Interactive Whiteboard Activities

Science Explorations

With the help of audio, text, photos, and video, students thoroughly explore six science topics, from the Galapagos Islands to giant squid.

  • Grades: 3–5, 6–8, 9–12

“Science Explorations” offers rich, interactive content, developed by Scholastic in partnership with the American Museum of Natural History. Each exploration features audio, text (including related vocabulary words), photos, and videos — and help from an AMNH expert. These activities support curriculum standards and teach skills such as observation, finding and predicting patterns, classification, and inference.

The six topics covered are:

  • Animals, Adaptations, and the Galápagos Islands (Grades 3–10): Students explore the islands, learn about Charles Darwin, discover how animals adapt to their environments, and more.
  • Classify Insects (Grades 3–10):  Students “dissect” a bug’s name, learn to classify animals, are introduced to entomology, and more.
  • Journey Into Space (Grades 3–10): Students “activate” asteroids, discover what it would be like to play sports on the moon, and get tutorials on gravity, orbits, and space collisions.
  • Investigate the Giant Squid (Grades 3–10): Students investigate this mysterious creature of the sea by writing a “squid plan” (questions they’d like answers to), exploring deep-sea ecosystems, and more. 
  • Soar with Bats (Grades 3–10): Students study these night fliers of the sky by creating a book about them, reading up on bat facts, going on a virtual bat watch, and more.
  • Uncover Lizards and Snakes (Grades 3–10): Students browse a slideshow to discover “squamates” and learn what makes them similar and different from other animals.

Plus: What’s a Web Quest? Students can go on these fun, online treasure hunts to explore everything from dioramas to leeches. The quests are divided into two groups, one for grades 3–6, one for grades 6–10.

 

Learning Objectives

In each of the six science explorations, students will:

  • Learn grade-appropriate facts about the topic
  • Build scientific thinking skills as they follow a guided path of inquiry and analysis
  • Learn how professional scientists and experts conduct investigations and present findings
  • Practice reading strategies and skills needed to decode and comprehend nonfiction and informational texts
  • Develop skills for writing about research-based topics
  • Strengthen research and critical reasoning skills as they gather, assess, and use data

 

  • Subjects:
    Birds, Archaeology and Anthropology, Astronomy and Space, Biology and Life Science, Paleontology and Fossils, Endangered Animals and Welfare, Fish and Marine Life, Insects, Global Warming and Climate Change, Climate, Animal Survival and Adaptation, Mammals, Nocturnal Animals, Reptiles and Amphibians, Wild Animals, Zoo Animals, Communication and the Internet
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