Art of the North K-12 Through a museum educator-led gallery experience in Art of the North, students will examine how artists represent Alaska and the North through multimedia works. Students will learn about the science of color by experimenting with light and pigment.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience, hands-on activity, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Climate Change: Fisheries Learn how a changing climate affects water and fisheries. Follow the water cycle with a planetarium show and follow salmon from streams to sea and back again with a hands-on activity. Join an educator-led tour of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center to learn about old and new ways of fishing.
Includes: Orientation, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, H2O Cycle planetarium show, salmon cycle activity, and museum educator-led gallery experience at Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center and time for lunch.
Climate Change: Permafrost Learn about the engineering challenges presented by building on permafrost. In CoLab, invent a structure that will remain standing when permafrost melts. In the Alaska Exhibition, discover the innovations necessary for construction of the Alaska pipeline. Explore hydroponics and learn about growing plants without soil which can provide food resources in the northern environment year-round.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience in Alaska Exhibition, a guided experience in CoLab, a hands-on activity, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Climate Change: Sea Ice Learn about how humans and animals are coping with the disappearance of sea ice. In the planetarium show, Wonders of the Arctic, delve into current science about the impacts of melting sea ice. Students will build scientific thinking skills through designing a research project in a hands-on activity. Explore the ice-bound lives of the walrus and polar bear in a guided gallery experience of the Art of the North exhibition.
Includes: Orientation, Wonders of the Arctic planetarium show with a hands-on activity, educator-led exploration of the Art of the North exhibition, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Northern Waters K-2 Through a museum educator-led gallery experience, the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, students look closely at primary sources showcasing innovative technologies Alaska Native peoples create to navigate Alaska’s waters and participate in a hands-on activity. In the Discovery Center, students meet live aquatic animals at the Intertidal Tank and learn about tidepools in Alaska.
Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience, hands-on activity, museum educator-led activity with animal encounter in Alaska Marine Life, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Northern Waters 3-5 Through a museum educator-led gallery experience in the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center and Alaska Exhibition, students look closely at primary sources showcasing innovative technologies Alaska Native peoples create to navigate Alaska’s waters. Learn how water on Earth is connected in the Water Cycle planetarium program followed by an interactive activity where students learn about tidepools and meet live aquatic animals.
Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience, Water Cycle planetarium program and museum educator-led activity with animal encounter in Alaska Marine Life, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Northern Waters 6-8 Through a museum educator-led gallery experience in the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, students look closely at primary sources showcasing innovative technologies Alaska Native peoples create to navigate the waters of Alaska. Students learn about Alaska tidepool habitats and meet live aquatic animals with a museum educator.
Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience, museum educator-led activity with animal encounter in Alaska Marine Life, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Northern Waters 9-12 Through a museum educator-led gallery experience in the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center and Art of the North, students look closely at primary sources showcasing innovative technologies Alaska Native peoples create to navigate Alaska’s waters. Students meet live aquatic animals to learn about the adaptations of Alaska tidepool creatures and how climate change is impacting these ecosystems.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience, museum educator-led activity with animal encounter in Alaska Marine Life, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Soundscapes K-2 In a museum educator-led gallery experience in Art of the North, students draw connections between art, sound, and their sense of place through the lens of soundscape ecology. Students create their own soundscapes and learn about sound using different instruments in a hands-on activity.
Includes: Orientation, hands-on activity, museum educator-led gallery experience, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Soundscapes 3-5 Through a museum educator-led gallery experience in Art of the North, students learn about soundscape ecology at the intersection of art, identity, and sound. Students build understanding of scientific approaches through a sound-based interactive activity.
Includes: Orientation, interactive activity, museum educator-led gallery experience, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Soundscapes 6-8 Students are introduced to the field of soundscape ecology with a live planetarium program. Students build understanding of scientific approaches through a sound-based interactive activity.
Includes: Orientation, Global Soundscapes planetarium program, museum educator-led activity, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Space and Place PreK-K Investigate our night sky in an immersive program in the planetarium and learn about the North Star, Big Dipper, Sun and Moon. In a hands-on activity, students will experience what it is like to be an astronaut.
Includes: Orientation, planetarium program and participatory activity, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Space and Place 1-2 Learn about the interactions between the earth, moon and sun through a live planetarium program and discover why we have days, nights and seasons with a hands-on activity. Examine our place on Earth with an interactive mapping activity.
Includes: Orientation, planetarium program, hands-on activities, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Space and Place 3-5 Students learn what objects are in our night sky and how what we see changes based on location and time in a live planetarium program and hands-on activity. Examine our place on Earth with an interactive mapping activity.
Includes: Orientation, live planetarium program, hands-on activity, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Space and Place 6-8 Explore the scale of the solar system in a live planetarium program and make a pocket-size solar system in a hands-on activity.
Includes: Orientation, planetarium program, hands-on activity, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Inventive Engineering PreK-2 Meet a live reptile and learn about animals and their basic needs. Students will create an object or experience to enhance the lives of the museum's animals.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led activities, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Inventive Engineering 3-5 Students learn about the history and forces behind flight through the planetarium program Flight Adventures. In CoLab, students will experience the engineering process as they prototype their own flying crafts.
Includes: Orientation, Flight Adventures planetarium program, museum educator-led activity in CoLab, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Inventive Engineering 6-8 Investigate the ways humans have traveled across Alaska's diverse landscapes with a museum educator-led gallery experience in the Alaska Exhibition. In CoLab, students will experience the engineering process as they prototype their own travel method.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience in the Alaska Exhibition, engineering activity in CoLab, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Inventive Engineering 9-12 Students learn about conservation of energy and momentum, and how NASA utilizes planets to aid in spacecraft exploration through the planetarium program Gravity Assist. In CoLab, students experience the engineering process with a hands-on activity.
