Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Cellphone Science

Introduction

National Middle School Science Standards

Earth Science

National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies

Key Terms

cultural anthropology, mobile technology, minerals, supply chain, recycling, materials engineering 

Key Concepts

  • How mobile technology affects human culture
  • History and future of mobile technology
  • Minerals as nonrenewable resources
  • Global distribution of minerals for technology
  • Technology used by cultural anthropologists

Resource Types

Geosciences Subject Guide Smithsonian Libraries

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

The Cellphone Science teaching resources support students in meeting the following middle school NGSS Performance Expectations.

Earth Science

MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

  • MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
  • MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

National Curriculum Standards For Social Studies (NCSS)

The Cell Phone Science package aligns with the Social Studies standards themes listed below by offering a set of resources that integrate anthropology concepts with anthropology skills. 

Production, Distribution, and Consumption

  • People have wants that often exceed the limited resources available to them.

Science, Technology, and Society

  • Science, and its practical application, technology, have had a major influence on social and cultural change, and on the ways people interact with the world.

Global Connections

  • Global connections have intensified and accelerated the changes faced at the local, national and international levels.

People, Places, and Environments

  • The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.
Resource Type
Subject Guides
Grade Level
6-8
Learning Standards
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, Next Generation Science Standards
Topics
Anthropology and Social Studies, Earth Science
Exhibit
Cellphone: Unseen Connections