Homeschool Days

PROGRAMS ON OCTOBER 2, 2023

GRADES K TO 2
Animal Adaptations 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. ET
Discover how animals adapt to their environment by looking closely and making observations of animal specimens from the Museum’s collections. Students use observations and background knowledge to make inferences about how those adaptations help the animal to survive in its environment.
Register for this in-person program

GRADES 3 TO 5
Identifying Minerals 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. ET
What is a mineral? During this museum educator-led program, students will identify a variety of minerals by testing their luster, streak, hardness, color, and magnetism.
Register for this in-person program

GRADES 6 TO 12
Collections Challenge 10:15 – 11:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET
The Q?rius Collections Zone includes 6,000 natural history objects, all accessible for student exploration in this museum educator-led program. Working in teams, students will receive a Collections Challenge Card, which assigns them to work in one of the Museum’s departments: Anthropology, Entomology, Invertebrate Zoology, Paleobiology, Mineral Sciences, or Vertebrate Zoology. Like scientists and collections managers at the Museum, students follow protocols for handling valuable and sometimes delicate objects and agree upon a strategy to curate and interpret a collection of their own while engaging in the scientific method.
Register for this in-person program at 10:15 a.m. | Register for 11:45 a.m.

PROGRAMS ON NOVEMBER 6, 2023

GRADES K TO 2
Classifying Shells 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. ET
Students will observe, describe, compare, contrast, and sort a variety of shells to sharpen their classification skills and strategies in this museum educator-led program.
Register for this in-person program

GRADES 3 TO 5
Insect Survival 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 a.m. ET
During this museum educator-led program, students practice scientific skills and explore the survival strategies of insects. Students identify survival techniques such as camouflage, mimicry, biting, stinging and flying.
Register for this in-person program

GRADES 6 TO 12
Bird Strike 10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. ET and 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET
During takeoff from Reagan National Airport, a plane collided with a flock of birds and was forced to make an emergency landing. During this staff-led program, students will follow in the footsteps of Smithsonian scientists to determine the species of bird that brought down the airplane by examining bird fragments and feathers collected from the affected aircraft, and simulating processing DNA. Students will learn how bird strike data is used by airport managers to alter airfield habitats, and debate proposed methods of discouraging bird congregation around airports.
Register for this in-person program at 10:15 a.m. | Register for 11:45 a.m.

PROGRAMS ON DECEMBER 4, 2023

GRADES K TO 2
Discovering Dinosaurs 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. ET
During this museum educator-led program, students will make observations of dinosaur characteristics, discover how paleontologists learn about ancient animals by studying fossils, and practice some of the same scientific skills used by museum scientists!
Register for this in-person program

GRADES 3 TO 5
Marine Ecosystems – Pilot Program 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. ET
During this museum educator-led program, students take on the role of a school of Pacific Salmon in a role-playing game through the anadromous life cycle of salmon. Each play of the game introduces new interactions and relationships between organisms helping students examine how matter and energy flow through connected marine ecosystems.
Register for this in-person program

GRADES 6 TO 12
Deep Time Paleobiology 10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. ET and 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET
Have you ever wondered what the world looked like when the dinosaurs were alive? We invite students to join our paleontologists here at the National Museum of Natural History in reconstructing past ecosystems by studying and working with real 66-million-year-old microfossils during this museum educator-led program. In addition to observing, classifying, and identifying microfossils, students also investigate microscopic fossil pollen to identify plants from ecosystems of the past. Students work together using reasoning skills and evidence from their investigations to hypothesize the effects of climate change and evolution on this ecosystem over time.
Register for this in-person program at 10:15 a.m. | Register for 11:45 a.m.