Celebrate International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day by taking a virtual swoop through the Peabody Museum. These smart birds play games with each other, display anger and friendliness, and appear in cultural tales from around the world. Flap like a real raven with museum educator Javier Marin and learn more about the birds’ characteristics. Find ravens drawn or carved in Alaskan Native art, enjoy a read-aloud Tlingit tale and make a paper craft with Andy Majewski.
Life on planet Earth can sometimes seem unbelievably diverse and resilient, yet we’re more aware than ever of how connected all living beings are to one another. This special Earth Week edition focuses on some of the challenges animals face today, and on what we humans—young and old—can do to help. This event will be fun for the whole family so bring your questions and sense of wonder, and join Javier, Ryan, and some of our amazing animals as they lead you in a live 45-minute program.
Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History in celebrating Earth Day with engaging sustainability-themed virtual events and activities for all ages. Join the conversation as Harvard students and experts weigh in on our most pressing environmental challenges, on cutting-edge research, and on promising paths to a more sustainable future. Introduce young minds to environmental science with our live museum animals and HMSC Story Time. Find out how to reconnect with nature and record the biodiversity in your local area. Or, simply indulge in our staff recommendations for...
Animals develop special characteristics that help them survive in their environments. From keeping warm to staying hidden, animals solve problems every day. Have you ever thought about how we humans do the same?
Get ready for a lively night of fun, games, and surprises when Javier Marin transports you back inside the Harvard Museum of Natural History. He will broadcast from the galleries pointing out some of the ways animals adapt to challenges they face in the wild. Then, you will look through your own homes in a problem-solving scavenger hunt. Your family will work together...
Have you ever thought about the way you eat, or even how you chew? Now, imagine that you are a huge bullfrog, a sea star, or even a scorpion. How would you eat? As March is Nutrition Month in the U.S., it’s the perfect time to meet some of our live animals and explore our creatures’ diets and eating habits. Join human museum staffers Javier and Ryan in this 45-minute program for families and get a close look at some weird eaters.
Participate in the Arnold Arboretum’s 2021 Tournament of Trees! Get to know this year’s Sweet Sixteen contenders (March 3–9) and cast your votes in this fun bracket style tournament. Let the March Tree Madness games begin.
Shed the winter blues and head outdoors for a new season of exploration and nature noticing. EverydayNature Tasks, a calendar with daily activities to try outdoors, resumes its offerings on March 1. Do something natural every day! Free and open to all.
A plant that generates heat and attracts pollinators with its stink? Learn more about skunk cabbage in the Arnold Arboretum’s newest winter Wonder Spot, at the Arboretum meadow’s edge or online. Free and open to all.
Break out of the winter doldrums and welcome Harvard science into your home with the all-virtual I Heart Science festival lasting from Friday, February 12 to Monday, February 15. This day’s “Tiny Creatures” theme looks at bacteria, viruses, and other microbial creatures.
During the live webinar, starting at 1:00 pm ET, meet live tardigrades, also known as water bears. Watch recorded videos featuring Harvard scientists who study bacterial resistance, ways to test for viruses, and how bacteria grow.
At home, try your hand at making a water-drop microscope, comparing...
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian—Online
The first person who will set foot on Mars is alive right now. We believe this, but even if we're wrong we know the first crew to arrive there will look nothing like the ones that landed on the Moon fifty years ago.
Our world has changed for the better, and ASTRONAUTS tells the story of the women who built this better world. The main character and narrator is Mary Cleave, an astronaut you may not have heard of. It's not because so many people have been to space; only a few hundred have! It’s because this graphic novel isn’t about fame. No astronaut you'll ever meet took the...
Investigate the ins and outs of skeletons through a virtual museum experience. Using observations of skulls, bones, and live animals, we will explore how animals use their skeletons for support, protection, and movement, and see how bones and fossils can help us solve ancient mysteries. Extend the fun at home with daily activities. A small packet of materials will be sent to your home upon registration.
Additional supplies needed: Thin cardboard-like poster board about 11" x 11" or two cardboard paper towel rolls, kitchen string, strong tape 3/4" wide or narrower (electrical...
Come explore the amazing world of insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, virtually, at the museum! During the live Zoom sessions, see a tarantula up close, help find millipedes, and listen to the hiss of a giant cockroach. Complete your own investigations at home as you learn how to collect and study creepy crawlies. A small packet of special collecting materials will be sent to your home to help with your discoveries.
Additional supplies needed: An empty clear plastic jar with a lid and holes for insect collecting (for example, a cleaned peanut butter or mayonnaise jar);...
Investigate the ins and outs of skeletons through a virtual museum experience. Using observations of skulls, bones, and live animals, we will explore how animals use their skeletons for support, protection, and movement, and see how bones and fossils can help us solve ancient mysteries. Extend the fun at home with daily activities. A small packet of materials will be sent to your home upon registration.
Additional supplies needed: Thin cardboard-like poster board about 11" x 11" or two cardboard paper towel rolls, kitchen string, strong tape 3/4" wide or narrower (electrical...
Dig into Earth Science with this virtual museum experience. Explore volcanoes, crystals, and fossils! During the live Zoom sessions, experiment with “lava,” solve a sandy mystery, and see real museum specimens. Continue your investigations at home as you grow crystals, collect rocks, and make your own fossils! A small packet of special materials will be sent to your home to help with your discoveries.
Additional supplies needed: An empty clear plastic jar with a lid (for example, a cleaned peanut butter or mayonnaise jar), a handful of small rocks (will be used for an activity...
Dig into Earth Science with this virtual museum experience. Explore volcanoes, crystals, and fossils! During the live Zoom sessions, experiment with “lava,” solve a sandy mystery, and see real museum specimens. Continue your investigations at home as you grow crystals, collect rocks, and make your own fossils! A small packet of special materials will be sent to your home to help with your discoveries.
Additional supplies needed: An empty clear plastic jar with a lid (for example, a cleaned peanut butter or mayonnaise jar), a handful of small rocks (will be used for an activity...
Come explore the amazing world of insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, virtually, at the museum! During the live Zoom sessions, see a tarantula up close, help find millipedes, and listen to the hiss of a giant cockroach. Complete your own investigations at home as you learn how to collect and study creepy crawlies. A small packet of special collecting materials will be sent to your home to help with your discoveries.
Additional supplies needed: An empty clear plastic jar with a lid and holes for insect collecting (for example, a cleaned peanut butter or mayonnaise jar);...
Nancy Sableski, Arnold Arboretum Manager of Children’s Education, is also an artist who has been painting in the Arboretum since 1988, finding inspiration throughout the landscape. Join us for a virtual viewing of her work followed by a short discussion via the meeting app, Zoom.
Nancy Sableski, Arnold Arboretum Manager of Children’s Education, is also an artist who has been painting in the Arboretum since 1988, finding inspiration throughout the landscape. Join us for a virtual viewing of her work followed by a short discussion via the meeting app, Zoom.
The outdoors can be a powerful antidote to all the uncertainty and disruptions that we find ourselves living in at the moment. The Arnold Arboretum's Everyday Nature Tasks online calendar is filled with simple, varied, and open-ended nature activities for children of all ages, every day of the week!
Simply choose a date, follow the activity details and have fun. Then, share your discoveries on social media, and tag @ArnoldArboretum.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Winter is the barest of times in the Arboretum; however, there is much to see and much happening in the landscape. Join a docent for a walk on the bare side—notice shapes, textures, even the personalities of plants that are often missed when the land is heavy with green. You will see buds already forming and the dried seeds that are more visible when leaves are gone.
