Tours & Activities
The Kansas Oil Museum has plenty to see for student groups of all ages. In addition to guided tours through our galleries and grounds, we offer a variety of educator-led activities and demonstrations.
Indoor/Outdoor Tours
Most of our tour groups plan to experience both the indoor galleries and outdoor exhibits at the Kansas Oil Museum. Indoor tours include a staff-led visit through Glory of the Hills, showcasing the Flint Hills and its pioneer heritage, and The Story of Oil, which explores the 1915 discovery of oil near El Dorado. Outdoor tours take visitors around the 10 acres of our grounds, featuring historic oil equipment, buildings, and vehicles once used on the Butler County oilfields.
Historic Building Exploration
With nearly a dozen different historic buildings on our grounds, there are many opportunities to see the ways in which people lived and worked in Butler County, from pioneer days up through the boom years of the 1920s and '30s. Get a tour of the boomtown, then pick a building (or two) to investigate in detail. Our educator will lead students through an exploration of the whole building as they use their investigative skills to puzzle out the history of the structure and its former inhabitants.
Oil Equipment Demonstrations
Our 10 acres of outdoor exhibits include many large pieces of equipment once used out on the local oilfields, and some of it is still operable! Imagine what it was like to be a worker on a wooden derrick, marvel at the giant band wheel that once operated the central power unit, then see the difference between an old-fashioned cable tool rig and a modern rotary drill as you watch them run.
Scavenger Hunts
We offer scavenger hunts throughout the museum galleries and grounds that can be tailored to different ages and topics of interest. Younger children will enjoy matching the pictures with different objects found around the museum, while older students can hunt through the galleries for both information and artifacts. A fun way to explore geology, history, nature, and much more.
SOCIAL STUDIES ACTIVITIES
Explore! Historic Artifacts / Explore! Historic Photos
Play the part of an archaeologist and historian as you learn to analyze historic artifacts and/or photographs. Students will examine and compare real objects from the museum collections as they learn how scientists move from observation to description to inference in order to interpret objects from the past. Also a great activity for mixed age groups, as all ages have something to offer.
Dig Into History
Conduct a dig for historic artifacts as students "excavate" objects from our portable dig boxes. Younger children will enjoy digging and showing off their artifacts, while older students can play out the full role of an archaeologist by mapping their dig, describing and sketching their finds, and interpreting their dig site for the class.
Life from the Land
Learn how Native Americans and early settlers used common prairie plants for food and medicine. Activity includes medicinal plant cards to learn identification and historic uses, while skit cards present scenarios of different illnesses and ailments. Act out the scenarios, figure out which plants to use, and go "forage" for the right ones!
The Art of Resourcefulness
Native Americans and pioneers had to meet all their survival needs using only the plants and animals around them. Learn about the ingenuity of people on the prairie, then test your own resourcefulness by making paint out of berries and other natural materials.
Picture Yourself.. In History
Combine art and history in an activity that allows students to imagine and draw themselves into the past. A short presentation will discuss the history of photography, while photograph packets illustrate people and scenes in Butler County from the 1870s through the 1950s.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ACTIVITIES
It's Oil Around Us
Petroleum products have an astonishing variety of uses and are often found in unexpected places. Hear a short presentation on the amazing uses of oil, then play the It's Oil Around Us guessing game as you try to figure out which everyday products are made with petroleum. Whether you're right or wrong, some of the answers may surprise you (and gross you out)!
Rock Concert / Rock Solid?
How do geologists find oil? And how do rocks hold oil anyway? Learn about seismic exploration through sound, while investigating concepts such as density and porosity and learning about the 3 major types of rocks. Activity includes a wide variety of rocks to test, and students can also be encouraged to bring and test their own.
Core Standards
How do we drill for oil? What challenges do oil drillers face? Learn about this and more while making your own core sample using plastic cups, straws, and layers of "sediment". Real artifacts presented include genuine core samples and drill bits.
Building Integrity
Integrity is a virtue that can be used to describe either a structure or a person. Explore the theme of integrity in engineering while relating it back to aspects of students' character. Students will test their creativity and innovation (and their teamwork skills!) as they work together in groups to try to build a weight-bearing oil derrick out of straws, paper clips, and tape.