Museum education staff has worked with area schools and colleges to develop materials to suppport access to the museum collections. On this page, you will find some materials specifically designed for PK-12 visiting groups.
Here, you will find a list of all PK12 field guides with appropriate grade levels noted in the title. Each field guide contains a description, worksheets, and in some cases, chaperone instructions. Please note that field guide worksheets are not available at the museum and should be printed in advance of a visit. Click the grid below to browse all.
In this activity, students will compare different fossils in the museum and identify their unique characteristics.
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In this activity, students identify the different traits of carnivores & herbivores and search the museum for different specimens in each category.
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In this activity, students examine different ways that animals move (such as flying, swimming, and walking on two or four legs) and find objects in the museum for each.
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In this activity, students look critically at specimens and use their skills in scientific inquiry to hypothesize and visualize extinct creatures of different time periods of Earth’s past. Students will learn about vertebrates, classifications, extinction, and physical characteristics as well as hypothesize how Ice Age mammals evolved into the animals they are today.
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In this activity, students look closely at specimens and make thoughtful observations about what they are looking at, including size, preferably in metric measurements.
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In this activity, students sketch and then measure the foot and stride lengths of different dinosaurs to estimate their general size using integrated science and math techniques.
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In this activity, students investigate the bone structure of prehistoric creatures in the Beneski, and express their understanding of relevant concepts with a drawing and/or creative writing piece.
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In this activity, students look critically at museum specimens to understand the extensive nature of Deep Time and the concept of the Geologic Time Scale. (Photo Credit: Paleontological Society)
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This activity emphasizes looking critically at specimens to determine how animals have changed over time and possible causes for such evolutionary change.
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This activity focuses on students identifying various evolutionary changes in animals, the impacts of speciation, and probable causes for extinction.
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This activity asks students to examine plant fossil specimens and hypothesize about why such fossils persist.
View HereAt times, it may be useful for high school groups to have access to materials beyond what is directly available on exhibit to support the goals of their course. In these cases, we can collaborate with educators to develop a list of 15-20 objects (related to a specific topic or goal) to be set up on tables for study at the time of your visits.
If this is something you are interested in, please indicate so on the Schedule a Group Visit form under “Other notes you wish to share.”