Teachers, history club coordinators, and scout troop leaders: Following are several activities corresponding to the Wisconsin Stories episodes on Wisconsin Public Television. Some of these activities refer to publications available through the State Historical Society's Office of School Services. In other activities, we've provided the activity as a PDF file. To find out when the next program airs, check our program listing.
After you finish watching the program "Really Big Stuff" try some of these activities to learn more about Wisconsin's really BIG things. Some of these activities are available in Wisconsin’s Built Environment, a publication available through the OSS.
Check out Some Original Roadside
Art!
Wisconsin
Concrete Park.PDF
Wisconsin Concrete Park, on Highway 13 near Phillips, is one of the most
impressive and imaginative works of folk art in the United States. At
the age of sixty-five, retired lumberjack and tavern owner Fred Smith
began creating more than two hundred concrete life-size or larger-than-life
sculptures. Smith adorned his sculptures with glass, mirrors, bottles,
and found objects such as automobile taillights, harnesses, animal skulls
and antlers.
Over fifteen years, Smith depicted an array of subjects, including Paul Bunyan, Abe Lincoln, the Statue of Liberty, and a chariot race from the film, Ben Hur. Smith charged no admission to visitors of Concrete Park. He refused all offers to sell his work because he believed doing so would spoil it for others. In 1976, after Smith’s death at age ninety, the Kohler Foundation purchased the park and restored the site. Now Price County owns and maintains the park, which remains open to the public free of charge.
Complete one of the PDF activities after visiting Concrete Park.
Wisconsin The Roadside Genius
State
Check out this cool Web site Roadside Art Online. The site explores some of Wisconsin’s whimsical roadside works of art, such as Fred Smith’s Concrete Park, the Dickeyville Grotto, and Mary Nohl’s sculpture garden. If you have visited any of these sites, share your experiences with other kids in your club. If you haven’t, what examples of roadside art can you think of that exist in your community?
What It Would Be Like Inside
a Giant Muskie?
Freshwater
Fishing. PDF
The National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame’s leaping muskie is the largest
fiberglass fish structure in the world! The house-size muskie is four-and-a-half
stories high and half a city block long. Jerry Vettrus, owner and sculptor
for the Sparta-based Fiberglass Animals, Shapes and Trademarks Corporation,
took nine months to create the muskie. Vettrus has subsequently added
enormous replicas of other freshwater species throughout the Hall of Fame
campus.
This sea of fish can be viewed from the muskie’s jaw, which serves as an observation platform. Visit the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame on Highway 27 in Hayward to find out more about famous anglers and Hall of Fame members like Gil Hamu, as well as to discover some freshwater fishing world records. Complete one of the PDF activities after visiting the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.
What size of pole might you need to catch a giant
muskie?
Based on the size of the Freshwater Fishing Museum muskie pictured and
described above, draft blueprints for the corresponding angler you would
need to catch this muskie. If the average size of a muskie is about 36
inches in length, how much longer is the Hall of Fame muskie? What size
of bait would you need? What size of boat or fishing boots? Possibly you
could use this information to compose your own story about a giant muskie
or about living in a land where everyone is giant!
Hey Scouts!
These activities contribute to "Arts Around the World" badges!
The Book: Wisconsin’s
Built Environment
Wisconsin’s Built Environment is a fabulous publication to help teachers, history club coordinators, and/or scout leaders incorporate examples of Wisconsin’s unique architecture into lessons and activities. A lot can be learned about Wisconsin history by studying Wisconsin’s built environment.
Online Order Information
University
of Wisconsin Press
http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/0518.htm
ISBN 0-87020-308-8, $11.95
Phone/Mail order
University of Wisconsin Pres
c/o Chicago Distribution Center
11030 S. Langley Avenue
Chicago, Illinois, 60628.
TEL 1-800-621-2736
Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. CST
For more activities and lesson plans surrounding Wisconsin Stories, visit the State Historical Society's Office of School Services lesson plans.
Online Resources
Office
of School Services publications
http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/publications/oss/index.html
SHSW
Office of School Services lesson plans
www.shsw.wisc.edu/oss/lessons/index.htm
http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/publications/oss/built_env.html
Roadside
Art Online
www.interestingideas.com/roadside/artenvi.htm
PDF files (download free Acrobat Reader)
