Education and the American Mountaineering Center Museum
by Brenda Porter, Education Director, the Colorado Mountain Club
"Advance the knowledge, preservation, and enjoyment of the world’s’ mountains and mountaineering." The mission of the American Mountaineering Center Museum
In planning education programs for the museum at the American Mountaineering Center, slated to open in September 2002, the education department is searching for ways to bring a sense of discovery inside the museum walls. We hope to encourage people to go out to the mountains in safety, to respect the natural environment and other people, and then come back for more activities at the museum and with the CMC.
People learn best by doing, by being immersed in the topic at hand in order to hear and feel and touch and even taste it. Every hike or climb in the mountains is full of learning opportunities about a myriad of topics--how thunderheads form, which plants grow near a stream or on patch of earth in a boulder field, or how to move safely across a scree slope.
Our challenge in the museum is to bring artifacts, photos, and exhibits to life,telling the stories that make mountaineering and related topics so intriguing.
The museum committee and professional museum exhibit designers have identified the main museum topics; they include "the mystique of the mountains," mountaineering history, the world’s mountains, Colorado’s mountains, and mountain safety.
Educational programs will provide people, including CMC members, families, and youth, with learning opportunities in addition to the self-guided exhibits. Some of our initial ideas include: "Mountaineering through Time"--gear from different time periods; "What Makes a Mountain?"--the geology of the world's highest peaks and experiments to understand how mountains are formed; "What Shapes a Mountain"--how glaciers, erosion and other factors have influenced the shape of the world's highest peaks; " Flora and Fauna of Colorado's Mountains"--mountain habitats and creatures with activities in science, geography, visual arts and writing; and "Hollywood Mountaineers"--images from Hollywood movies versus first hand accounts from actual mountaineers.
The museum education program will provide many opportunities for new ideas and volunteers. Please contact us if you want to share your ideas and/or time.