Teachers will receive a Teacher’s Packet with instructions for before during & after the program and a gallery guide with a map of the museum grounds with information about each feature.  Features include the museum gallery where students will learn about railroads in Fort Bend County, water tower, speeder car, semaphores, wig wag, Tower 17, 1879 private business car, turn-of-the-century jail, turn-of-the-century bath house, HO scale model railroad layout, steam engine bell. 

Upon arrival the kids will all get an age appropriate (pre K-2, 3-5, middle school, high school) interactive gallery guide.  After the program, teachers will be given a post-packet of age appropriate (primary & secondary) activities designed to reinforce the safety aspect of the program. 

School programs are divided into three-parts: history, safety & an activity. 

An overview of the activities: (Teachers have the option of requesting a program from a different age group.)

Pre-school--Five Big Freight Trains: A Fingerplay

Cchildren will be introduced to a basic safety rule if they are ever in the position of being near railroad tracks in their neighborhood, or any neighborhood. The basic safety message in this fingerplay is to always stay AWAY from freight trains and to not play around the tracks.

1^st-2^nd grade--Heavy Duty

This lesson uses various items to help students understand the significant size difference between trains, vehicles and people. It helps make them aware that trains cannot stop quickly, and, therefore, we must use extreme caution around railroad tracks.

4^th-5^th grade--Stay Off!  Stay Away!  Stay Alive!

This lesson combines a pop-up language arts writing activity with the "Stay Off! Stay Away! Stay Alive!" trespassing message. Students learn about basic safety rules concerning staying away from dangerous railroad tracks and interpret their new knowledge into a written and illustrated activity.

6^th--Creative Inventions

The students will use creative thinking and problem solving skills and engages them in a real-life situation. Students may work individually or with a partner to design a new invention or idea for their community to solve the problem of people driving around lowered gates at a railroad crossing.

Middle school--All Aboard!

This lesson helps students learn about rail safety by planning a trip to a city of their choice in the United States. They also use skills in map reading, math, reading, organization, problem-solving and creative writing as they plan their train trip. Students work in small groups for the planning piece of the activity and individually for the writing activities.

High school--Train vs. Car: Who Wins?

This lesson incorporates science concepts of mass, weight, velocity and forces to determine what happens when a train hits a car. Students conduct an experiment using easily accessible materials (grapes, aluminum foil and a weight) and then analyze the results. The language arts component can be expanded for use in a health/safety or language arts curriculum. In such cases, students would do the experiment without the math problems.