During this staff-led program students will practice science skills by making observations of animal specimens from our virtual collections to discover how different adaptations help animals survive in their natural environment. Students will explore the different kinds of structural adaptations of animals who live on land, water, and in the air.
Formats
Designed to accommodate classes, grades, or groups with 15-1,000 students. Students will not be visible to the museum educator or other students, but they will be able to submit questions in writing through the Q&A, and interact through polls.
Designed to accommodate classes of 15 - 35 students. Students will be visible to the museum educator and their classmates, and will have the ability to raise their hand to ask and answer questions. In order to participate in this format, those registering will need to provide proof of parental permissions to participate in onscreen programs. If you would like to register for more than 35 students you will need to book a second slot.
Designed to accommodate individual students or small groups with less than 15 students. Students will not be visible to the museum educator or other students, but they will be able submit questions in writing through the Q&A, and interact through polls. Homeschool Days available the first Monday of the month, October 4, November 1, and December 6, 2021.
Register
Registered programs, 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. ET from October 4, 2021, to December 17, 2021. DCPS teachers please contact us if classes need to be scheduled at alternate times.
Bring a Smithsonian scientist into your home and classroom with Smithsonian Science How, a series of live video webinars that connect Smithsonian science experts with students. These new webinars will connect your students with the core content of the Animal Adaptations school programs and provide students with an opportunity to extend their learning in the content area.
In this activity, students (or Engineers-In-Training) will research, or carefully study and investigate, various animals’ traits, or adaptations, then use found objects at home to create a piece of bio-inspired technology that solves a human problem inspired by those animal adaptations.
Welcome to our collection of Animal Adaptations Easy Readers (PDF). We hope these leveled texts provide an opportunity for your students to practice reading strategies while incorporating science learning into their reading.
Use our aligned Comprehension Guide (PDF) to guide students to make inferences, recall facts, differentiate fact from opinion, classify information, explore new vocabulary, and identify the main idea and supporting details of a text.
Visit the Animals A-Z page to learn about the special adaptations of the residents at the Zoo!
