Why do animals need teeth? How do they use their teeth? And how do they keep them healthy just like we do?
Teeth
Elephants, Sloth Bears
Goal IT-PMP 9; Goal P-PMP 4
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center
Resources and Activities
Check out fun and easy classroom activities to help teachers, families, and children further explore the topic of teeth with other Smithsonian museums!
Carnivore Teeth
Teeth come in different shapes and sizes. The shape of a tooth helps scientists know what food the animal eats or ate when it was alive. In this lesson, students will join learn about different shapes and sizes of teeth from prehistoric carnivores. Students will also make and share observations of different teeth, go on a fossil hunt in their classroom, and make their own fossil teeth necklace.
| Resource Description | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Lesson Plan, Video, Movement Activity |
| ELOF Standards: | Goal P-SCI 1 |
| Video Length: | 6:00 |
| Project Time: | 10+ |
| Best for Ages: | 3+ |
How to Brush Sloth Bear Teeth
In this video, learn why and how National Zoo keepers brush the teeth of their sloth bears. Afterward, watch Pinky learn how to brush her own teeth!
| Resource Description: | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Video |
| ELOF Standards: | Goal P-SCI 2, Goal P-SCI 3, Goal P-SCI 6 |
| Video Length: | 4:21 |
| Best for Ages: | 2+ |
Animal Adaptations: Tusks
Did you know that tusks are actually teeth? In this lesson, discover why mastodons and elephants look similar and different and what they used their tusks for!
| Resource Description: | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Lesson Plan, Sensory Play Activity |
| ELOF Standards: | Goal P-SCI 2, Goal P-SCI 3, Goal P-SCI 6 |
| Project Time: | 15+ minutes |
| Best for Ages: | 3+ |
African Elephant, Woolly Mammoth, & Mastodon Teeth
In this lesson, learn about two extinct relatives of the modern elephant - woolly mammoths and mastodons. With the help of pictures and puppets, discover what mastodon, woolly mammoth, and African elephant teeth look like and how they use them to eat food!
| Resource Description: | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Lesson Plan, Indoors and Outdoors Activity |
| ELOF Standards: | Goal P-SCI 2, Goal P-SCI 3, Goal P-SCI 6 |
| Project Time: | 10+ |
| Best for Ages: | 3+ |
Nick's Music Playlist
Put on your dancing shoes! Find all the songs you loved from the program, plus more songs from Nick the Music Man and Pinky Jackalope!
Explore More Programs
Explore the Rainforest
Fly, leap and swim along on an adventure through the Amazon Rainforest to explore the sights and sounds of plants and animals living in this unique ecosystem.
K-5
Supports NGSS K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-2, K-ESS3-1, K-ESS3-3, 2-LS2-2, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS1-1, 3-LS2-1, 3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-4, 4-LS1-1, 5-LS2-1
Amazon, rainforest, biodiversity, rainforest layers, animals
Patterns, cause and effect, scale proportion and quantity, and systems and system models
Free
Colorful Creatures
What animals are colorful and why?
Color
Supports Head Start ELOF Goals P-SCI-1; P-SCI-2; P-SCI-3
Saving Endangered Species
What does it mean when an animal is endangered and what can we do to help? Meet one of the National Zoo’s most endangered species and learn how staff care for these special animals.
K-5
Supports NGSS K-LS1-1, K-ESS3-1, 1-LS1-2, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS3-1, 3-LS3-2, 3-LS4-3, 5-ESS3-1
endangered species, conservation
Free
Discovering Amphibians
Join us as we celebrate Amphibian Week. Learn about amphibians, get an up-close look of some of them and chat with an amphibian expert.
K-5
Supports NGSS K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-2, K-ESS3-1, 1-LS1-2, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS3-1, 3-LS3-2, 3-LS4-3, 4-LS1-1
amphibians, adaptations, habitats, life cycles
Free
Let's Celebrate!
Help us celebrate Head Start's 60th birthday by throwing a party with different Zoo animals!
Celebrations
Supports Head Start ELOF Goals
Exploring Neighborhood Birds
Birds are everywhere! Learn about some of our neighborhood birds and the techniques used to study them from a migratory bird scientist.
2-8
Supports NGSS 2-PS1-2, 2-LS2-2, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS1-1, 3-LS3-1, 3-LS3-2, 3-LS4-3, 4-LS1-1, 5-LS2-1, MS-LS1-4, MS-LS1-5, MS-LS2-A
birds, migration, observation, tracking, bird banding
Patterns, Cause and Effect, Interdependence of science, engineering, and technology
Free