Includes: Orientation, Gravity Assist planetarium program, museum educator-led activity in CoLab, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Earthquakes 5-8 Examine the history of Alaska’s earthquakes during a museum educator-led gallery experience in the Alaska Exhibition. Learn about the engineering process by working to design structures that can withstand an earthquake. Find patterns in scientific maps to find out the earth processes that drive earthquakes.
Includes: Orientation, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, interactive plate tectonics and engineering activities, museum educator-led gallery experience at Alaska Exhibition, and time for lunch
Earthquakes: 9-12 Practice map-reading skills while learning about the underlying earth processes surrounding earthquakes. Investigate the history of earthquakes around the world in the planetarium. Learn about the engineering process by working to design structures that can withstand an earthquake.
Includes: Orientation, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, Planetarium show, plate tectonics activity, and museum educator-led plate tectonics and engineering activities, and time for lunch
Soundscapes 9-12 Students are introduced to the field of soundscape ecology with a planetarium program. Students learn about current soundscape ecology research and develop their own soundscape ecology research questions and hypotheses, building approaches to scientific thinking.
Includes: Orientation, Global Soundscapes planetarium program, museum educator-led activity, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
Space and Place 9-12 Students traverse the universe to learn more about our perspective and the relative “place in space” in a live planetarium program and interactive activity.
Includes: Orientation, live planetarium program, interactive activity, self-guided time in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch
There are no programs currently available for the grade levels you have chosen.
Art of the North The Art of the North galleries in the museum’s Rasmuson Wing present the museum’s art collection from the perspectives of American art and an international North. Paintings, sculpture, photography, video and other media offer varied perceptions of the Northern landscape and wilderness through historical and contemporary depictions of both land and people.
These galleries deliver a compelling narrative for the North. Presented are documentary works from expedition artists, along with Romantic landscapes by 19th and 20th century painters, and works by contemporary artists for whom landscape is a place in transition, at risk and altered by man. The Indigenous perspective is a critical part of the North. Museums have long segregated Indigenous artwork from other traditional, modern and contemporary works.
Alaska Exhibition The Alaska exhibition tells the story of Alaska through multiple voices and perspectives reflecting the ingenuity, technology, ways of knowing and intimate understanding of the landscape that have allowed people to survive and thrive across the North.
The exhibition is organized by 13 themes reflecting essential aspects of life in Alaska, both today and throughout the state’s rich history. These themes reveal the identity of Alaska and its people. On view are more than 400 objects from the Anchorage Museum’s collections, including several acquired or on loan especially for this new exhibition. Visitors experience immersive installations throughout the exhibition with elements of sculpture, video and interactivity, soundscapes, moving images and cinematic narratives with participative moments.
Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center In the largest and longest loan made by the Smithsonian Institution, the Living Our Cultures exhibition has brought more than 600 Alaska Native cultural heritage pieces to their homelands and provides access for hands-on study by Alaska Native Elders, artists, educators and scholars.
The exhibition features text and videos with information and insights from Alaska Native experts. Videos feature community representatives and include archival and contemporary photographs and film footage of life in Alaska. Visitors can learn more about the exhibited pieces through touch screens: They can zoom in on a photo of an object and scroll through more information, such as related oral histories and archival images. A 3-D sound art installation immerses visitors in the Arctic through recordings of Alaska Native storytellers and sounds from the natural environment.
Discovery Center In the 11,000-square-foot Discovery Center, visitors of all ages are introduced to Alaska and the Arctic through technology, interactive installations, artwork, marine-life tanks and more. The space is divided into several distinct areas—land, sky, water, life, planetarium, innovation, and home—each providing an opportunity to learn about our Northern environment. Museum volunteers and educators engage visitors and answer questions.
There are no programs currently available for the grade levels you have chosen.
Art of the North Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience of the Art of the North galleries, examine how artists have represented Alaska and the North through time. Cultivate creative and critical thinking skills while discussing and sketching how art captures ideas of the North. Respond to age-appropriate writing prompts about the artwork.
Climate Change Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience of museum galleries, take a closer look at our changing climate, learn about its impacts on Alaska, and consider ways that humans and animals adapt to new challenges. Build problem-solving skills and develop approaches to scientific thinking through discussions and guided activities that connect to the virtual experience.
Cold Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience, learn about how people and animals survive in Alaska’s cold environment. Investigate how animals have evolved and adapted to thrive in Alaska’s cold and unpredictable landscapes. Examine primary sources within the museum’s collection demonstrating the innovated technologies Alaska Native peoples use to thrive across the state.
Northern Waters Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience, learn about Alaska’s waters and the importance of water for animals and people. Investigate the museum’s marine tank and the tidepool creatures that call it home. Examine objects in the Alaska Exhibition demonstrating innovative technologies Alaska Native peoples create to navigate the waters of Alaska. Respond to age-appropriate writing prompts about the objects.
Soundscapes Listen up and discover the exciting field of soundscape ecology. Engage in an interactive virtual experience that explores how sounds can be used to learn about the environment. Students deepen their understanding of soundscapes and build creative and innovative thinking skills through guided questions and activities.
Space and Place Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience, learn about our place in the universe. Study the interactions between the earth, moon and sun and fly around other planets and moons in our solar system to discover our celestial neighborhood.
Look out further to explore deep sky objects that help explain the lifecycle of stars and uncover the hidden paths of exoplanets.
There are no programs currently available for the grade levels you have chosen.
