All resources in Summer Learning Resources

Turkey Vulture

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Harvey Webster, Chief Wildlife Officer for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, shares information about the turkey vulture. Worksheets available for grades PreK-K and 1-2.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture

Amazing Educational Resources

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Amazing Educational Resources is a nonprofit program that was initially created to facilitate free sharing of resources among teachers. The platform has since grown to an all-inclusive hub for educational materials. Amazing Educational Resources facilitates access to and sharing of free high -quality resources among teachers, parents and students. Motivated by the passion to develop an accessible educational resources sharing hub, Nick Hoover, a professional with 14 years teaching experience, founded Amazing Educational Resources Facebook page. The platform has since grown from a Facebook page to a public website harboring over 1,000 resources and an online calendar of events with webinars, lessons, and classes. Amazing Educational Resources believes there is power in sharing and value in the opinion of teachers and parents. We offer access to quality educational materials, facilitate live discussions about resources in the Facebook group, and hope to make the process of finding high quality resources a little bit easier. We are focused on simplifying the process of accessing high quality resources for both teachers, parents, and students. We are geared towards providing a reliable platform for teachers and parents to coordinate their efforts in providing quality information and materials to guarantee the best education. A platform that is accessible and affordable to students of all backgrounds.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture Notes, Lesson Plan, Student Guide

Authors: Nick Hoover, Sonya Pryor-Jones

All About Atlatls

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Atlatls are spear-throwing devices that were used all around the world before bows and arrows were invented. Experimental archaeologist Mark Kollecker shows us how to spear a cardboard deer with this ancient tool. Worksheet available for grades 3-6.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture

Ancient Plants Preserved: Coal Balls

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This Scientist Saturday, join host Lee Hall and Dr. Denise Su, the Museum’s Chief Academic Engagement Officer, Gertrude Haskell Britton Endowed Chair of Education, and Curator of Paleobotany & Paleoecology, in a fascinating specimen spotlight. Delve into the scientific study of ancient plants and learn about specimens found in calcified lumps known as “coal balls.” You’ll discover how these lumps—consisting mostly of plant matter preserved in calcium carbonate—allow us to understand fossil plants on a cellular level. Worksheets available for grades 7-8 and 9-12.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture

Birds

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In episode two of Wildlife Wednesday, we meet up with Michelle Leighty, Manager of Wildlife Resources, who takes us behind the scenes of our raptor barn. Between administering medication to a Turkey Vulture and conducting a routine weight check with our Screech Owl, there’s no shortage of work when it comes to caring for the Museum’s birds.

Material Type: Lecture

Birds & Migration

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The Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s ornithology collection of approximately 35,000 research specimens covers more than a century of ornithological exploration around the world, with an emphasis on species native to Ohio. Each specimen is meticulously prepared for use in scientific analysis. In this specimen spotlight, learn about all the information we can glean from just one specimen with host Lee Hall and William A. and Nancy R. Klamm Endowed Chair and Curator of Ornithology Dr. Andy Jones. Worksheets available for grades 7-8 and 9-12.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture

Bobcat

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If you’ve seen Bitty and Bob at the Museum, you know bobcats are incredible animals. They can leap as far as 12 feet and have a keen sense of smell. In this week’s edition of Wildlife Wednesdays, learn even more fast facts about these felines with wildlife specialist Nikki McClellan. Worksheets available for grades PreK-K and 1-2.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture

Bone Block: Coelophysis Death Bed

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Have you ever seen a dinosaur graveyard? Get your chance during this week’s edition of Scientist Saturdays. Researchers estimate this event—which resulted in a mass grave of Coelophysis bauri casualties—took place about 225 million years ago, during the Late Triassic. The small dinosaurs were likely congregating around a watering hole when they perished in a freak accident (probably a monsoon, based on the evidence) and were quickly buried and preserved. Learn more about the painstaking work of Museum paleontologists to extract the fossilized Coelophysis skeletons from the block. Worksheets available for grades 7-8 and 9-12.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture

Gray Fox

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Two gray foxes joined the Museum’s menagerie of live native Ohio animals in the reimagined Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden—Presented by KeyBank, which opened Labor Day weekend 2016. Gray foxes are one of the only canines that can climb trees—a fact that inspired the young foxes’ names. Buckeye and Ash were born in captivity and hand-raised in Minnesota. In the years since the state-of-the-art wildlife center opened, the pair have bonded with their caregivers and become familiar with their homes. Worksheet available for grades 1-3.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture

Investigating Lucy's Backyard

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Dr. Denise Su, Chief Academic Engagement Officer, Gertrude Haskell Britton Endowed Chair of Education, and Curator of Paleobotany & Paleoecology, tours the Human Origins Gallery, discussing the environment in which Lucy likely lived. Worksheet available for grades 5-12.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture

Investigating Lucy's Backyard

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In this Museum Mondays episode from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Dr. Denise Su, Chief Academic Engagement Officer, Gertrude Haskell Britton Endowed Chair of Education, and Curator of Paleobotany & Paleoecology, tours the Human Origins Gallery, discussing the environment in which Lucy likely lived. Features a video and downloadable worksheet.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

MRD

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In 2016, Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Curator of Physical Anthropology, discovered a “remarkably complete” hominin cranium at the Woranso-Mille Research Site in Ethiopia. He spent the next few years analyzing the specimen with the help of his team of experts to determine its age and species. Now, he’s ready to reveal the face of Lucy’s ancestor, which challenges previous theories about evolution, in an article published in the journal Nature. Learn about this discovery and groundbreaking research from Dr. Haile-Selassie himself. Worksheet available for grades 6-12.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture

Meet Trisha Patton

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After a decade of dormancy, the Cultural Anthropology Department at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History has come back to life. Our new Collections Manager, Trisha Patton, has spent the last year digging deep in the Museum’s vast repository of cultural artifacts from around the world. Meet Ms. Patton in this edition of Museum Mondays.

Material Type: Lecture

Mudpuppies & Other Amphibians

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Did you know sea lampreys aren’t native to Lake Erie? As invasive predators, they’re actually damaging Great Lakes fish and amphibian populations, including mudpuppies. Join host Lee Hall and Curator of Vertebrate Zoology Dr. Tim Matson for this specimen spotlight. Hear about Dr. Matson's long-term ecological research study examining the relationship between sea lampreys and mudpuppies. Worksheets available for grades 7-8 and 9-12.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lecture