American Museum of Natural History - Field Trip Assignment

Eryn Klosko
,
SUNY/Westchester Community College
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Summary

Self-guided field trip assignment to AMNH (largely based on the museum's teacher's guide for high school students)

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Context

Audience

introductory geoscience course for non-majors Designed for a geophysics course

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

no skills necessary

How the activity is situated in the course

a stand-alone exercise

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

examining the main themes of an introductory geoscience course in a different context

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

connecting the displays at the museum with the major themes described in their introductory geoscience course

Other skills goals for this activity

writing

Description of the activity/assignment

Self-guided field trip assignment to American Museum of Natural History Hall of Planet Earth exhibit (largely based on the museum's teacher's guide for high school students) There are 5 main areas of investigation in the hall that these questions address: How did Earth form? What makes Earth habitable? Why are there Mountains, Volcanoes, and Earthquakes? How do we read the rocks? Why are there changes to Earth's climate?

Determining whether students have met the goals

students submit a report and evaluation is based upon the descriptions they provide based upon their self-guided fieldtrip

More information about assessment tools and techniques.

Teaching materials and tips

Other Materials

Supporting references/URLs

http://www.amnh.org/rose/hope/