Wildlife on Wheels turns muse for these talented artists from Johnston Middle School

Published by Caroline on March 7, 2013 at 4:50 pm in Outreach

When HMNS’ Wildlife on Wheels hit Johnston Middle School on Feb. 14, it wasn’t for your run-of-the-mill presentation.

Our live animal presentations are anything but average, but this one was particularly fascinating: The students in Christina Gutierrez’s art class got to draw the wildlife they met, and their completed work is something special:

Taryn Tsujimoto, 8th grade

June Chen, 8th grade

Melanie Montiel, 8th grade

Courtney Collier, 7th grade

Jamie Wright, 8th grade

Leah J. Schultz, 8th grade

Caroline Hamilton, 7th grade

A student examines a baby alligator

This toad had trouble sitting still, so kudos to this kiddo for capturing his essence.

Outreach programs like Wildlife on Wheels, Bugs on Wheels, Science on Stage and others are bookable as part of an on-site field trip — or they can pack up and come to you. For more information on our Outreach programs and to learn how you can book a live animal presentation for your school or organization, click here or email us!

Tree frogs! Serpents! Monkey-eating birds! Peel back the layers of the rainforest with our new Wildlife on Wheels

Published by Caroline on February 13, 2013 at 4:37 pm in Outreach

Our latest wild and wonderful Wildlife on Wheels (WOW) program focuses on the animals of the rainforest — from tree frogs and slithering snakes to millipedes and rainbow boas.

WOW presenters break down the layers of the rainforest — the forest floor, understorey, canopy and emergent layers — and impart the important role rainforests play in contributing to our natural resources.

For example: Did you know that more than half of the world’s plants, animals and insects reside in the rainforest? Its vitality is crucial to the world’s oxygen supply, and its rich plant life is the source of lots of modern medicines.

Using live animals and specimens, HMNS educators also teach students about the rainforest’s unique quirks. For example: Did you know that 50 percent of rainforest rainfall never even hits the ground?

HMNS Wildlife on Wheels programs can be booked as supplements to a field trip or delivered straight to your school for an in-class presentation.

For more information on the Rainforest Wildlife on Wheels or other Outreach programs, click here!

Bringing the wonder to you: Science on Stage

Published by Caroline on July 26, 2012 at 9:25 pm in Outreach

We’ve got permanent exhibit halls, special exhibitions and an entire basement full of classrooms for camp and education. But did you know that we can bring HMNS to you?

HMNS outreach programs — which include Science on Stage, Docents To Go, Wildlife on Wheels, Discovery Dome, Bugs on Wheels and more — can be booked for school appearances, youth groups, or nearly anything else you can dream up.

Our largest program, Science on Stage, can serve an audience of up to 250 people, and offers three compelling programs: Exploring Energy, Cool Chemistry and Motion Commotion.

Each program lasts about 45 minutes and can be customized for certain age groups or group sizes. Each program includes live demonstrations and strives to make learning visual by bringing student volunteers on stage and weaving a question-and-answer portion throughout. HMNS provides all the supplies needed for each program and manages clean-up — how great of a house guest are we?!

Youth Educator Carolyn Leap walked us through the Cool Chemistry program. “We start off demonstrating chemical reactions versus physical reactions, usually through combustion. Things on fire on stage usually get people’s attention.”

“In this program, the audience learns how fireworks function and engage in color-changing reactions, as well as experimenting with water-absorbing polymers,” Leap explained. “And, depending on the age of the audience, we make our own slime.”

Leap continued, “We use a concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide to create a foam reaction we call Elephant’s Toothpaste.”

“We dip all sorts of stuff in liquid nitrogen with the assistance of our student volunteers, who love to shatter frozen flowers and dunk balloons,” she said.

HMNS’ catalogue of outreach programs covers many fields, from life sciences with Wildlife on Wheels and Bugs on Wheels to anthropology with Docents to Go to our Discovery Dome portable planetarium — and much more, thanks to a wealth of programming.

Most of our Science on Stage programs are hosted by Leap, who was this year named Educator of the Year by the Texas Association of Museums.

To reserve Science on Stage for your students or group and get introduced to one of the best educators Texas has to offer, call 713-639-4766 or click here.