These boxes are designed for use as hands-on programs by elementary students in grades
3 and up, and the learning objectives, frameworks, and standards noted here reflect that fact. Teachers at any grade level are welcome to borrow a box and adapt it to their students' needs. Boxes also may be used effectively as in-school exhibits.

Each box includes historical objects and /or reproduction items, photographs, illustrations, and/or document replicas, along with explanatory labels. Learning activities emphasize use of primary sources and thinking skills.

Discovery Boxes are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, and may be borrowed by administrators, school librarians, teachers, or home school parents. Boxes are typically checked out for 2 weeks at a time.  Please call 621-1154 to check on availability or to schedule their use. We ask that you pick-up and return borrowed items to the museum.

• Apple Blossom Time
  Learning Objectives: Students will understand the major role of the apple industry in the economy of turn-of-the-20th century Northwest Arkansas; understand the role of the railroad in fostering the rise of the apple industry; understand the development and significance of the Apple Blossom Festivals of the 1920s; and understand the impact of the Great Depression on the apple industry.   Please note:  This box will not be available in September.
  Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: TCC.2.1, PDC.1.5, PAG.1.3
  Grades 5 - 8: PDC.1.2
  Arkansas History Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 3: 1.1.1, 1.1.3, 2.1.1, 2.1.2
  Grades 4 - 6: 1.1.6, 2.1.5, 4.1.8
   
• At Home in Arkansas: The Pioneer Home and Family of the 1840s
  At Home in Arkansas: The Victorian Home and Family of the 1890s
  At Home in Arkansas: The World War II Home and Family of the 1940s
  NOTE: These boxes can be used individually or as a set.
  Learning Objectives: Students will understand how the natural environment affected the pioneer home; understand how technology has affected the American home; understand changing roles in the American family; be able to compare and contrast homes of different periods with homes of today; and understand how national and world events and changing styles in architecture and decoration have affected the American home
  Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: TCC.1.2, TCC.1.3, TCC.2.1, PPE.1.1, SSPS.2.2
  Grades 5 - 8: PPE.1.3, PPE.1.4, PPE.1.5, SSPS.2.1
  Arkansas History Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 3: 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 3.1.3
  Grades 4 - 6: 1.1.7, 2.1.5, 3.1.4, 3.1.5
  Visual Arts Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: A.1.3, A.1.4, A.1.9
  Grades 5 - 8: A.1.3, A.1.9
   
• The Frisco Line
  Learning Objectives: Students will understand the role of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad in the founding of Rogers; understand the importance of the railroad in the economic development of Northwest Arkansas; and understand why the railroad declined as a means of transportation in the postwar era.
  Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: TCC.1.2, TCC.2.1, TCC.2.3
  Grades 5 - 8: TCC.1.1, PPE.1.1, PDC.1.2
  Arkansas History Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 3: 1.1.3, 2.1.1, 2.1.2
  Grades 4 - 6: 1.1.5, 1.1.6, 2.1.5, 4.1.8
   
• Grandpa's Barn
  Learning Objectives: Students will understand how technology has affected the American farm; understand how and why barns are different on different types of farms and in different parts of the nation; and appreciate the importance of barns and their preservation.
  Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: TCC.1.3, TCC.2.1, PPE.2.3
  Grades 5 - 8: PPE.1.5, PPE.1.6, PPE.2.5
  Arkansas History Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 3: 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 3.1.2
  Grades 4 - 6: 2.1.5, 3.1.5
   
• Grandma's Kitchen
  Learning Objectives: Students will understand how technology has affected the American home; understand how technology and marketing have affected the American diet; understand changing roles in the American family; and be able to compare and contrast homes of the past with homes of today.
  Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: TCC.1.3, TCC.2.4, SSPS.2.2
  Grades 5 - 8: PDC.1.2, SSPS.2.1
  Arkansas History Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 3: 1.1.3, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 3.1.2
  Grades 4 - 6: 1.1.6, 2.1.5
   
• Quilts
  Learning Objectives: Students will understand how quilt patterns and names were handed down through the years; understand how real objects were interpreted by quilt designers as abstract geometric designs; and understand that quilts are works of folk art.
  Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: TCC.1.7, TCC.2.4
  Arkansas History Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 3: 2.1.3, 3.1.5
  Grades 4 - 6: 3.1.5
  Visual Arts Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: A.1.4, A.2.2, A.3.7, A.3.8
  Grades 5 - 8: A.1.1, A.1.5, A.3.8
   
• School Days
  Learning Objectives: Students will understand the role of the public schools in the past; be able to compare and contrast education today with education long ago; and be able to compare and contrast the lives of children long ago with their lives today.
  Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: TCC.2.1, PPE.1.1, PPE.1.2
  Grades 5 - 8: SSPS.1.1
  Arkansas History Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 3: 2.1.1
   
• What's Its: Gadgets of Long Ago
  Learning Objectives: Students will understand how technology has affected the American home, farm, and office; and be able to compare and contrast homes, farms, and offices of the past with those of today
  Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 4: TCC.1.1, TCC.1.2, TCC.2.1, TCC.2.2, TCC.2.4
  Grades 5 - 8: TCC.1.2, PPE.1.1, PDC.1.2
  Arkansas History Curriculum Frameworks
  Grades K - 3: 1.1.3, 2.1.1, 2.1.2
  Grades 4 - 6: 2.1.5