At the Houston Museum of Natural Science, we know that people are as much a part of natural science as rocks and dinosaurs. That’s why we love social studies and maintain exhibits like the John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas and the Hall of Ancient Egypt. We find the development of societies fascinating! The […]
As educators, we all want students to understand the world holistically, but we still tend to teach each subject independent from all other subjects. Food is an effective way to capture the attention of students and provide a useful tool for creating a more global and cross-curricular learning environment. This global approach to learning has […]
After months of renovation, the Burke Baker Planetarium at the Houston Museum of Natural Science will re-open March 11 with the best picture of the universe in the world! The Evans and Sutherland Digistar 5 digital projection system boasts the first True 8K image on the planet, with twice the resolution as an IMAX theater. The powerful digital […]
Halloween requires skeletons. (And so does El Dia de los Muertos, for that matter…) If you’re on a budget but like to decorate, or you’re crazy about recycling, or you’re the crafty type who loves to add custom flair to everything, or you just want to see if you can do it, we’ve got a […]
Anubis is the Greek name for the “jackal-headed” god associated with death and the rituals of mummification in Ancient Egypt. Anubis’ color is black, symbolizing rebirth, which parallels the belief that the deceased is, in fact, reborn in the afterlife. Over time, Anubis played several roles in funerary rituals, from protector of the grave to […]
When people think of knights, they generally think of armor, too. The plate armor most associated with knights was actually a fairly recent invention. Armor started as quilted shirts and thick leather pieces to cover arms and legs (if you were fortunate enough to afford it!). Chain maille was a pretty fantastic innovation for the […]
Your eyes are amazing sensory organs. They help you understand shape, color and form, judge distance and alert you to potential dangers. What you perceive as “seeing” is actually the result of a complex series of events that occur between your brain, your eyes and the world around you. Light reflected from an object passes […]
Bats have frightened, awed, and inspired for millennia. Leonardo da Vinci used the bat’s amazing wing structure as inspiration for his version of the ornithopter — a machine which flies using flapping bird-like wings. No one knows for sure if he ever built or tested his invention, but Cardanus, a contemporary of Leonardo wrote that […]
Tessellations — tiling a plane using geometric shapes without overlaps or gaps — are a pretty fun way to teach students about shapes, symmetry, reflection and rotation. Plus, they require the most minimal of supplies! Materials:• Plain 3″ x 5″ index cards• Scissors• Scotch tape• Blank white paper• Optional: colored pencils/crayons, etc. Procedure:1. Draw a […]
What better way to understand how magnetic fields work than to see them for yourselves? Materials: • Magnetic field line cards (green) – one per child • Magnetic nail polish • Clear nail polish • Assorted magnets of various shapes and sizes • Large clear glass playing pieces • Button magnets (at least ½ inch) […]
