The Museum's Department of Education has created engaging on-line activities to extend your visit to the Pearls exhibition and enhance student's use of the accompanying website. In the Pearls Education website students can use virtual specimens to develop their analytical skills using dichotomous key classification.

Teacher's Guide

The Pearls Teacher's Guide and Student Trip Sheet provide pre-visit activities, guides to the exhibition and related Halls, and post-visit suggestions and resources for teachers and students. Your visit to the Museum and these activities support the New York State science and social studies standards listed in the Guide.

Teaching Collections

Explore marine life in these two teaching collections assembled by the Department of Education for the Pearls exhibition. One collection features a range of marine animals, and the other focuses on oyster shells. Each includes an Identification Key that is designed to help you identify individual specimens from the collection. An Identification Activity lets you pick a specimen from the collection and then use the identification key to closely examine its features and try to identify it. You can use these activities before your visit to inform your observation of the specimens in the Pearls exhibition, and again after your visit to learn more about the specimens.