Teacher Enews

Interested in up to date information about new school programs, professional development opportunities, gallery activities and other education resources? Sign up for the Teacher Enews by submitting your email address into the Email Updates box on the left and select Teacher Enews.

Teacher's Guide

Download the Teacher's Guide or visit School visits to learn more about school programs offered by Harvard Museum of Natural History. View the video Making the Most of Your Visit for an overview of the museum and what to expect during a visit.

Museum Map

Download the map of the museum's galleries for your school visit. 

Teacher Professional Development

Sneak Preview: Fishes Gallery

May 29, 3:30 pm

Join us for a teachers-only preview tour of the newly renovated Fishes Gallery opening this June. Learn about what it takes to plan and implement a successful museum exhibit as we tour the gallery with Jan Sacco, HMNH Director of Exhibitions, and hear about the latest in fishes research at Harvard from Kara Feilich, doctoral student in the Lauder Lab.

This event will take place May 29, 2012. Informal gathering and refreshments starting at 3:30 pm in Classroom A. Tour and talk at 4:00 pm followed by a teacher reception. Reserve your space online.

Explore! Investigate! Invent!

How Science Inspires Engineering

July 9-20, 2012

Teacher professional development at the HMNH

This summer the HMNH will partner with the New England Aquarium, Zoo New England and Learning by Design to offer six days of inquiry-based, hands-on investigations into how “engineering” in the natural world inspires new human technologies.

This professional development opportunity is sponsored by The Museum Institute for Teaching Science. For a full brochure visit the MITS website.

Buds, Leaves, and Global Warming: Is the Growing Season Getting Longer?

The Harvard Forest and Harvard Museum of Natural History Co-Present a Summer Institute for Teachers

Tuesday, August 14, 9:00 am-3:30 pm

Optional follow-up data workshop, Fall 2012, Date TBD

How long is the growing season in your schoolyard? How is the growing season related to climate? Learn how to answer these questions with your students by conducting a meaningful scientific study in your own schoolyard. This successful ecology program, run at the Harvard Forest for 8 years, is being offered for the first time in Cambridge.

Registration information will be posted soon. Please email inquiries to Jennifer Peterson This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Evolution Stories

October 12 & 13, 9:00 am-3:30 pm

Blood-shooting lizards, star-nosed moles, plant-like fish? Life on Earth is truly amazing. Learn the hows and whys of evolution that explain these diverse forms and behaviors. We will explore concepts such as variation, natural selection, and evolution from a common ancestor as shown by gallery specimens, museum collections and classroom activities.

This 12 hour PD will take place October 12 and 13, 2012.
Our program is funded in part by a generous donation from the Biogen Idec Foundation. 

For more information download the flyer. To register download the application.

Gallery Activities

Looking for a way to engage your students as they explore the galleries? The Gallery Activities are designed to help focus students on some of the larger themes presented in the museum. They challenge students to look closely and draw meaningful conclusions about the collections. Choose from these activities:

Forest Explorers
Recommended for Pre-K and Kindergarten
Young students search high and low for plants and animals living in the forest.

Museum Safaris
Recommended for Pre-K and Kindergarten, and grade 1
Young students practice categorizing and observation skills as they find and draw gallery specimens.

Animal Detectives
Recommended for grades 1-6
Students practice close observation as they search for animals in the exhibits.

Gallery Games
Recommended for grades 1-6
Look closely and have fun in the exhibits with these group challenges.

Mineral Hall Activities
Recommended for grades 2-5
Students observe common minerals and learn what properties make them unique.

Animal Trackers
Recommended for grades 3-5
Students practice identifying animal tracks by matching pictures of footprints to animals in the New England Forests exhibition.

Explore Evolution
Recommended for grades 6-8 (Can be used as a starting place for grades 9-12)
Students investigate evolutionary concepts in the museum’s world-class collections.

New England Forest Videos

View the short, informational videos from the New England Forest exhibition in your classroom, as a stand alone resource or before or after your visit to extend the learning. They address New England forest history, ecology, and the scientists who study them.

Impact!: An Asteroid's Journey to Earth

An Interactive Program for Educators

IMPACT! An Asteroid’s Journey to Earth is an interactive DVD developed for use in middle and high school classrooms that presents current scientific thinking about asteroids, impacts, and impact craters. Learn more about Impact! and how to order this resource for your classroom.

Climate Change: Our Global Experiment

Materials for Educators

In conjunction with the exhibition Climate Change: Our Global Experiment, the Harvard Museum of Natural History has developed a suite of educational materials designed to extend learning from the exhibition to the classroom and help teachers to address various National Science Standards in earth science, physics, chemistry, and science and technology. Although educators are encouraged to schedule a visit with their students, the materials also stand on their own as effective teaching and learning tools. Learn more about Climate Change: Our Global Experiment and how to order this resource for your classroom.