Guided Tours
- Guided tour by museum staff or volunteer docent(s)
- Tour time: approximately 1 hour.
- Teacher Resource packet containing pre- and post-visit activities included.
- $6 Per person. 20 person minimum group size.
Student tours require a 1:10 ratio of chaperones to students. Chaperones must remain with the tour group. Teachers and Bus Drivers admitted free.
Special Guided Tours
In addition to the standard collections tours, Port Columbus offers several specialty tours covering a variety of Georgia Educational Standards. These tours use the collections and riverside location to teach students about various subjects in an exciting, hands-on environment. For a listing of all educational tour options, cost, grade levels and the educational standards each tour meets, download the tour listing or contact Ken Johnston at 706-327-9798 or education@portcolumbus.org.
Georgia Children at Work and Play
This cooperative tour integrates art, history and language arts in the study of historical objects an events in the Chattahoochee Valley as they relate to children of earlier eras.
9:00 a.m. Historic Columbus
9:30 a.m. Columbus Museum
10:45 a.m. Port Columbus
This tour is booked through the Columbus Museum. For more information or to book a tour, call 706-748-2562, email mdurham@columbusmuseum.com or visit the Georgia Children at Work and Play Website.
Environmental Science Connections with Civil War Shipwrecks on the Chattahoochee River
Learn about the Chattahoochee River’s water, watershed system, plant and animal life and its interactions with Civil War and local shipwrecks. Learn about pollution’s part in the system, good and bad. Take water samples back to your classroom to look at under the microscope. This tour can also be a floating classroom trip, seeing shipwrecks and learning about the ecosystem on the Chattahoochee River.
Cannon and Simple Machines: Understanding Design, Force, Friction, Weight and Distance
Students work cannons and handle cannon balls to understand force, push, pull, mass, motion and acceleration. Learning how friction opposes motion and force on an object to cause an action reaction becomes fun as they try life-size levers, block and tackle and other devices aboard ship with various weights such as their tour guide. Participating in hands-on demonstrations of simple machines, operating a device to reduce the input force required to lift different size objects is guaranteed to both awe and inspire your students to learn.
Math and Science at the Museum: Measuring Volume, Density, Motion and Momentum
This tour provides hands-on experiences measuring our ships, performing experiments with our cannons and other navy devices and activities to learn about volume, density, motion and momentum. For sailing ships, giant ironclads and/or steam ships to move effectively sailors needed to have an understanding of how to make the best use of available energy resources and the waters upon which their battles took place. In depth knowledge of wind and coal energy, the tidal and river systems determined the outcome of several battles. Their experience allowed gun captains to compensate for the effects of weather, waves and the projectile motion of cannon shot which was crucial to hitting a target at sea. Join us to learn how sailors made daily use of mathematical measurements to determine their velocity, speed, location, water depth, location, and other important information involved in navigation and navel warfare.
Maps, Trade, Travel and Production of the Chattahoochee and America’s Rivers
Students will look at the development of transportation, trade, production and the industrialization of the United States and world from the 1860’s to today. They will look at world, national and regional maps to study how geography affects industrialization along major water routes. Watch students light up as they connect all this with why major battles during the Civil War, like today, all center around trade and travel routs, industry and production centers.
Art in War
During times of war, works of art are created and also destroyed. Art considered controversial or that is unsupported by new governments will often be destroyed. With reconstruction, new art work is created. Students will discover the use of symbols and cultural icons in selected artworks, such as flags, jewelry, uniforms, products, and company logos. They will also explore selected works of art as characteristic of the historical period on which the work was produced.
Music in War
Try to imagine a day, week or month without music! Even during war time, music is important to sailors, soldiers and civilians alike. Discover the role of music during war times, on land and at sea by making music with the everyday items that sailor would. See how common every day items in our lives have been the foundations for instruments we use today. Compare Civil War Navy texts, instruments and musical styles with those in folk and other ethnic music of America and other countries.
