Fossils

		Fossil Halls Exhibition Materials for all ages Take a virtual stroll through the Museum's Fossil Halls any time, day or night. You can get a close-up look at some of our most famous dinosaurs and meet the early relatives of mammals.
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		Body and Trace Fossils Evidence and Analysis for grades Kindergarten through 5 What kind of fossil is a tooth—body or trace? How about a nest of eggs? Or a skin impression? Examine the differences between body and trace fossils with these eight high-quality photographs.
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		What Is a Fossil? Curriculum Materials for grades Kindergarten through 4 The most common fossils are bones and teeth, but not all fossils are body parts. Explore the wide-ranging evidence of ancient life that scientists use to understand Earth's prehistoric past.
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		Buried Bones Activity for grades 3 through 8 The next time you have chicken, don't throw out the bones—bury them in plaster of Paris. Then, scrape by scrape, see firsthand the challenges archaeologists face when excavating fossils.
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		Finding Fossils Activity for grades 3 through 8 You don't have to be a professional paleontologist to collect the remains of ancient life. Anyone can find fossils. This handy how-to guide tells you where to look and what to do.
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		If Rocks Could Talk Article for grades 3 through 8 Every rock has a story to tell—and clues to offer about Earth's history. Meet six specimens that have traveled to the AMNH from places as close as the Catskill Mountains and as far away as outer space.
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		Fossil Find Curriculum Materials for grades 5 through 8 Once paleontologists find a fossil, the truly exacting work begins. Dig up your own "fossil" to see firsthand what it takes to excavate and reconstruct a skeleton.
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		Understanding Geological Time Curriculum Materials for grades 5 through 8 How long have humans been on Earth compared to the length of time dinosaurs roamed the planet? Gain a new understanding of time by mapping out Earth's history.
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Genetics

		Genetic Literacy: Meeting the Teaching Challenge Article for all ages With today's pace of genetic discoveries, how can you stay up-to-date? Get strategies for keeping current and helping your students understand the influence of genetics on their daily lives.
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		The Genomic Revolution Exhibition Materials for all ages Imagine a world in which surgery is rarely needed, genetic information (the ultimate fingerprint) is used to solve violent crimes, and most people live to be 150—all as a result of the mapping the human genome.
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		Make a DNA Model Activity for grades 3 through 8 Do you know what makes you different from a snail, a tree, or even your best friend? Find out with this hands-on look at genetic code—and build a model that's a million-plus-times larger than life.
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		Wear a Chimp on Your Wrist Activity for grades 3 through 8 How can you wear a chimp on your wrist—without getting primate elbow? The answer to this riddle is not as tough as it may seem. Need a hint? Take a closer look at genetic code.
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		What Do You Know About Genetics? Activity for grades 3 through 8 How much do you know about what makes you you? Test your genetics knowledge with this interactive quiz. Then, take a nurturing look at the answers when you're done.
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		What Makes You, You Quiz Activity for grades 3 through 8 Nature + Nurture = You! While it may look like a simple equation, the combination of your genes and your environment is actually very complicated. Find out if your answers match your family's.
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		Web Quest: What's the Big Deal About DNA? Activity for grades 6 through 10 What do you share with daisies, flying foxes, and microscopic bacteria? DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid. Take a virtual look at this chemical that's too tiny to see, even with a powerful microscope.
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Evolution

		Darwin Exhibition Materials for all ages Did you know that for 21 years Darwin kept his theory secret? Learn more about this brilliant observer of nature and how he transformed our understanding of the living world.
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		The First Europeans: Treasures from the Hills of Atapuerca Exhibition Materials for all ages Travel back nearly two million years, and trace the footsteps of our earliest ancestors as they travel the only land route out of northeast Africa and move into Asia and Europe.
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		Evolution Activity for grades 3 through 12 Get a hands-on look at the evolution of a species and the growth of a dominant coloration pattern with this activity designed to complement the museum's Hall of Ocean Life.
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		Darwin Digital Library Evidence and Analysis for grades 9 through 12 Charles Darwin’s manuscripts offer unsurpassed documentation of an extraordinary scientists at work. Peruse his many books and articles along with his experimental records and reading notes.
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Tree of Life

		Tree of Life Article for grades 3 through 8 Think of a cladogram as the ultimate family tree. On it, you can see how all living things are related, including the single ancestor they all share. Learn more about Earth's Tree of Life.
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		Assembling the Tree of Life Article for grades 9 through 12 Examine the research agenda proposed in 2000 by systematic biologists in order to understand the Tree of Life within the next 10-15 years and to then provide that information to science and society.
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		Fossil Halls: Cladistics Exhibition Materials for all ages What is the best way to reconstruct evolutionary history? Find out with this look at cladistics and the branching points on the Earth's evolutionary family trees.
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		Hall of Biodiversity Educator's Guide Insert Activity for grades Kindergarten through 12 The cladogram, or family tree, for all living things branches across the museum's Spectrum of Life Wall. Can you use it to find the mustached monkeys, the wing-footed centipede, and the great blue turaco?
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		Understanding Cladistics Curriculum Materials for grades 5 through 8 Explore the method scientists use to determine evolutionary relationships by creating a coin cladogram. Then try your hand at classifying a handful of dinosaurs.
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		Hall of Biodiversity Educator's Guide Activity: Cladograms Activity for grades 6 through 12 In the same way people trace their history with a family tree, scientists use an evolutionary tree to show a species' close and distant relatives. Learn how they work by making a tree of coins.
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Human Culture

