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American Museum of Natural History

Mythic Creatures Online Resources

From the American Museum of Natural History:
  • OLogy
    ology.amnh.org/mythiccreatures
    Explore the brand-new Mythic Creatures OLogy, where kids can find more information and fun activities about their favorite mystical beings. It includes a mystery map game, a guide to making mythic puppets, a mystery photo collection, a young readers booklist, and much more.
  • Science Explorations Web Quests
    teacher.scholastic.com/activities/explorations/webquests.htm
    Students in grades 3–10 can embark on a Mythic Creatures investigation with these online explorations.
Cultural:
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art: Unicorn Tapestries
    www.metmuseum.org/explore/Unicorn/ 
    This interactive website for The Unicorn Tapestries includes image-led stories of these iconic pieces of art, which are displayed in the Met’s Cloisters Gallery. Their history and iconography can be explored in detail on this site.
  • The Minneapolis Institute of Arts: World Myths and Legends in Art
     www.artsmia.org/world-myths/
    This diverse collection of images brings together 26 works of art inspired by mythology from cultures around the world. The rich variety allows teachers to address a wide range of study areas, including language arts, humanities, art, social and cultural studies, and world religions. Note the “compare and contrast” artifact essay-writing activity for students.
  • National Library of Australia: Bunyip
    www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/bunyips/
    This animated online exhibition of the legendary water creature from Australia’s Aboriginal people is loaded with lore, imagery, and educational materials.
Science:
  • Strange Science
    www.strangescience.net
    An annotated compendium of illustrations from various centuries-old science books that highlights misidentifications scientists made as they studied the natural world. Categories include "Dinosaurs and Dragons", "Mammals", "Sea Monsters", and "Forgeries and Frauds”. The text explores how some of the creatures of mythology might have resulted from erroneous guesses made from fossil discoveries.

 

© 2007 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved.

  • More About This Resource...

    • This reference list contains brief descriptions of and links to four Web sites that provide a broad range of mythic creatures resources. The sites include:

      • an animated exhibition on Bunyips, with aboriginal stories and educational links,
      • information on the history and iconography of the Unicorn Tapestries,
      • a collection of online art inspired by mythology around the world, and
      • digitized version of centuries-old science books on topics such as dragons and sea monsters.

    • Teacher Tip

      Supplement a study of anthropology with an activity drawn from this list of Web links.

      1. Divide the class into four groups and assign each a Web site from the list.
      2. Have each group explore its Web site, taking notes about the information it covers and the resources it includes.
      3. In a brief presentation, have the groups share their findings with the class. Ask them to point out which resources they found most helpful and what details or facts they learned from the site.

    • Origin

      Educators Guide

    • Topic

      Anthropology

    • Subtopic

      Art ( music, dance, dress )