Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Meet the Ologist Chuck Spencer

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This ReadWorks reading from the American Museum of Natural Anthropology's website called OLogy provides an interview with the archaeologist named Chuck Spencer. A paired passage entitled "Up Close with...
Unit Plan
Read Works

Read Works:what's the Big Idea About Archaeology?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This ReadWorks reading from the American Museum of Natural Anthropology's website called OLogy explains what archaeologists do. A paired passage entitled "Meet the Ologist-Chuck Spencer" is provided in...
Handout
University of California

Ucmp: Introduction to Chordata

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from UC Berkeley is an excellent site about the animal phylum chordata. Click on various sections to learn more, covering topics such as the fossil record, life history & ecology, systematics, and morphology. This site is a...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Looking for a Bear

For Teachers 3rd
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a brother and sister's trip to the museum. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The Ancient City of Petra: A Nomadic Beginning

For Teachers 7th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This ReadWorks reading from the American Museum of Natural Anthropology's website called OLogy provides a brief history of the city of Petra and its connection to Arabian nomads. A paired passage, a...
Article
American Institute of Biological Sciences

Action Bioscience: Species, Speciation and the Environment

For Students 9th - 10th
The American Institute of Biological Sciences offers this article by Niles Eldredge, evolutionary theorist and curator at the American Museum of Natural History. Eldredge begins with Darwin's theories and summarizes subsequent thought,...
Handout
University of California

Ucmp: Introduction to Chondrichthyes

For Students 9th - 10th
Good introduction from Berkeley's department of paleontology, gives a brief history and the defining characteristics of the class of Chondrichthyes.
Handout
Regents of the University of Michigan

Animal Diversity Web: Red Kangaroo

For Students 9th - 10th
The Animal Diversity Web offers a page on the Macropus Rufus, or Red Kangaroo. Includes all kinds of information from behavior to history. Use the table of contents for easy navigation.
Unit Plan
Read Works

Read Works: Field Trip

For Teachers 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a boy named Jeremy who got sick on the day he class was going on a field trip. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Separate Is Not Equal: Sitting for Justice: Woolworth's Lunch Counter

For Students 9th - 10th
Read a brief description of the sit-in at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. This sit-in, passive and non-violent resistance to segregation laws, lasted for six months.
Graphic
Boston College

Digital Archive of Architecture: High Victorian Gothic

For Students 9th - 10th
Select from slides to enlarge, with description limited to names of architects and locations.
Article
American Institute of Biological Sciences

Action Bioscience: The State of Ecosystems

For Students 9th - 10th
Christian Samper details The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a report highlighting the detrimental impact of human life on the ecosystems of Earth over the past fifty years. Ecosystems have been deteriorating from a variety of waste and...
Interactive
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Frames of Reference

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore how different frames of reference affect your perception of motion in this interactive activity from the American Museum of Natural History.
Website
Other

Denver Museum of Nature and Science: Ancient Denvers

For Students 9th - 10th
What did Denver look like millions of years ago? Find out the answer to this and see how it has changed over time. There is also a list of parks to visit in Colorado.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Feather Trade and the American Conservation Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
The 19th century love for feather adornments led to a hue and cry by conservationists against the wholesale killing of birds. This site details the time, the feather trade, and the move to curtail it.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: An Introduction to the Ming Dynasty (1368 1644)

For Students 9th - 10th
The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) arose following a series of natural disasters that hit China during the early and middle 1300s, adding to the misery of a people under the harsh rule of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). In 1368 rebel...
Handout
University of California

Ucmp: Leonardo's Contributions to Science

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about Leonardo da Vinci's observations of the natural world. An insightful commentary on the scientific achievements of the Renaissance.
Website
PBS

Pbs Nova: A Conversation With Neil De Grasse Tyson

For Students 9th - 10th
Nova offers an enlightening conversation with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Topics include origins of the universe, multidisciplinary approaches to science, exciting recent discoveries, his position as director of the Hayden...
Primary
Other

American Scientist: Author Interview: Neil De Grasse Tyson

For Students 9th - 10th
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has made "Popularizing science a personal passion." Tyson's latest book, Origins, is the starting point here for a discussion of dark matter, intelligent life in our solar system, the possibility of...
Website
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center: Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover the devastating effects of climate change on an Inuit Arctic community in northern Canada. The melting sea ice caused by global warning has started a chain reaction of many changes in the culture and survivability in the Arctic...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Volcanoes: Magma Rising: Studying Volcanoes

For Students 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This two-page PDF nonfiction passage entitled "Volcanoes: Magma Rising: Studying Volcanoes" discusses how they study volcanoes to learn how they work. It is part of Paired Texts: "Volcanoes: Magma...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Face to Fossil

For Students 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This seven-page PDF passage entitled "Face to Fossil" features an interview with ProtoAndy, a fossil of Protoceratops. It is part of a Paired Text with two other texts (see links above passage):...
Article
Read Works

Read Works: Passages: "Zebra Mussels and the Hudson River"

For Students 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] The information passage "Zebra Mussels and the Hudson River" focuses on the Hudson River ecosystem and how the introduction of Zebra Mussels would impact it. A Step Read, an easier version of the...
Article
Read Works

Read Works: Passages: "Who Wants a Spiny Snack?"

For Students 2nd - 3rd
[Free Registration/Login Required] The passage "Who Wants a Spiny Snack?" focuses on the Pufferfish and how it has adapted to protect itself from predators in the ocean. A comprehension question set with answer key is provided. A Step...