Field Trip Activities and Lesson Plans

Kindergarten | What is a Mammal?
Identify mammal characteristics and sort them from other mammals!

Grade 2 | Mystery Mammal
Observe an ancient mammal and form hypotheses about it for further investigation!

Grade 3 | Let's Investigate!
Observe an ancient mammal and form hypotheses based on what you see.

Grade 4 | Investigating Adaptations
Explore what adaptations are and how they reflect an animal's environment. Showcase new knowledge with a narrative presentation.

Grade 5 | Once Upon A Time…
Let ancient mammal melodrama inspire a narrative script to perform with the class!

Grade 6 | Moving and Shaking
Examine the effects of plate tectonics on the evolution of mammals. Watch the video associated with this lesson plan!

Grade 7 | Super Selection
Examine natural selection and conduct a research project to explore what selection pressures might have influenced the evolution of a particular species represented in this exhibit.

Grade 8 | Postulating Pressures
Research a mammal's natural history to try and reveal the selection pressures that drove its evolution, then share findings with a research project. 

Grades 9 - 12 | Global Processes
Review evolution by natural selection, then conduct a research project about a specimen in our halls to discover its evolutionary history. Watch the video associated with this lesson plan!

Grades K - 5 | History Social-Science Standards Connections in Becoming Los Angeles

Grades 2 - 5 | Found History
Get your students' creativity flowing by using exhibit text to create their own unique poetry.

Grade 3 | Continued Traditions
Explore traditions of the Gabrielino-Tongva people and how those traditions live on today. Become a museum archaeologist to examine artifacts and write, draw, and record your findings. 

Grade 4 | Coming to California
Discover how 49ers traveled to California during the Gold Rush by examining museum objects and historical photographs. Investigate one migrant's journey to California in search of riches.

Grades 6 - 12 | Found History
Creative writing and critical thinking come together in this L.A. history-inspired, found poetry exercise.

Grades K - 5 | Bird Hall Teachable Moments
Quick activities to guide student exploration in the Bird Hall.

Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5

Grades K - 12 | Dinosaur Hall 101
This PowerPoint walks you through the overarching stories in the Dinosaur Hall to make the most of your visit.

Pre K - K | Paleontological Practice
Explore dinosaurs using a KWL approach and make guided observations using a scavenger hunt for the Dinosaur Hall.

Grade 1 |Adaptation Sensation
Compare adaptations of modern-day animals with fossil specimens to determine how ancient animals used to survive.

Grade 2 | Decoding Dinos
Compare and contrast dinosaurs with other animals to decode their lost legacy and formulate hypotheses about how they used to live.

Grade 3 | The Past Through the Present
Discover how even life millions of years ago varied depending on the environment it lived in.

Grade 4 | The Dino Diner
Use math and science to deliver excellent customer service to some paleo patrons!

Grade 5 | What Killed the Dinosaurs?
Consider multiple hypotheses and present evidence for the demise of the dinosaurs with this research-based writing exercise.

Grades 6 - 8 | Dinosaurs and Definitions
Through a research project, examine vocabulary using context to infer the meaning of new words.

Grade 6 | Mesozoic Measurements
Convert the measurements taken in the Dinosaur Hall to create a graph comparing three species of dinosaurs.

Grade 7 | Modern Detectives for an Ancient World
Use observations to form hypotheses and then revise it based on new evidence and research.

Grade 7 | Shaping Dinosaurs
Use dinosaurs as a topic to understand tessellations and how to calculate area and perimeter.

Grade 8 | Sizing 'em Up
Or rather... down. Draw a dinosaur specimen to scale after measuring its length, width and estimating its height.

Grades 9 - 12 | Amazing Adaptation
Use a Tree Map to connect observations, inferences, and conclusions about an observed specimen in the Dinosaur Hall, then consider how natural selection played a role in that specimen's evolution.

Gem and Mineral Hall Vocabulary Sheet

Pre K | A Rocky Rainbow
Explore the colorful world of gems and minerals!

Pre K | Math Rocks!
Introduce measuring and graphing in a hands-on way using our specimens.

