Search Results

The plates that make up the Earth's crust are always moving. When two plates meet, the motion causes lots of pressure...

Reading + Video

Earthquakes are happening all the time. Find out what makes the earth shake.

Most volcanoes form along plate boundaries. But some of the world's largest and most active volcanoes are found far f...

If you marked every active volcano in the world on a map, you'd start to notice a pattern. Most of the world's active...

If you look at a map, the coasts of South America and Africa seem to fit together like puzzle pieces.

Find out what causes volcanoes to erupt and how scientists study them.

Deep inside the Earth, intense heat and pressure can change rocks into entirely new metamorphic rocks.

Some volcanoes erupt explosively, like opening a shaken soda bottle, because their magma is full of gases.

Take a peek at our planet's layers, learn what secrets rocks reveal, and gain a long view of history.

Ed Mathez has always been fascinated by rocks and the Earth. As a young boy, he went with his mother to old rock quar...

This primitive armored dinosaur had bony plates and spikes that served almost like armor.

Make a model of Earth's layers that's good enough to eat!

OLogy learning: Find resources for K-5 grade levels.

How is the ocean like a layer cake? What creatures live there? And how important is the ocean? Take a dive and find out!

Explore how mammals run, fly, swim, walk, hop, and swing!

In these videos, a biologist introduces us to the microbes that live all around us.

Because of the diamond-shaped plates on its back, Stegosaurus was given a name that means "roof lizard."

As you can tell from its body plates and tail spikes, this dinosaur is related to Stegosaurus.

Find out how five different environments produce Earth's amazing minerals!

Animals swim, walk, crawl, slither, squirm, and even fly through the air. They can catch free rides by attaching them...

If you watched an American black bear lumbering through the forest, you might not notice anything unusual about how i...

Take an enlightening look at light with these three easy experiments.

The name Jurassic conjures images of tremendous dinosaurs roaming the Earth.

Many mammals run and walk. Some hop, swim, and even glide from trees.

On the dry grasslands of eastern Africa, the Thomson's gazelle grazes in the tall grass. Suddenly, it hears a noise a...

The red kangaroo is an amazing mammal. With its powerful hind legs and long tail, it can leap up to 45 feet (13.5 m)...

Can you make it down to the ocean floor? Along the way, discover what makes water special.

How do mammals move? Make flipbooks to see six different mammals in action.

Most living things need oxygen to survive. Oxygen helps organisms grow, reproduce, and turn food into energy. Humans...

How do horses move? Find out with these flipbooks.

What golden award is this? Take a guess!

Reading + Video

Astronomy is a BIG subject. We've brought learning about it down to size with these big ideas.

An invasive species is a living thing that moves into a new region. Species often become "invasive" as a re...

Game + Video

Examine fossils and gather clues from experts!

When Paula Mikkelsen moved to Florida, she turned a fun hobby into an exciting career. She enjoyed walking along Flor...

Energy is the ability to do work. Scientists define "work" as when a force moves something. When you lift a...

From waves to waterfalls, water is usually on the move. And that means it has energy. When this energy is captured an...

Silk is the finest, most luxurious cloth in the world. It is soft and shimmery, yet strong and sturdy. Long ago, silk...

Your brain is made up of cells. Specialized cells called neurons allow you to think, feel, and move. Neurons aren't o...

You hear a buzz, and swat at a mosquito.

Plankton are the microscopic organisms of the sea. Just as plants form the basis for the ecosystem on land, phytoplan...

Confuciusornis is the earliest-known toothless, beaked bird.

This rare lizard lived in the Gobi Desert about 80 million years ago.

Water is a precious resource, and all things need water to survive.

Have you ever wondered what our muscles, blood, bones, and bodies are made of? They are made of cells! Cells are the...

The Sun is speckled with markings called sunspots that look darker than the rest of its surface.

How do you describe your place in the 4th dimension?

Take a personal look at how the height and velocity of your vantage point can affect the view.

About 2,000 years ago, people in China invented paper. Over time, the technique for making paper moved west along the...

Explore your nerves by creating a life-sized drawing.

Explore the third dimension by building an origami waterbomb!

When we think of "space," we often think of "outer space" -- the vast, empty, dark space that sur...

When someone asks you, "What time is it?," the answer's easy. Just look at your watch! But "What is ti...

What can be used to perform surgery, cut metal, and even listen to your favorite CD? A laser! The term "laser&qu...

A tiny, two-feet tall horse-like animal scampers through a forest, nibbling on leaves.

