Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Hidden Worlds Within Natural History Museums

For Students 9th - 10th
When you think of natural history museums, you might picture exhibits filled with ancient lifeless things, like dinosaurs or meteorites. But behind that educational exterior, there are hidden laboratories where scientific breakthroughs...
Website
San Diego Natural History Museum

San Diego Natural History Museum: Dinosaur Dig

For Students 3rd - 5th
The San Diego Natural History Museum provides dinosaur lovers with plenty of information and fun facts with links to Finding Fossils and Dinosaur Bytes.
Handout
Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum: Lichens

For Students 9th - 10th
This expansive guide to lichens offerings many helpful resources. After a lengthy introduction complete with picture examples, this site offers a lichen guide to lichens on twigs.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Invertebrate Zoology Collections Search

For Students 9th - 10th
A searchable database of the collections of invertebrates at the National Museum of Natural History. You can search by keyword, or in a more scientific way, such as by phylum or expedition.
Activity
Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum: Meteorites

For Students 9th - 10th
As an online exhibit on meteorites, this site provides information on both collecting and identifying meteorites. Topics covered include falls and finds, hot desert meteorites, Antarctic meteorites, and more.
Website
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: The Ancient City of Petra

For Students 5th - 8th
Explore the story and history of the ancient city of Petra.
Handout
San Diego Natural History Museum

San Diego Natural History Museum: Fossil Field Guide: Sabertooth Cat

For Students 9th - 10th
Brief look at the fossil evidence that reveals the life and ecological interactions of the extinct saber-toothed cat.
Handout
San Diego Natural History Museum

San Diego Natural History Museum: Mineral Matters

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn more about the properties of minerals.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Paleobiology: Geologic Time: The Oligocene

For Students 9th - 10th
Travel through Earth's history to learn about the Oligocene time period, which is characterized by the appearance of most of the living families of mammals.
Activity
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Living Large

For Students 3rd - 5th
This engaging game about dinosaurs allows students to analyze and interpret fossil data, as well as engage in argument from evidence. The game helps students to understand that fossils provide evidence about the types of organisms that...
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Arctic Studies Center: Polar Bear

For Students 9th - 10th
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, in a section titled "North American Mammals," offers a general overview of the polar bear. Additional content includes detailed drawings, photographs, and a map showing the polar bear's...
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Northwest Coast American Indian Bibliography

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian presents an extensive annotated bibliography of works on Native Americans for grades K-12.
Website
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Dinosaurs: Bambiraptor and Birds

For Students 9th - 10th
A 14-year-old boy found the fossils of a brand new species of dinosaur--the Bambiraptor. Find out the fun facts about what scientists have discovered about the Bambiraptor and how closely it was related to birds with this resource.
Website
Other

Arizona Museum of Natural History: The Hohokam

For Students 9th - 10th
This informative site from the Arizona Museum of Natural History gives a good look at the Hohokam and their culture. Find a map that shows where these early Southwest people traded, see examples of their pottery and jewelry, and read...
Website
Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum: Our Place in the Universe

For Students 9th - 10th
Part of a larger online exhibit on the moon and space, this site deals with one's place in the universe. The topics covered include the sun and solar system, the galaxy, and the universe.
Interactive
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: The Splendor of Diamonds

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of seven rare diamond types, among the most valuable in the world. All but one is a unique color, and each has a special title. Read a short descriptive history of each diamond.
Unit Plan
English Zone

English Zone: Los Angeles Area Gets a New Spider

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
This is an article from The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles about a new tropical "Brown Widow" spider found in Los Angeles; it is followed by 15 self-grading questions.
Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: Stuff to Do: Create a Coral Reef

For Students 3rd - 8th
Detailed instructions, with photographs for every step, for how to build a coral reef diorama.
Graphic
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Sharks and Rays: Myth and Reality

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the reproductive system of the dogfish shark through a video gallery. Also read about the myth that sharks must constantly swim or they will die. PDF transcripts are available for each video.
Unit Plan
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Find a Vent

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn all about hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean and how scientists locate them. Then take a virtual expedition to the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the north Pacific and see if you can discover a new deep sea vent.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Ptarmigan

For Students 9th - 10th
This Smithsonian website has a brief, but thorough, article on the Ptarmigan. It also includes pictures and an extensive quote from 19th Century naturalist Edward Nelson.
Website
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: What Is Water?

For Students 3rd - 6th
This comprehensive article provides information about the physical properties of water, the importance of water as an Earth material, the processes and cycles that water undergoes on Earth, its importance to life on Earth, and why we...
Lesson Plan
University of Florida

Florida Museum of Natural History: Physical Science

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
This guide focuses on four physical science topics that fascinate children and scientists alike. They are motion, magnets, sound, and light. With your guidance and support, these topics provide children with many opportunities to explore...
Handout
San Diego Natural History Museum

San Diego Natural History Museum: Fossil Field Guide: Crassatellid Clam

For Students 9th - 10th
A look at what fossil evidence reveals about the life and ecological interactions of this extinct species of a clam.