Harnett County teachers take
field trip to museum
To the casual observer, the Cape Buffalo, Kudu and other animal mounts displayed
in the Museum and Exhibit Hall at Campbell’s Lundy-Fetterman School of Business
may appear to be animals. But to foreign language teachers Carmen Malone and
Rachel Norwood, they are tools for building vocabulary.
Malone, Norwood and 14 other teachers from Western
Harnett High School were at the museum Thursday participating in a federally
funded field study to learn how to use artifacts and items from real life to
teach their particular disciplines.
Malone, who teaches Spanish, is busily typing animal
names into a portable word processor. She calls the wall with the display of
head mounts a “word wall.”
“We’re going to translate these animals’ names and
information into Spanish,” she said. “It is a great way to study nature and
learn vocabulary too.”
Just a few feet away, at a display featuring a life
mount of a bongo; the largest and heaviest forest antelope in Africa, art
teacher Donna Strickland examines the animal’s bright chestnut coat and narrow
white stripes on shoulders, flanks and hindquarters. Strickland not only plans
to use the animal to teach life drawing, but to teach drawing’s basic shapes. “I
want my students to find triangles, circles and squares in the animals,” she
said. “Everything in nature has these basic shapes. I want to show them that if
they can draw these shapes, they can draw anything.”
At other displays, teachers photograph the animals and
take measurements. Facilitator Rita Booth, who works for the nonprofit
organization, Explornet, as a trainer and instructor, explained the objectives
behind the field study.
“It is not only learning about how the brain works, but
what children can learn from the seamless integration of technology, which
includes computers, digital cameras, word processors, and others,” she said.
“Each teacher has a different perspective derived from his or her own
discipline. We’re here to get ideas for using real things and real places in the
classroom.”
For example, a math teacher might use the polar bear to
estimate size and weight. A social studies teacher might base an ethics
discussion on the social acceptability of big game hunting.
“We want to teach teachers how to recognize and utilize
the best teaching practices,” added Booth.
Located on the first floor of Campbell’s Lundy-Fetterman
School of Business, the Museum and Exhibit Hall features 175 revolving exhibits
of animal and marine wildlife donated by the family of Burrows T. and Mabel L.
Lundy. The late Burrows Lundy was the founder of the Lundy Packing Company in
Clinton, N.C., which was acquired by Premium Standard Farms, Inc. in 2000. The
museum display includes a life-size brown bear, polar bear, zebra, leopard, gnu,
impala, rhinoceros and other species. This rotating collection changes
periodically and is open year-round for viewing by the various departments and
students at Campbell University as well as schools from across the region, area
residents and visitors.
Museum director, Dorothea Stewart Gilbert, is delighted
to show the Western Harnett teachers around. Before their tour, she gives them a
briefing on the museum and its collection. “We want teachers and schools in
Harnett County and throughout the region to use the museum as a resource,” she
said. “It’s a wonderful teaching tool for our educators and a great experience
for children and adults who might never have had the opportunity to go to a
zoo.”
The museum is open Mondays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and
Tuesdays from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Other visitation times are available by request.
Arrangements may be made by calling (910) 814-4398.
Photo Copy: Western Harnett High School teachers Carmen Malone, left, and Rachel
Norwood view an exhibit at the Lundy-Fetterman Museum and Exhibit Hall on the
Campbell campus. The teachers are participating in a field study on how to use
artifacts and items from real life to teach students. (Photo by Scott Cappell)
Bulletin 0015-6/20/05
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