game
50 minutes without
Students experience the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people and culture. Docents and students explore 400 years of cooperation and conflict between the Seneca and Europeans in Western New York.
A: 1, 2, 4 ; CDOS1; ELA: 1, 2, 4 ; LOTE: 1, 2 ; MST: 4LE, 5 ; SS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Suggested Connections: Glaciers & Giants; Expedition Earth; Planetarium: Native American Skies.


Social Studies, Grades 6-8

Native Peoples of the Americas
Docents lead students in an exploration of how people meet their needs differently according to the local natural resources.
A: 4; ELA: 1, 4 ; LOTE: 2; SS: 1, 3
Suggested Connections: At the Western Door; Expedition Earth; Face to Face; Glaciers & Giants; The Haudenosaunee; Planetarium: Native American Skies. 

Our Town – Early Rochester
Docents immerse students in 19th century Rochester – its shops and homes. Compare and contrast the culture and economies of the Rochester community then and now.
ELA: 1, 4 ; SS: 1, 3
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone (Erie Canal Lock); Rochester's Underground Railroad; Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition; Planetarium: Freedom Under the Stars.

Rochester's Underground Railroad 
Immersion Experience
Students take a role-playing journey – from slavery to the doors of Rochester's abolitionists to freedom. What were the decisions and risks along the way?
A: 1,4 ; ELA: 1,2,4 ; MST4 ; SS: 1,2,3,4,5
Suggested Connections: Our Town - Early Rochester; Planetarium: Freedom Under the Stars. 

The Haudenosaunee 
At the Western Door Exhibit
80 minutes includes our trade game
50 minutes without
Students experience the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people and culture. Docents and students explore 400 years of cooperation and conflict between the Seneca and Europeans in Western New York.
A: 1, 2, 4 ; CDOS1; ELA: 1, 2, 4 ; LOTE: 1, 2 ; MST: 4LE, 5 ; SS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Suggested Connections: Expedition Earth; Face to Face; Glaciers & Giants; Native Peoples of the Americas; Planetarium: Native American Skies.


Social Studies, Grades 9-12

The Haudenosaunee 
At the Western Door Exhibit
80 minutes includes our trade game
50 minutes without
Students experience the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people and culture. Docents and students explore 400 years of cooperation and conflict between the Seneca and Europeans in Western New York.
A: 1, 2, 4 ; CDOS1; ELA: 1, 2, 4 ; LOTE: 1, 2 ; MST: 4LE, 5 ; SS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Suggested Connections: Expedition Earth; Face to Face; Glaciers & Giants; Native Peoples of the Americas; Planetarium: Native American Skies.

For more information relating to curriculum or customization options, call Deborah Massey at (585) 271-4552 x521
For reservations call (585) 697-1942