Peirce Mill as a Classroom
Programs Geared for School Groups
Period Historic, Cultural, and Technological Programs:
A Mill or a Grocery Store?:
Grade Level: PreK-2nd
From spaghetti to cookies to chicken, students will be amazed by how much of their food is dependent on milling.
Key concepts: food; business; producing verses consuming; natural resources; interdependence.
Pre and Post Site Activities
Cornucopia-From the Farm to Your Fingers:
Grade Level: PreK-2nd Grade
Corn comes to life in this interactive program about corn milling. Students will de-shell and grind corn by hand and learn how the mill worked.
Key concepts: food, natural resources; producing verses consuming; business; motion; simple machines.
Pre and Post Site Activities
The Native Woodland Peoples of the Rock Creek Valley
Grade Level: 1st-3rd
Native Peoples have lived in this area for thousands of years. A group called the Nacotchtanks hunted, gathered, and fished on the lands now administered by Rock Creek Park in the late 1500 and 1600’s (their ancestors came to this area about 1,000 years before Jamestown). They were part of a language family called the Algonquians, one of the many Eastern Woodland Indians.
Background information
InDepth information
Pre-site Activities
Post-site Activities
Once upon a Time, Life at the Peirce Mill Plantation:
Grade Level: 1st-4th
Students will experience the mid 19th century as they compare and contrast life in rural Washington to the present. Older students will also read maps and track the area's urbanization and change.
Key concepts: life; food; physical surroundings; business; resources; rural verses urban; development; energy; simple machines; slavery.
Pre and Post Site Activities
Powered on Water and Gravity, the Workings of a Mill:
Grade Level: 4th & 5th
Students will marvel at how all the machinery in Peirce Mill operated on waterpower and gravity as they take an in-depth look into this giant machine.
Key concepts: energy; simple machines; water resources; location and growth; technological changes.
Pre and Post Site Activities
Industrial Revolution Hits Home:
Grade Level: 5th & 6th
In 1820, Peirce Mill was state of the art and its technology was an important part of the Industrial Revolution in America. Students will learn about the major changes that took place between 1780 and 1860 and their influences on today.
Key concepts: technological changes; industrialization; urbanization.
Pre and Post Site Activities
Ecological and Environmental Programs:
Giants of the Forest Hike:
Grade Level: 2nd-4th
In this program, students will use their senses to identify the stages of the tree lifecycle and the oldest trees of Rock Creek Park, and recognize natural and man-made threats that effect trees at various stages.
Key Concepts: Trees, Lifecycle, Senses, Anatomy of Trees, History, Pollution
Pre and Post Site Activities
A River Runs Through It; Aquatic Ecology:
Grade Level: 4th-6th
Discover Rock Creek, the creek that powered Peirce Mill. Through interactive games and exploration of the resource, students will learn about the water cycle and the life within it.
Key Concepts: Water Cycle, Habitat, Adaptations, Watershed, Human Impact
Pre and Post Site Activities
Protecting Our Park:
Grade Level: 4th-12th
Peirce Mill is an excellent example of how people rely on the environment to provide for them. Today, the environment needs our help! Students will learn about the efforts to protect Rock Creek Park and take an active part by helping Park Rangers with a river cleanup or a non-native plant removal.
Key concepts: human effects; conservation; habitat; watershed; water resources.
Pre and Post Site Activities
Impacting Our Watershed, A Water Quality Study:
Grade Level: 7th-12th
After using chemical tests and bioassessment techniques to investigate the quality of water in Rock Creek, students will discuss the impacts people have on the watershed and what changes may help.
Key concepts: freshwater ecosystems; changes in habitats; chemistry; indicator species; bioassessment; bioaccumulation.
Pre and Post Site Activities
For reservations, call @ 202-895-6070.