One look at Redondasaurus, and you might think it's a crocodile. After all, it has a similar long, armored body, with...

Meet some of the more unusual members of T. rex and Velociraptor's family tree.

Test your knowledge about our planet Earth with this quiz.

How many constellations and planets can you find in the night sky? Record your sightings in a "stellar" journal.

Two thousand years ago, an ancient city called Petra thrived deep in the desert of Nabataean kingdom.

Most mammals that live on land use their legs to get around. But the white-handed gibbon relies mostly on its arms. U...

A marine biologist answers kids' questions about how climate change affects life in the ocean.

A bike, a tree, a cloud, an ocean -- any object you can name -- it's all made of matter. Even YOU are made of matter....

All living organisms need energy to live. Organisms such as plants get this energy from the Sun. But animals get this...

Hundreds of years ago, European sailors placed carved mermaids on the front of their ships as figureheads and told ta...

Most reflecting telescopes use glass mirrors to focus light from faraway objects, such as stars and galaxies. In a li...

In 1964, two astronomers at Bell Labs in New Jersey started testing a horn-shaped radio antenna.

Less than 100 years ago, many scientists thought that our Milky Way galaxy was the entire universe. Then, in the 1920...

Game + Hands-on

Play this game to find out how a law protects animals and plants.

Investigate the how and why of cloning.

See if you can find north by making your own compass.

Why does this scientist love studying tiny living things called microbes?

Guatemala is located in Central America. It sits south of Mexico and northwest of El Salvador and Honduras.

Jade is a special and rare rock. For thousands of years, people around the world have been using this durable and bea...

Manatees were once mistaken for mermaids. In fact, manatees are part of a small group of marine mammals known as &quo...

There is nothing in the world like water. Without it, our world would be a very different place. Water covers over tw...

To find north, find Polaris. Earth rotates on its axis, which points directly at Polaris. From Earth, Polaris is the...

Can poisons be used for good? Yes, and Robert will tell you why.

Take the jellybean test to see how your sense of smell enhances taste.

Sauropods weren't just the largest dinosaurs. They were also the largest animals to ever live on land. The sauropod M...

The world's largest flower grows in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. But its enormous, bright red bloom does not fi...

This famous long-necked, long-tailed wonder belongs to a group called "sauropods."

This massive plant-eater lived about 100 million years ago. Today, a cast of this 122-foot long titanosaur welcomes v...

How enlightened are you about the subject of light? Play this trivia game to find out!

Create weather tools to gather wind, rain, and pressure data in your neighborhood.

What skin color, eye color, and type of feathers will you give this T. rex?

What happens when you mix colors of light? The results might surprise you!

With its swirling column of wind, a tornado is one of nature’s most destructive storms.

Reading + Video

How do simple storms turn into swirling hurricanes?

Dinoflagellates are tiny, one-celled organisms that live in oceans and freshwater ponds, rivers, and streams. Some di...

Find out how paleontologist John Flynn answered kids' questions.

Visit a scientist's lab to see how he creates a magma chamber!

One of the earlier dinosaurs to appear on Earth was Coelophysis. It was a small, but skilled hunter that lived during...

Of all the dinosaurs to roam the Earth, the largest ones belonged to a group called sauropods- huge plant-eating dino...

Did you know that biodiversity provides us with things that we need?

See how many different plants and animals you can find in this virtual mangrove swamp.

Do you dig the Earth? If so, you'll want to meet Ed.

See the moon in action! And discover why our view of it changes nightly.

We see with our eyes, but our brains do most of the work. Watch what happens when light bounces off an object and enters your eye.

Microbiologist Susan Perkins answers kids’ questions about microbes.

The Portuguese man-of-war is actually a floating colony of individuals called polyps that are all dependent on each o...

Watch these videos to explore Felicity's work as a conservation biologist.

Tracking a gorilla can get hairy. Literally. Just ask George Amato.

From Madagascar to Indonesia, travel around the world with Museum scientists.

Reading + Game

Find out how the Big Bang Theory came to be.

Paleontologist Mark Norell answers questions about T. rex.

Video + Game

Take a look at some stories that were told along the Silk Road.

Biodiversity is the rich variety of life on Earth. But why is it important?

Scientist Rob DeSalle answers kids' questions about the brain!

Find out how he became a geologist and what you can learn from studying rocks.

Discover where starry-eyed Neil has followed his curiosity.

Game + Video

Be the first scientist to grow three new kinds of cells in your lab to win!