Pre K | Natural Opposites
Rocks are a great place to discover naturally occurring opposites.

Grades K - 5 | Gem & Mineral Hall Teachable Moments
Quick activities to guide student exploration in the Gem and Mineral Hall.

Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5

Kindergarten | Describing and Deciding
Practice using new adjectives in a Gem and Mineral Hall scavenger hunt!

Kindergarten | Exploring Size
Use our natural world to reinforce the concept of "big" and "small."

Kindergarten | Guided Discovery
Consider the components of land. What do we know? What would we like to know?

Grade 1 | Let's Talk Rock 
Use scientific vocabulary to practice making observations

Grade 1 | Categorizing Collections
Sort rocks and minerals into different groups by their attributes.

Grade 2 | An Adjective Habit
Use scientific vocabulary to record and communicate observations.

Grade 2 | In Your Estimation
Compare estimates with actual measurements of Museum specimens.

Grade 3 | Investigating Minerals
Inspire inquiry and investigation with a mineral's unique structure and beauty.

Grade 4 | A Miner's Life for Me!
Consider the daily trials of a miner during the California Gold Rush.

Grade 4 | California's Geologic Regions
Through mineral investigation, discover California's four unique geologic regions.

Grade 4 | Properties of Minerals
Examine mineral properties as a tool for identification.

Grade 4 | The Rock Cycle
Compare and contrast the three major types of rocks in this probe into the rock cycle.

Grade 5 | Life of a Gemstone
Articulate a mineral's life story from formation to excavation.

Grade 6 | Natural Beauty
In this interdisciplinary lesson set, practice geometric reasoning and artistic expression while gaining appreciation for the natural beauty of rocks and minerals.

Grade 7 | How Old is the Earth?
Introduce Earth's history through vocabulary building, observation and discussion.

Grade 7 | Lighting Up the Gem & Mineral Hall
Discover the properties of light by examining their interaction with gems and minerals.

Grade 8 | Building Blocks of Minerals
Explore the fundamentals of chemistry and engage in inquiry through examining a mineral's composition and structure.

Grade 8 | You Can't Fool Me!
Examine the chemical and physical properties of matter by revealing their application to real life situations.

Grade 9-12 | Chemistry
See chemistry in action in this adaptable lesson set that examines mineral composition and formation.

Grade 9-12 | Earth Science
Classify minerals by observable characteristics and relate mineral properties to the environments in which they form.

Grades K - 5 | Mammal Halls Teachable Moments
Quick activities to guide student exploration in the Mammal Halls.

Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5

Pre-K | Leaf Sorting
Practice categorization by comparing, contrasting, and drawing the native plants in our Nature Gardens!

Grades K – 12 | Squirrel Observations
Observe, collect, and analyze data on a popular animal that's easy to find in a schoolyard!

Kindergarten | How We Survive
Investigate the four basic needs--air, water, food, and shelter--of living organisms with observations in our Nature Gardens!

Kindergarten | Living and Non-Living
Determine what makes something living or non-living with a journaling or photo-taking activity in our gardens that turns into a collage back in the classroom.

Kindergarten | Move It, Move It! 
Mimic animal movements and apply what you observe about motion in our Gardens to drawing and describing.

Grade 1 | Plant Parts
Discover the parts of a plant by growing them in the classroom, then comparing your observations to the plants in our Nature Gardens!

Grades 2 – 12 | Sounds of Nature 
Practice listening and observing nature to understand more about the biodiversity of our city.

Grade 2 – 3 | Marvelous Metamorphosis
Introduce students to complete metamorphosis while looking for ladybug eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults in the Nature Gardens!

Grade 7 | Insects and Biodiversity
Explore L.A.'s biodiversity through bugs and introduce classification.

Grades 9 – 12 | Ecology and Energy Flow
Explore how energy moves between organisms in our Nature Gardens!

Grades 9 – 12 | Plant Parenthood
Observe how artificial selection and natural selection play out in our Nature Gardens!

Grades K – 12 |  My Wild L.A.
Tell your story about L.A. nature and use it to develop a narrative work and inspire a research project!