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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Discovering Dinosaurs

Cast skeleton of an Edmontosaurus annectens dinosaur
Edmontosaurus annectens, a hadrosaurid dinosaur. Credit: Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution.

School Program for Grades K-2

In-Person Version

Explore dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals using fossil evidence. In this museum educator-led program, students observe, touch, compare, and contrast fossils of prehistoric animals to describe the animals’ characteristics and predict what those characteristics could tell us about how they lived their lives. In-person programs take place at the museum in Washington, D.C. 

Online Version

Online school programs are on hold for fall 2023. Please check back periodically for updates regarding the return of the programs in 2024.

Register

Registration is now open for programs from October 2, 2023, to February 2, 2024.

Supplemental Video

This video has background music, but no spoken words.

More Videos

A girl holding a craft ball she made during a science program at the museum.
Kids, you are just like scientists! (5:25)
Michelle Pinsdorf in the fossil prep lab.
A Tour of the Fossil Prep Lab with Fossil Preparator Michelle Pinsdorf (49:08)
Video screen with words Tylosaurus Story Time, with three illustrated boxes below it
Tylosaurus Story Time (64:46)
Screenshot of presentation slide showing the different elements of dance plus video of four presenters videos to the right of the slide
Historia Natural En Casa: Bailando a través del tiempo – Quetzalcoatlus (66:11)

Upcoming Science How Live Webinars

Bring Smithsonian and other scientists into your home and classroom with Smithsonian Science How, a series of live video webinars that connect science experts with students. These new webinars will connect your students with the core content of the Discovering Dinosaurs school programs and provide students with an opportunity to extend their learning in the content area.

There are no relevant Science How webinars scheduled at this time.

Follow along with two of the world’s top paleoartists, Bob Walters and Tess Kissinger, as they teach you how to sketch your own dinosaur (or reptile) drawings! As you sketch, they describe how they use scientific evidence to create their art.

Life in the Late Cretaceous

This Learning Lab activity was originally created as an extension for the Museum's virtual family program, Natural History at Home: Tylosaurus Story Time, to help facilitate co-learning in families with children ages 5-10, but can also be used by educators!

In this Learning Lab, your learners can practice making observations of fossils from ancient Late Cretaceous life. Paleontologists can learn information from fossils about ancient life. Paleontologists can learn about the size, how the animal moved, and even what the animal ate by making close observations of the fossils! What information can you learn about these ancient Late Cretaceous life forms?