Homeschool Days

PROGRAMS ON APRIL 3, 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 (wait list)

GRADES 3 TO 5
Identifying Minerals 11:45 – 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 (wait list)

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 the 10:15 in-person program (wait list) | Register for the 11:45 in-person program (wait list)

PROGRAMS ON APRIL 3, 2023

GRADES K TO 2
Animal Adaptations 1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. ET  
During this museum educator-led program, students compare and contrast animal specimens from our virtual collections to discover how different adaptations help animals survive in their habitat. Students will explore the different kinds of adaptations for animals who live on land, water, and in the air.
Register for this online program

GRADES 3 TO 5
Insect Illustration 10:15 – 11:00 a.m. ET 
Did you know that insects have more species and live in more places than any other animal? During this museum educator-led program, students virtually explore what makes an insect and why they are so successful. Through the scientific skills of observation and illustration, students will investigate and identify the survival techniques of one extraordinary insect, the Tobacco Hornworm.
Register for this online program

GRADES 6 TO 12
Reefs Unleashed 11:45 – 12:45 p.m. ET  
During this museum educator-led program, students explore biodiversity on a coral reef using the same methods as Smithsonian scientists. Students will practice science skills of observing, classifying, and quantifying organisms living on coral reefs using real data collected by field scientists with Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS). They will use their observations to understand how biodiversity is related to ecosystem resilience, and how humans are impacting these vital ocean habitats.
Register for this online program

PROGRAMS ON MAY 1, 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 (wait list)

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 (wait list)

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 the 10:15 in-person program (wait list) | Register for the 11:45 in-person program (wait list)

PROGRAMS ON MAY 1, 2023

GRADES K TO 2
Discovering Dinosaurs 10:15 a.m. – 11:00 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 online program

GRADES 3 TO 5
Urban Habitats 11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET
During this museum educator-led program, students will become sidewalk naturalists and meet both iconic and underappreciated plant and animal residents of the nation’s capital. We will discover how organisms survive and thrive in urban environments while we practice field ecology skills and reflect on the ways in which our cities are part of the natural world.
Register for this online program

GRADES 6 TO 12
Hot Potato: Climate Change, Food Systems, and You 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET
During this museum-educator-led program, students will investigate the connections between their lives and climate change through the lens of food! This interactive virtual program offers an opportunity to explore agricultural systems, review data, and learn about the relationship between climate change and potatoes. Together we will examine how scientists study food as a natural resource, and explore some innovative solutions that can have a positive impact on long-term food sustainability.
Register for this online program

PROGRAMS ON JUNE 5, 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 (wait list)

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 (wait list)

GRADES 6 TO 12
Exploded Cellphone – Pilot Program 10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. ET and 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET
Join museum educators and experts from the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) to pilot test a brand-new school program that explores the ways our cellphones connect us to the natural world!  During this program we’ll explore a technique that anthropologists use to interrogate cultural objects to think deeply about materials, makers and processes.
Register for the 10:15 in-person program | Register for the 11:45 in-person program

PROGRAMS ON JUNE 5, 2023

GRADES K TO 2
Budding Botanists 11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET
During this museum educator-led program, students will practice science skills by identifying patterns to help them classify and group plants like the museum’s botanists. Through the use of real digital collections, including specimens from the National Herbarium, students will explore why it is important to collect and study plants. 
Register for this online program

GRADES 3 TO 5
Rocks and Minerals 1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. ET
During this museum educator-led program, students will gain a better understanding of rocks and minerals, their uses, and how they are formed. Join us for an immersive exploration of some of Earth’s treasures in the Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals while using problem-solving skills to unlock the mysteries of these unique museum specimens. 
Register for this online program

GRADES 6 TO 12
Human Origins: What does it mean to be human? 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. ET
During this museum educator-led program, students will explore what it means to be human through an investigation of Turkana Boy, a 1.6 million year old fossil hominin from Kenya. By examining virtual museum collections, students will gain a better understanding of paleoanthropology, human evolution, and how scientists reconstruct human prehistory. 
Register for this online program