More About This Resource...

• This online article is from the Museum's Science Explorations, a collaboration between AMNH and Scholastic designed to promote science literacy. Written for students in grades 6-10, this article fromScience Worldmagazine has the following content.

  • An intro that sets the scene by looking at how mythical creatures have taken center stage in recent films, sometimes appearing as allies or other times as forces to be reckoned with
  • A look at four mythical creatures—dragon, mermaid, unicorn, hippogriff/griffin—that includes a summary of the ancient legend and an examination of the scientific explanation

• Completion Time

  Less than 1 period

• Teacher Tip

  Supplement a study of anthropology with an activity drawn from this online Science Explorations article.

  1. Send students to this online article, or print copies of it for them to read.
  2. Working individually or in small groups, have students select one the mythical creatures that are discussed in the article—dragon, mermaid, unicorn, hippogriff/griffin—and find a book or movie in which this creature plays a role.
  3. Explain that students will need to give a brief presentation that discusses the appearance and behavior of their mythical creature in the selected book/movie.
  4. Group the student presentations according mythical creature so students can discuss similarities and differences. For example, after all the dragon presentations, as a class compare and contrast the different portrayals of dragons.

• Topic

  Anthropology

• Subtopic

  Magic, Ritual, and Belief