Meet some of the best home builders of the National Zoo: our orangutan family and North American beavers Aspen and Juniper! Watch the recorded program, then check out the activities below to keep the learning going in your classroom with our Smithsonian partners.
Home
National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of American History, National Air and Space Museum
IT-SE 13; P-SE 11
Resources and Activities
Check out fun and easy classroom activities to help teachers, families, and children further explore the topic of homes and home builders with other Smithsonian museums!
At Home with My Family ›
Discover what basic needs all humans and animals require to be happy and healthy.
| This resource includes: | |
| 1. | Lesson Plan: "At Home with My Family" |
| 2. | Habitat Play |
| 3. | Basic Needs Song |
| Resource Description: | |
| Type: | Lesson Plan, Art Activity, Free Play, Music |
| Project Time: | 15+ minutes |
| Best for Ages: | 2+ |
Homes and Habitats ›
What is a home? What is a habitat? Explore these ideas, then meet a specific bird and the place it calls home!
| This resource covers: | |
| 1. | What humans and animals need in a home to survive |
| 2. | Examples of different kinds of homes and habitats |
| 3. | Extension activities about other kinds of homes and habitats |
| Resource Description: | |
| Type: | E-Learning Course, Activities |
| Project Time: | 10+ minutes |
| Best for Ages: | 2+ |
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!
Flights of Fancy Story Time: Spaceport on the Moon ›
Join educator Ann Caspari for an original story time and art activity. Listen to a story about three friends who want to build a home on the moon. Then, follow along to build a rocket out of a cardboard tube.
| Resource Description: | |
| Type: | Video Story Time, Art Activity |
| Project Time: | 15+ minutes |
| Best for Ages: | 1+ |
Flights of Fancy Story Time: Building Our Home Among the Stars ›
Join educator Ann Caspari for another original story time. In this story, three friends learn about the International Space Station and decide to help celebrate its 20th anniversary by creating their own space station.
| Resource Description: | |
| Type: | Video Story Time, Art Activity |
| Project Time: | 10+ minutes |
| Best for Ages: | 1+ |
Letter to Families
Print or send this letter home with your students to help them share what they learned during the "Home Builders" virtual field trip and how families can continue the learning at home!
Explore More Programs
Suited for Survival ›
Suited for Survival, special Halloween edition, explores animal adaptations from prehensile-tailed porcupines to super soft chinchillas. Students will learn how unique adaptations help animals survive.
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
mammals, survival, adaptations, animal traits, animal behavior
patterns, structure and function
Free
Wild Medicine ›
What happens to a seal who has a toothache? How does an orangutan get a checkup? Wild Medicine invites students to Join our team of veterinarians and other animal health professionals to explore how animals go to the doctor, just like us!
K-5
Supports NGSS K-LS1-1, 3-LS1-1, 4-LS1-1
Health, animal care, veterinary medicine
Patterns, cause and effect, systems and system models, structure and function
Free
What Makes a Habitat a Home? ›
From deserts to rainforests, what makes a habitat a suitable animal home? What Makes a Habitat a Home explores habitats around the world and some of the animals that live in these habitats.
K-5
Supports NGSS K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-2, K-ESS3-1, 3-LS4-3
habitat, animals, survival, four basic needs, adaptations
cause and effect, systems and functions
Free
Community Helpers ›
In this field trip, children will learn about community helpers, who they are, and how they help take care of a community.
Community
Beaver, Meerkat, Western lowland gorilla
Caring About Conservation ›
What is conservation? Why is it important? Caring About Conservation explores the meaning of "conservation," some of the animals Smithsonian scientists are trying to save, and what we can all do to protect wildlife.
K-5
Supports NGSS K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-2, K-ESS3-1, K-ESS3-3, K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS2-1, 3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-4, 3-5-ETS1-2
Conservation, sustainability, animals, wildlife, science
Cause and effect, systems and system models, structure and function, and stability and change
Free
Valen-TINY Mammals ›
What makes an animal a mammal? Valen-TINY mammals gives students an up-close look at mammal traits from some cute and tiny zoo animals.
K-5
Supports NGSS K-LS1-1, 1-LS1-2, 1-LS3-1, 3-LS1-1, 3-LS3-1, 3-LS4-3, 4-LS1-1, 5-PS3-1, 5-PS3-1
Mammals, animal groups, adaptations
Patterns, cause and effect, energy and matter
Free
Music and Sound All Around ›
In this field trip, children will learn about the importance of music and sound for both people and animals. What sounds do animals make and why? What objects can make sounds, and how can you play them to create music?
Music and Sound
Siamang, Kunekune pig, Gorilla
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
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
Big, Small, Let's Measure Them All ›
In this field trip, children will practice identifying what is big, medium, and small. In addition, kids will become familiar with other measurement terms such as longer, shorter, taller, bigger, and smaller.
Size and Measurement
Asian elephant, Black and rufous elephant shrew
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
Happy Birthday! ›
Join us as we celebrate Head Start's birthday and America's 250th birthday!
Birthday
Bald eagle, California sea lion, Eastern screech owl