- Students will draw conclusions about the past history of transportation in the Ohio Valley (West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio) and in the United States by analyzing artifacts in the museum's collection.

- Students will gain an understanding of the evolution of transportation systems in the Ohio Valley by observing historical and geographical data and information on the area.

- Students will look at toys of the past to determine such things as construction methods, materials used, and theme. They will use these clues to determine the time period when the toy was made.

- Students will place various transportation models into a "timeline" to show the evolution of various transportation systems' equipment over the years (railroads, motor freight, etc)

This program will take about a half day for your students to complete, so it can be done either in the morning or afternoon. The Toy Museum has an area where your students can have a bag lunch that they bring, and we also have refrigeration capacity, so that you will not need to make a separate lunch stop on your fieldtrip.

Target Grade Level/Audience and related instructional goals, "Time Detectives":

West Virginia Content Standards and Objectives addressed (4th Grade):
SS.4.4.3 Analyze the effect of geographic factors in the development of transportation routes and settlement patterns in the Americas.
SS.4.4.4 Identify physical barriers to transportation in the Americas and how people adapted to the barriers.
SS.4.5.16 Analyze various sources for reconstructing the past such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, photos and others.
SS.4.5.18 Analyze and interpret information from pictures and news sources related to historical events and people.

Ohio 3 -5 Social Studies Benchmarks addressed:
History Benchmark A: Construct time lines to demonstrate an understanding of units of time and chronological order.
Geography Benchmark D: Analyze ways that transportation and communication relate to patterns of settlement and economic activity.

Ohio most appropriate for Grade 4; academic content standards addressed:
History #5: Explain how canals and railroads changed settlement patterns in Ohio and Ohio's economic and political status in the United States.
Geography #7: Explain how resources, transportation and location influenced the development of cities and industries in Ohio including major industries such as oil, steel, rubber and glass.
Social Studies Skills & Methods #4: Describe how archaeologists and historians study and interpret the past.
Social Studies Skills & Methods #5: Identify the main ideas and supporting details from factual information.