Educational Programs

Curriculum Links:

• Materials; Objects and Everyday Structures; Properties of Liquids and Solids

See what materials Mr. Bell used to build his telephones. Listen to the tale of the three little pigs and find out why some materials work better than others. Find materials around you to investigate for properties like hardness, softness, flexibility, rigidity, stretchiness and mass.

• Understanding Life Systems

Read Alexander Graham Bell Answers The Call. See Mr. Bell’s first telephones and his mother’s hearing trumpet. Take part in five guided activities to explore the senses.

Curriculum Links:

• Music; Visual Art

Learn how much Mr. Bell loved music as a boy as we read Alexander Graham Bell Answers The Call. See his telephones. Listen to his favourite music and make drawings inspired by the songs.

Curriculum links:

• Personal and Social Development

• Language – Oral Communication

• Social Studies – Heritage and Citizenship, Canada and The World Connections

• The Arts – Visual Art

Curriculum Links:

• Understanding Structures and Mechanisms; Understanding Matter and Energy; Understanding Earth and Space Systems

Mr. Bell was fascinated by flight. Build his tetrahedral kite cell and make a paper roto-copter. Grades 3 to 6 will also investigate the properties of air.

Curriculum Links:

• Media Literacy
• Visual Arts

Is there truth in advertising? Look at Bell Canada advertisements from the 1870s to today and find out! See how advertising strategies have changed and how companies try to convince you to buy their products. 30 minute for grades 1 and 2; 45 minutes to 60 minutes for grades 3 to 8.

• Properties of Liquids and Solids

Alexander Graham Bell built a high-speed boats in his later years. Discover which materials float in water, which ones sink, which ones soak up water and which ones do not. 

Curriculum Links:

• Heritage and Identity

Look at artifacts from our collection to see what life was like in the 19th century. We can compare the objects to things in our houses today and find out what they used every day.

Curriculum Links:

• Understanding Matter and Energy

What do magnets have to do with the telephone? Find out as we look at Bell’s first three telephones and investigate magnetic forces with hands-on activities.

Curriculum Links:

• Strong and Stable Structures; Forces Acting on Structures and Mechanisms

How do we make structures stand and stay in place? Build bridges, test out different shapes for stability, and build a structure based on Mr. Bell’s tetrahedral tower.

Curriculum Links:

• Light and Sound

Through hands-on experiments you will learn about the properties of sound and light and their importance to the invention of the telephone. Choose  four activities from a list of eight to customize your workshop.

Curriculum Links:

• Understanding Matter and Energy; Heritage and Identity

We rely on fossil fuels, hydroelectricity, and some green energy sources to power our lives. What did they use in the 1800s? Find out about fuels like whale oil and coal. Discuss how energy use then and now impacts the environment.

Curriculum Links:

• Canada – A Changing Society

You will explore inventions throughout history, identify what makes an invention succeed or fail, look at its impact on the environment, draw up your own invention plans, and critique each other's inventions. 

• Forms and Functions; Systems in Action
• Canada – A Changing Society

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1874. The technology hasn't changed, but the form has. You will analyze and critique the functionality of 20th century telephones. 

Curriculum Links:

• Music
• Materials; Objects and Everyday Structures; Energy in our Lives

Alexander Graham Bell dreamed of being a concert pianist. You will explore sound and music by making a rhythm instrument, move to music, and create art to go with the music.

Curriculum Links:

• Materials; Objects and Everyday Structures; Properties of Liquids and Solids

By testing them, Alexander Graham Bell knew what materials to use to build his telephone, airplane, and hydrofoil. You will investigate the properties of different materials through hands-on experiments. You will compare the materials and objects the Bell's used in their home to what we use today.

Curriculum Links:

• Properties of Liquids and Solids

Alexander Graham Bell built a hydrofoil in his later years. You will explore the properties and behaviours of various liquids and then compete to build the best floating boat.

Curriculum Links:

• Forces Causing Movement; Properties and Changes in Matter

Alexander Graham Bell's telephone worked using magnets. You will test metals, see magnetic fields, try making your own magnet, and look at how magnets are used in your everyday life.

Curriculum Links:

• Light and Sound

Through hands-on experiments you will learn about the properties of sound and its importance to the invention of the telephone.

Curriculum Links:

• Conservation of Energy and Resources; Electricity and Electrical Devices

Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone began with his work with electricity. You will conduct electrical experiments and compare life before electricity to today.

Curriculum Links:

• Strong and Stable Structures; Forces Acting on Structures and Mechanisms

Alexander Graham Bell experimented with a variety of strong and stable structures to build his kites. His solution was the tetrahedral cell. You will test different structures for stability and see the strength and stability in a house.

Curriculum Links:

• Light and Sound

Alexander Graham Bell used sunlight instead of wires to transmit sound through a special telephone he called the photophone. You will explore the properties and behaviours of light, see how it works with other materials, and see how people in the 1800s used light in their homes.

Curriculum Links:

• Canada – A Changing Society

You will explore inventions throughout history, identify what makes an invention succeed or fail, look at its impact on the environment, draw up your own invention plans, and critique each other's inventions.

Curriculum Links:

• Forms and Functions; Systems in Action
• Canada – A Changing Society

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1874. The technology hasn't changed, but the form has. You will analyse and critique the functionality of 20^th century telephones and create a model for a new telephone.

Curriculum Links:

• Flight; Form and Function

Alexander Graham Bell did many experiments with kites and early airplanes. You will investigate the properties of air and flight and make a kite just like Mr. Bell's.

Curriculum Links:

• Traditions and Celebrations

The Holiday season is celebrated differently all over the world. You will:

• learn how some traditions started
• tour the homestead decorated for a Victorian Christmas
• bake Hogmanay cookies in our 19^th century kitchen
• learn about other cultural holiday traditions including Hanukah and Kwanza
• make a seasonal craft.

This program is offered in December only and we can have up to 40 students.

Curriculum Links:

• Drama and Dance
• British North America; Canada – A Changing Society

Our interactive program include tours, drama, and reading and writing activities. You will learn the influences and events that resulted in Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone. You will also analyze competing claims to the telephone. In a mock court session you present your arguments for and against Alexander Graham Bell.

You will explore the natural environment around the Bell Homestead through a series of activity stations, including use of resources, plant and animal identification, baking in the historic kitchen, and making a craft. We can have up to 60 students and it can also be booked as a half-day program upon request.

You will explore the five senses through a series of activity stations, including an archaeological dig, cooking in the historic kitchen, and making a craft. We can have up to 60 students and this can also be booked as a half-day program upon request.