Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

What's This? Staying Safe

For Students 6th - 12th
Amaze the class with the creative adaptations species employ to trick predators. An online interactive lesson introduces learners to six different species with unique adaptations. Each species highlights a different adaptation and its...
Lesson Plan
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Photosynthesis

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders work in small groups to brainstorm responses to a problem related to some disaster that wipes out half or all plant life on earth. Groups complete a graphic organizer to compare and contrast their ideas. Students select...
Lesson Plan
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Metamorphosis Magic

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Learners make different motions for each stage in the butterfly life cycle and plant a garden. In this butterfly life cycle lesson plan, students can take the mini gardens home and discuss how butterflies help gardens.
Lesson Plan
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Pollination Power

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students go out into the garden and observe pollinating animals through hand lenses. In this pollination lesson plan, students also discuss how animals carry seeds to create new plants elsewhere.
Lesson Plan
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Prairie Scales and Prairie Smoothies

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore the animals that live on the prairie and identify differences between amphibians and reptiles and the adaptations each have made to live on the prairie.
Worksheet
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Hunt the Fact Monster

For Students 3rd - 5th
In this Fact Monster search engine worksheet, students access the Internet to find the answers to five questions with multiple choice answers.
Lesson Plan
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Worms, Nature's Recyclers!

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students study what worms need to survive in different environments. They study how worm composting improves soil and reduce waste. They discuss composting techniques and present a puppet show about a worm's life.
Worksheet
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Barn Owl Pellet Lab

For Students 9th - 12th
In this lab activity, students dissect a barn owl pellet then identify the different small animals found in the owl pellet. Using class data they calculate percentage present as well as complete 8 post lab questions.
Worksheet
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Helping/Linking Verbs

For Students 7th - 9th
For this grammar worksheet, students choose the correct verb or expression in parentheses that makes twenty sentences grammatically correct.
Worksheet
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Helping and Linking Verbs

For Students 5th - 6th
For this grammar worksheet, students choose the appropriate verb or helping/linking verbs in twenty sentences that make each one grammatically correct.
Lesson Plan
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A Bug's Journey

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students research the art of John Baldessari. For this art history lesson, students examine Baldessari's drawing of a beetle and discuss the characteristics of these bugs. They write a story from a bug's perspective and create their own...
Lesson Plan
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The Disappearing Honeybees: Tracking Honeybee Decline

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students practice graphing and other math skills to track number of honeybee colonies present in United States since 1978, discuss major crops that are dependent on insect pollinators, and examine reasons for decline of United States...
Lesson Plan
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Soil Composition

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Young scholars examine soil. In this soil composition lesson students participate in soil sedimentation and filtration activities. The young scholars discuss what non-living and living things are in soil and why it is so important.
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Plants Alive! How Plants Grow and Move

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Young scholars explore how plants move in response to the environment. In this plant instructional activity, students engage in three different experiments to investigate how plants grow and move. Resources available in English and French.
Lesson Plan
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Using Plant Pigments as Natural Dyes

For Teachers 1st - 7th
Students create friendship bracelets and quilt squares. In this plant lesson student dye their own string and cotton material with plant pigments. Students use the naturally dyed materials to create the friendship bracelets and quilt...
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Classification

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders sort insects into groups by determining similar characteristics. They role play as Entomologists to sort insects.
Lesson Plan
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Habitat Breakdown

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders gain an understanding of how insects/organisms are impacted by factors that are essential to an organism's survival in a particular habitat. They see how lacking just one element of a habitat can affect an organisms chance...
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Crazy Critters

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders visit a local park to collect insects. They record the habitats, identify the insect and write a report including the kingdom, phylum, class, and order.
Lesson Plan
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Going Buggy!

For Teachers K - 4th
Students study bugs over a four week period.  In this insect collection of activities, students observe insects covering basic science concepts and skills, such as classification, observation, and responses to habitat....
Lesson Plan
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Let's Talk About Spiders And Bugs!

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders study the differences between spiders and insects. They observe four different specimens in the classroom.
Lesson Plan
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Discovering the Oasis

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students focus on the types of vegetation and animal life living around local water sources. This lesson can be adapted to any local water source, whether it be a lake, a river, stream or ocean. It has a particular focus on the bird...
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The Queen's Empire

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study insects and make observations about their habitat.  in this insect research lesson students research the Internet to compile information on ants. 
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Discovering the Oasis

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders investigate riverbanks and oxbox ecosystem at the Truckee River. They observe the plants, animals, insects and water organisms located there. Students document water samples, flow and then categorize them in class. This...
Lesson Plan
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Water Quality Monitoring

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students comprehend the four parameters of water quality. They perform tests for salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and clarity or turbidity. Students comprehend why scientists and environmental managers monitor water uality and aquatic...