Curated OER
Artificial Selection
The second lesson in the series begins with a starter activity discussing wild versus domesticated animals. Then, scholars play a card game, with optional variations, to emphasize artificial selection. Next, they attend a field trip to a...
American Museum of Natural History
Mesozoic Museum
Mini museum curators create an exhibit that showcases the Mesozoic era. Pupils use their knowledge of dinosaurs to make informative posters, drawings, and dioramas. Following three steps to complete the hands-on activity, scholars read...
National Park Service
The Young Naturalist
Beginning with a brief history of our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, then followed by a discussion of his interest in nature, young scientists take to the outdoors to locate and observe local plants and insects....
Curated OER
The Effect of Natural Selection on Genes, Traits and Individuals
Rotating through five stations, evolutionary biologists explore the question of how changes in DNA facilitate the changes in a population over time. High-quality, colorful cards of animals, skeletons, skulls, and DNA sequences can all be...
Alabama Wildlife Federation
Wildlife Habitat Checklist
Take a walk on the wild side with a project about animal habitats. After kids observe a chosen animal in its home, they describe the animal's food and water sources, shelter, and how it raises its young. They then write a short fictional...
K-State Research and Extensions
You Ol’ Fossil
Geologists are gneiss, tuff, and a little bit wacke. The fifth chapter of seven includes ten activities at four different levels. The hands-on activities cover fossils including how they are formed, vertebrates, invertebrates,...
American Museum of Natural History
Up Close With a Zapotec Urn
If a Zapotec urn, buried for over a thousand years in a temple in the lost city of Xoxocotlan in the Valley of Oaxaca in the mountains of southern Mexico could talk image the stories it could tell. That's the set up in a clever resource...
New York City Department of Education
Egypt
This six-week unit encompasses all subjects with a focus study on world history and the development of ancient civilizations. As gifted and talented students dive into the interesting yet challenging topic of Egypt, they...
American Museum of Natural History
Making a Field Journal
Trowels and brushes are certainly important tools for an archaeologist working on a dig. Perhaps more important, however, is the archaeologist's field journal. Christina Elson, an archaeologist working with the American Museum of Natural...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Still-Life Painting: Arranging Nature—Lesson 1
Art learners examine still-life arrangement images and respond to a series of prompts. In a whole-class discussion, pupils list elements and qualities that still-life paintings can have. After instructors create an arrangement and model...
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Roosevelt's Legacy: Conservation
The legacy of Theodore Roosevelt carries through modern American politics, economics, foreign policy, and society. But his proudest and most profound efforts were in the world of conservation, and in preserving the natural beauty of...
Field Museum
The Case of Darwin's Finches
One of the most striking pieces of evidence for Darwin's Evolution of Species was his observations of finches and how their beaks differed from island to island, depending on their primary food sources. So what would happen to the theory...
American Museum of Natural History
Being a Zoologist: Sandra Olsen
Are your students wild about horses? Then introduce them Sandra Olsen, a zooarchaeologist, who has been studying horses and the people who herd them. Ms Olsen responds to 15 interview questions and details how she goes about her...
American Museum of Natural History
Create a Coral Reef
Scholars create a diorama to showcase a vibrant coral reef. Six steps walk pupils through setting up the diorama box, crafting four different types of marine life, and putting it all together.
Montana Natural History Center
Studying Grassland Ecosystems
At first glance, grassland ecosystems might seem dull and uninteresting, but once you start to explore it's amazing the things you'll find! Through this series of engaging lessons, activities, and experiments, elementary students examine...
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Volcanoes!
Give young geologists an up close and personal look at volcanoes with a series of hands-on earth science lessons. Whether they are investigating the properties of igneous rocks, building their own volcanoes, or making...
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Rocks and Minerals in Our Lives
Young geologists discover the important role that rocks and minerals play in our everyday lives through this series of hands-on activities. Starting off with a lesson that defines the difference between plants, animals, and...
Messenger Education
Snow Goggles and Limiting Sunlight
Why would someone need contact lenses that offer UV protection? With a 28-page packet full of instruction and worksheets, students discuss solar radiation and its potential harm to eyes. They make snow goggles similar...
Early Childhood Learning and Knowlege Center
My Body My Senses
In a comprehensive unit of activities, learners explore the five senses. Youngsters discover the many different body parts and their functions that allow humans to have sense of sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing. The best way to...
American Museum of Natural History
Create Your Own Time Capsule
The corona virus pandemic is indeed a historic event. A time capsule activity permits young historians to document these days of social distancing, remote learning, and quarantine by collecting artifacts that capture what their lives are...