		The First Europeans: Treasures from the Hills of Atapuerca Exhibition Materials for all ages Travel back nearly two million years, and trace the footsteps of our earliest ancestors as they travel the only land route out of northeast Africa and move into Asia and Europe.
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		Analyzing Images of Culture Curriculum Materials for grades 4 through 8 A picture is worth a thousand words, but whose words are they? Zoom in on how the opinions and biases of photographers can color the images they take.
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		Multiple Cultures, Multiple Identities Curriculum Materials for grades 5 through 8 What defines you: your ethnic background, the region you live in, your age, or your gender? Correct answer: All of the above. Assemble the pieces of your identity in a cultural chest.
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		When Cultures Travel Curriculum Materials for grades 5 through 8 When people move, they take along more than their personal possessions. They also transport their culture. How have your family and your neighbors influenced the community you live in?
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		How Does Where You Live Shape How You Live? Activity for grades 6 through 12 With access to products and information from around the world, our range of choices is seemingly endless. But how would life be different if you lived in a different time and an isolated place?
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		Becoming a Cultural Researcher Curriculum Materials for grades Kindergarten through 8 What would an anthropologist make of your toothbrush, your school locker, or a Halloween jack-o-lantern? Examine the material culture and artifacts of your life.
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		Looking at Our Own Cultural Artifacts Curriculum Materials for grades Kindergarten through 8 When you think of your family's traditions and beliefs, what special objects come to mind? Would the meaning and value of these objects be clear to someone from another family or culture?
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		Piecing It All Together Activity for grades 3 through 8 Ornate jewelry, simple baskets, stone tools ... these are just some of the artifacts archaeologists have uncovered among ancient ruins. But one of the most common discoveries is pottery.
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		Tools of the Trade Activity for grades 3 through 8 How do you find a place that's been lost for more than 300 years? Take up this challenge, and learn what it took for archaeologists to locate a lost mission on a 14,000-acre island near Georgia.
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		Anthropological Collections Management Article for grades 9 through 12 Only about 10 percent of the artifacts in the museum's anthropology division are on view at any one time. Learn how the other 90 percent is tracked, used, and stored.
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		Anthropological Objects Conservation Article for grades 9 through 12 How does the museum treat and care for its collection? And what steps can you take at home to keep your personal collection safe? Find out in this look at objects conservation.
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Explore Diorama Scenes

The Spitzer Hall of Human Origins features diorama scenes from ancient and modern hominid species. Learn more about them and how they and other diorama scenes in the Museum were created.

		Coming to Life (SuperScience) Article for grades 3 through 6 What does it take to create realistic exhibits like the ones featured in Night at the Museum? Meet the exhibition project manager who's in change of the Museum's dioramas.
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		Coming to Life (Science World) Article for grades 6 through 10 Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the dioramas created for the Museum's Hall of Human Origins—scenes so realistic they look as if they could spring to life.
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		What's This? Hall of Human Origins Article for grades 3 and up Can you tell the difference between a giraffe's bones and those from a mammoth? Test your knowledge of fossils.
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		Web Quest: Dioramas: Coming to Life (SuperScience) Activity for grades 3 through 6 Take a virtual trip to the American Museum of Natural History, where you can peer through windows that will take you back 130 million years or place you in the center of a group of mountain gorillas.
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		Web Quest: Dioramas: Coming to Life (Science World) Activity for grades 6 through 10 View a battle between a sperm whale and a giant squid—a scene that's never been seen by humans. Then continue your online journey with six more virtual dioramas.
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Hall of Human Origins Glossary & Reference Lists

		Hall of Human Origins Glossary Reference List for grades Kindergarten through 12 What are evolutionary trees? How do hominids differ from primates? And why is it important that humans are capable of symbolic thought? Find out with this guide from "DNA" to "variation."
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		Hall of Human Origins Booklist for Educators Reference List for grades Kindergarten through 12 Find an answer to the question, "What is human nature?" Investigate Jane Goodall's pioneering field research. And consider the vast potential of the human genome.
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		Hall of Human Origins Booklist for Students Reference List for grades Kindergarten through 12 Explore your ancestral past and the 22nd-century possibilities of DNA research with this collection of kid-friendly titles selected for the Hall of Human Origins.
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		Hall of Human Origins Weblist Reference List for all ages Unearth and explore a 1.6-million-year-old human skeleton. Watch a video that explains why evolution matters. And compare human skeletons with those of primates.
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