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Hands-On Learning at River Bend Barn

River Bend Barn Programs

The River Bend Barn, located within River Bend Farm at Biltmore, is a one-of-a-kind structure designed by Richard Howland Hunt, son of Biltmore House architect Richard Morris Hunt. At the turn of the last century, it stabled draft horses and mules; provided storage for hay, grain, and farm equipment; and housed the Smithy and other work areas. The barn also served as a social gathering place for the families of estate workers who called Biltmore home.

Today the River Bend Barn serves as a venue for experiential educational programs linked to the NC Standard Course of Study. Depending on their grade, students learn about farm life and explore the unique technological features of the barn, interact with animals in the Farmyard or experience first-hand both the science and sensory delights of Biltmore's Kitchen Garden. Curriculum links vary according to program and may include:

• Social Studies
• Science
• Math
• English Language Arts
• Information Skills
• Healthy Living
• Visual Arts

Please check back for new tour options for the 07/08 academic school year.

Program Overview
These programs offer students four unique experiences with age and grade-appropriate hands-on activities that build on the materials provided here.

Teachers' materials include:

• Logistical information
• Specific links to goals and objectives of the NC Standard Course of Study broken down

lesson by lesson

• Lesson plans summary
• Instructions for creating student workbooks
• Materials lists
• Lesson plans with detailed instructions for pre- and post-visit activities
• Bibliography
• Directions to the Winery and River Bend Farm on Biltmore
• Additional materials may include vocabulary lists, archives packets for working on team activities, or an end-of-unit test.

All Grades

Escorted River Bend Farm Tour

The escorted River Bend Farm tour provides students with a meaningful, educational overview of the River Bend Barn, Kitchen Garden, and Farmyard. The tour can be customized to meet the needs of your school group and can accommodate up to 60 students.

The tour begins with a scavenger hunt at the River Bend Barn followed by lessons and activities centered around gardening and food at the Kitchen Garden. The tour concludes at the Farmyard where students have the opportunity to interact with our chickens, Angora goats, Belgian draft horses, and Black Angus calves.

The one-hour program is available Monday–Friday, April–May and September–December. To prepare students for their visit, we provide a variety of materials that you can download.

Download River Bend Farm Tour Materials:

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Fourth Grade

Animal Crackers

Animal Crackers introduces the concepts of livestock breeds and the significance of livestock production and agriculture to North Carolina today. Pre-visit lessons include an introduction to the farm and an activity in which teams of students learn about farm livestock using materials that include information from the Biltmore archives and copies of archival photographs.

During their on-site visit to the Farmyard, students interact with some of the same breeds of livestock that were kept on the farm one hundred years ago. Activities will vary, but may include grooming, bottle-feeding, gathering and washing eggs, carding wool, or learning to harness a horse.

Post-visit activities include character education and the place of Biltmore in North Carolina history, livestock farming in North Carolina and additional team research and presentations, an investigation of the relationships between farm animals and culture, and a just-for-fun look at how animals influence the way we see the world.

Download Fourth Grade Materials:

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Fifth Grade

Barn Tales

In Barn Tales, teams of students act as investigative reporters and use copies of primary documents and archival images to uncover the history of the farm on Biltmore. They then have the opportunity to step back in time and see life on the farm through the eyes of an eleven-year-old boy named Josh Bradshaw, by studying journal entries crafted from materials in the Biltmore archives and Biltmore Stories oral history project.

The on-site visit includes more work with copies of primary documents from the archives and draws attention to the special features and technologies of the River Bend Barn. It also includes a scavenger hunt to solve the puzzle of the barn's role in the farm on Biltmore.

Post-visit activities address character education and Biltmore's place in United States history, as well as workforce development. They also include an optional visual arts and math activity of creating a scale model of the River Bend Barn.

Download Fifth Grade Materials:

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Sixth Grade

From the Field to the Table

From the Field to the Table makes the connections between people, food, and agriculture by focusing on plant production. Pre-visit lessons include an introduction to the farm on Biltmore with an emphasis on the production of plants for human and animal consumption. Acting as culinary anthropologists, students use copies of primary documents from the Biltmore archives to learn more about the farm and food consumption in Biltmore House. They then examine the distances foods travel and complete a team garden design activity.

Depending on the season and weather, the on-site visit to the Kitchen Garden may include planting, tending established plants, harvesting, beneficial insect round up, soil-making, and/or soil testing.

Post-visit lessons address the variations in food consumption around the world and the challenges of feeding an ever-expanding world population.

Download Sixth Grade Materials:

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