School & Group Programs

All living things are the result of successful adaptation.  Some of these adaptations are physical and some are behavioral. Together, these adaptations make each living thing unique.  This program will introduce the concepts of evolution, natural selection, variation and speciation with examples from the Museum's collections.

Grade Level: Elementary & Middle School

Next Generation Science Standards:

3-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• 3-LS2-1. Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.

3-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

• 3-LS3-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms.

3-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

• 3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
• 3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

Science and Engineering Practices:

• Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• LS2.D: Social Interactions and Group Behavior
• LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning and Resilience
• LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits
• LS3.B: Variation of Traits
• LS4.B: Natural Selection

Crosscutting Concepts:

• Patterns
• Cause and Effect
• Scale, Proportion and Quantity

The study of local ecology, including familiar locations and wildlife, gives students the chance to see the complex interactions among animals, plants, and abiotic resources. This program explores the adaptable composition of Connecticut’s wildlife and investigates the positive and negative effects of a changing environment on wildlife populations.

Grade Level: Elementary through High School

Next Generation Science Standards:

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

• How do organisms interact with the living and nonliving environments to obtain matter and energy?

LS4.D: Biodiversity & Humans

• There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.

Science & Engineering Practices:

• Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
• Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
• LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning and Resilience
• LS2.D: Social Interactions and Group Behavior
• LS4.B: Natural Selection

Cross-cutting Concepts:

• Patterns
• Cause and Effect
• Energy and Matter
• Stability and Change

Energy flows through ecosystems, forming a cycle of life and energy.  Using the Peabody Museum's unique specimens and imagery, students will explore energy pathways in different biomes that begin with the sun and fuel all life on our planet.  This web of life connects producers, consumers and decomposers.

Grade Level: Elementary and Middle School

Next Generation Science Standards:

5-LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy and Dynamics

• 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

5-PS3: Energy

• 5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.

MS-LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy and Dynamics

• MS-LS2-3.  Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Developed to meet NGSS standards, this new program will explore the concept of habitat by highlighting Peabody Museum specimens and images from the expertly crafted dioramas.  Case studies of several species will highlight human impacts and present students with opportunities to discover ways to change the impact of humans on the environment.

Grade Level: Elementary through High School

Next Generation Science Standards:

K-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

• K-ESS3-1. Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.
• K-ESS3-3. Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.

5-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

• 5-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.

HS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity

Science and Engineering Practices

• Developing and Using Models
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• ESS3.A: Natural Resources
• ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
• ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions

Crosscutting Concepts

• Patterns
• Systems and System Models
• Cause and Effect

Outstanding specimens of prehistoric animal and plant fossils are used to illustrate current theories on the mechanisms of biological change that are evolution.  These specimens provide evidence for the process of evolution through natural selection and genetic mutation.  Evolution has been a primary research subject at the Peabody Museum for more than 100 years and many of the Museum's exhibits were produced to promote the understanding of evolution.  Specimens will highlight current research on the close relationship between birds and dinosaurs, horse evolution, mass extinctions and a brief look at human origins.

Grade Level: Middle and High School

Next Generation Science Standards:

MS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

• MS-LS4-1. Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
• MS-LS4-2. Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.

HS.Natural Selection and Evolution

• HS-LS4-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
• HS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptations of populations. 

Many plants depend on animals for pollination and to move their seeds around. Animals need seeds, nectar and pollen from plants for food and to help their young to survive and grow. This program will explore the process of pollination and how it relies upon interdependent relationships in ecosystems and plant and animal adaptation for its success. Current environmental issues facing plants and pollinators will also be covered.

Grade Level: Elementary and Middle School

NGS Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
• LS1:A: Structure and Function
• LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms

Next Generation Science Standards:

2-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• 2-LS2-2 Construct a simple model that mimics the function in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants

MS-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

• MS-LS1-4 Use argument-based empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively

NGS Crosscutting Concepts:

• Cause and Effect
• Structure and Function

Using museum specimens, video and activities, Landforms: Evidence of a Changing Earth brings the concept of a dynamic Earth to life.  This program will explore constructive and destructive geologic forces and the evidence of these activities in Connecticut.  Topics covered include tectonic movement, volcanism, sedimentation, glaciation, erosion and weathering.  Current research being conducted by Yale University's Department of Geology and Geophysics will be presented.

Grade Level: 4th, 5th, Middle and High School

Next Generation Science Standards:

ESS1 Earth's Place in the Universe

• MS-ESS1-4: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.

ESS2 Earth's Systems

• 4-ESS2-1: Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
• 5-ESS2-1: Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

• MS-ESS2-1: Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
• MS-ESS2-2: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.
• MS-ESS2-3: Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.

• HS-ESS2-1: Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.
• HS-ESS2-3: Develop a model based on evidence of Earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection.

Students will be introduced to a variety of minerals, how they form, and properties that can be identified through the use of simple tests and observations.  These may include color, odor, hardness, luster, magnetism and transparency.  The rock cycle, including igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rock types will also be introduced including an understanding of how each rock type is formed and where they can be found in Connecticut.

Grade Level: Grades 4 through 8

Next Generation Science Standards:

ESS2 Earth's Systems

• 4-ESS2-1. Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
• 5-ESS2-1. Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
• MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
• MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.

Your students will experience the Peabody Museum's dinosaurs as never before with our new virtual 3D Great Hall!  Get close up views of Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus and the rest of the Great Hall's dinosaurs, marine reptiles and early birds skeletons.  This program explores concepts such as evolution, adaptation, extinction, fossilization and habitat through the lens of the Yale Peabody Museum's outstanding collection of prehistoric animals.  The Museum's Pulitzer Award-winning mural The Age of Reptiles, by Rudolph Zallinger is also discussed.

Grade Level: Grades K through 6

Next Generation Science Standards:

2-ESS2 Earth's Systems

• ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
• ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions 

3-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

• LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
• LS4.B: Natural Selection

This new program addresses NGS standards of Biological Evolution and Diversity using a spectacular virtual 3D model of the Great Hall and all it's exhibits and specimens.  Evidence will be presented so that students may analyze and interpret key characteristics for each specimen and determine how certain features can be useful in understanding the habitats of these prehistoric creatures.

Grade Level: Elementary and Middle School

Next Generation Science Standards:

3-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

• 3-LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago.

MS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

• MS-LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. 

Science and Engineering Practices:

• Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
• LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning and Resilience

Crosscutting Concepts:

• Cause and Effect
• Scale, proportion and Quantity