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-1 Through a guided gallery experience in the Alaska Exhibition, students look closely at primary sources showcasing innovative technologies Alaska Native peoples create to navigate Alaska’s waters. In the Discovery Center, students meet live aquatic animals at the Intertidal Tank and learn about tidepools in Alaska.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience, museum educator-led activity with animal encounter in Alaska Marine Life, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center and time for lunch.
Northern Waters 2-3 Through a guided 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. Learn how water on Earth is connected in the Water Cycle planetarium show. Through a hands-on activity, students then learn about tidepools and meet live aquatic animals.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience, Water Cycle Planetarium show and museum educator-led activity with animal encounter in Alaska Marine Life, time in CoLab, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Northern Waters 4-6 Through a guided 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 will learn about Alaskan tidepool habitats and meet live aquatic animals with an educator or watch the River of Bears planetarium show and participate in a hands-on activity to learn about food webs in Alaska's rivers.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led gallery experience, museum educator-led activity with animal encounter in Alaska Marine Life OR River of Bears planetarium show with hands-on activity, time in CoLab, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Northern Waters 7-12 Through a guided 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 meet live aquatic animals to learn about the adaptations of Alaskan 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, time in CoLab, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Soundscapes K-2 Learn about sounds and soundscapes using different instruments. Students will create their own soundscapes in an educator-led activity.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led activity, time in CoLab, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Soundscapes 3-5 Students are introduced to the field of soundscape ecology with a live planetarium show. Students will build understanding of scientific approaches through a sound-based interactive activity.
Includes: Orientation, Global Soundscapes live planetarium show, museum educator-led activity, time in CoLab, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Soundscapes 9-12 Students are introduced to the field of soundscape ecology with a live planetarium show. Students will 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 live planetarium show, museum educator-led activity, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Space and Place K-2 Learn about the interactions between the earth, moon, and sun in a live planetarium show and discover why we have days, nights and seasons with a hands-on activity. Students will examine and engage with historic maps of Anchorage to build an understanding of map reading and geography.
Includes: Orientation, live planetarium show and hands-on activity, museum educator-led mapping activity, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Space and Place 3-5 Tour the solar system in a live planetarium show and model the positions of the planets in a hands-on activity. Students will examine and engage with historic maps of Alaska from the museum's collection, building an understanding of map reading and geography.
Includes: Orientation, live planetarium show and hands-on activity, museum educator-led mapping activity, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Space and Place 6-8 Explore the scale of the solar system in a live planetarium show and make a pocket-sized solar system in a hands-on activity. Through a guided gallery experience in the Alaska exhibition, students look closely at primary sources and examine their relationships to resources, lifestyles, and languages of Alaska.
Includes: Orientation, live planetarium show and hands-on activity, museum educator-led Alaska Exhibition gallery experience, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Space and Place 9-12 Explore exoplanets in a live planetarium show, followed by a hands-on activity where students discover different ways scientists search for exoplanets. Through a guided gallery experience in the Alaska exhibition, students look closely at primary sources and examine their relationships to resources, lifestyles, and languages of Alaska.
Includes: Orientation, live planetarium show and hands-on activity related to the search for exoplanets, museum educator-led Alaska Exhibition gallery experience, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Inventive Engineering PreK-2 Invent, imagine, and build engineering skills. Meet a live reptile and learn about animals and their basic needs. In CoLab, students will create an object or experience to enhance enrichment in the lives of the Museum's animals.
Includes: Orientation, museum educator-led activities in Art Lab and CoLab, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Inventive Engineering 3-5 Invent, imagine, and build engineering skills. Students will learn about the history and forces behind flight through the planetarium show Flight Adventures. In CoLab, students will experience the engineering process as they prototype their own flying crafts.
Includes: Orientation, Flight Adventures planetarium show and museum educator-led activity in CoLab, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Inventive Engineering 6-8 Invent, imagine, and build engineering skills. Investigate the ways humans have traveled across Alaska's diverse landscapes with an educator led tour of the Alaska Exhibition. In CoLab, students will experience the engineering process as they prototype their own travel method.
Includes: Orientation, Flight Adventures planetarium show and museum educator-led activity in CoLab, teacher-led exploration in the Discovery Center, and time for lunch.
Inventive Engineering 9-12 Invent, imagine, and build engineering skills. Learn about how NASA utilizes planets to aid in space craft exploration through the planetarium show, Gravity Assist. In CoLab, students will investigate the conservation of energy and momentum as they construct chain reactions.
Includes: Orientation, Gravity Assist planetarium show and museum educator-led activity in CoLab, teacher-led exploration 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.
