Stay Curious, Utah! 2020-2021

Activities for 3rd-5th Grades

From savannah plains to swamps to a lake-covered landscape, the area that would become Utah has featured many different environments throughout Earth’s history. These dramatic ecosystem changes happened slowly over thousands to millions of years, and with each change came a new chance for different animals to wander the lands. Explore the Past Worlds gallery to learn more about these changes and what they can tell us about how plants and animals survive in our continually changing world.

Activities for 6th-8th Grades

Utah is home to eight sovereign tribal nations. These eight governments are representative of thousands of people with a history of perseverance in the face of oppression from local and federal forces. Visit the Native Voices gallery to learn more about the ways in which the indigenous peoples of Utah continue to grow their culture amid ongoing political and social challenges.

Activities for 3rd-5th Grades

Utah’s extraordinary landscapes are home to an incredible diversity of plants and animals. The way a living thing looks, its structure, affects how it survives and functions in its environment. Using our Life gallery, learn more about the relationship between structure and function from the microscopic to the ecosystem level.

Activities for 6th-8th Grades

When did dinosaurs walk through Antarctica? What was different in the distant past that made it so giant cold-blooded reptiles could live in and stomp through what is today a snowy, harsh landscape? Delve into the Antarctic Dinosaurs special exhibit to learn more about the ways our planet has changed over time and how studying these fossils can tell us about our changing climate.

Activities for 3rd-5th Grades

Tectonic plates, volcanoes, and earthquakes, oh my! The ground below our feet is part of our ever-changing world, with volcanoes and earthquakes and the slow, gradual drift of continents. Learn more about our world’s dynamic geologic landscape through our Land gallery. We’ll also explore ways in which people can prepare for earthquakes and other dramatic shifts in the landscape.

Activities for K-2nd Grades

Birds are some of the world’s most impressive migrators! Each year millions travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to the Great Salt Lake, where they can rest, find friends, and have safe places to hatch and raise their young. Like birds and other animals, humans also find their way to the Great Salt Lake area, often for the same reasons. This month learn more about the Great Salt Lake of Utah, the birds that visit Utah’s wetlands, and explore how our human migration stories connect us to these incredible birds.

Activities for K-2nd Grades

Where is nature? Is it only found far away in national parks or on hiking trails? Nature is all around us. Wherever there are living things, there is nature nearby, even in a city with lots of people. There’s nature everywhere we look if we know how to look! Learn more about all of the nature nearby humans through the Our Backyard gallery.

Activities for 3rd-5th & 8th Grades

People have lived in the area currently known as Utah for thousands of years. What problems did these people need to work through? How did they build their homes and make their clothes? What did they do to have fun? Through our First Peoples gallery, learn more about the ways in which people made this area their home using just the natural resources around them. See how their indigenous descendants maintain their ancestors' deep knowledge and innovative technologies today.