Daily Discovery: My Museum

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Any Age, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Social Studies

Post written by Heidi Fuhrman, Discovery Camps Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: My Museum

Become a curator and create your very own at home museum! Will your museum be a history museum, science museum, art museum, or a little bit of everything? What will you discover and teach to your visitors?

Supplies:

  • Your museum objects
  • Paper & markers (optional)

Instructions:

What is a museum, anyway?

A museum is a place where collections of objects are stored and displayed for people from all over the world to learn from. Many museums focus on one area like science, history, or art. Some museums focus on a single topic like baseball, or cowboys, or modern art. The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery focuses on many different areas—science, history, music, animals—but we have one big topic… discovery!

What kinds of museums have you been to? Which museum is your favorite? Why?

When you visit a museum, you see exhibits. These are created by many different people who work at a museum. They are made so that you can see and learn about some of the many amazing objects and specimens a museum stores and takes care of. But did you know that you’re only seeing a teeny tiny glimpse into a museum? Most museums have thousands to millions of objects that aren’t on display! Curators— people who take care of museum objects—carefully store them so that someday they can be displayed. But they don’t just put the objects on a shelf and leave them. Nope! They use those objects and specimens to learn more about history, art, and science so they can teach people through exhibits! Today your challenge is to become a curator and create your very own at home museum!

Decide what kind of museum you’re going to create. Is it going to be a history museum? A science museum? An art museum? A topical museum (maybe sports or superheroes or legos or a museum about you)? Maybe you’re going to make a museum like FCMoD and it will have a little bit of everything!

Next Steps:

In the linked PDF below, discover how to approach creating your museum depending on the type! From there, follow instructions for how to make your exhibit. Ready, set, go!

Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

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Aw – Rats!

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Animal Encounters, Any Age, Exhibits, Life Science

Post written by Willow Sedam, Live Animal Husbandry Team Member.

Aw – Rats!

Ever wonder what it would be like to live in a museum? For the critters who are a part of our Animal Encounters exhibit, living in a museum is just a part of their daily life!

Our mischief (a group of rats) of four fancy rats are the only mammals in the Animal Encounters exhibit at the museum. They are an important part of our mission to educate the public about animals and how they crawl, slither, and skitter in-and-out of our daily lives. Our rats travel regularly through the museum to meet people as part of the live animal presentations and events to help educate the public about life on earth. But what do they do when they’re not helping educate the public?

At the museum, the rats’ morning starts around 8:00 am, when the Animal Encounters staff come in to take care of all the animals before the museum opens. They’re usually all fast asleep in a big fuzzy rat pile. They are not very happy to be woken up – but they need to come out of their enclosure so that the staff can clean it and make their breakfast.

Once they’re up, each rat gets put in their own brightly-colored exercise ball and is set loose in Animal Encounters for their morning exercise – although each rat treats their “exercise” time differently, as some prefer to find a quiet corner to nap in, while others like to run around and sniff everything they can.

Each rat is named after their distinct and varied appearances. Black and White is a white rat with black markings, and the busiest, always running around hiding food in her favorite food-hiding spots. Black Rex is named after her fur – rex is a name for animals bred to have soft and curly fur – and her fur is definitely soft, but because it’s so fluffy, it’s always sticking up in crazy directions! Blaze is a white rat with a gray “blaze” marking down the top of her forehead, who loves to snuggle and take naps. And Brown is your typical brown-furred rat, and the most adventurous of the mischief, always spending her exercise time exploring the museum and bumping into people’s ankles.

Rats are nocturnal, which means they’re most active during the night, and prefer to spend their days sleeping – something you might have noticed if you’ve been to the museum and seen them all curled up in a sleepy pile. However, once they’re done with their morning exercise and back in their enclosure, sleep is far from their minds, because it’s time for breakfast!

Rats are omnivores, much like humans, meaning they eat meat and plants. In the wild, rats will eat just about anything – including agricultural crops and discarded human food. At the museum, we offer them a varied diet of fruits, vegetables, greens, and rat kibble, to make sure they get all the nutrients they need. But just because rats are omnivores, doesn’t mean they don’t have standards! Our rats have favorite foods just like we do: they love sweet potatoes and curly lettuce the most. Just like us, they also have a least favorite food, like squash – they’ll leave it completely untouched in their food bowl, even when everything else has been eaten!

Rats are very smart animals, and need enrichment to live happy lives in captivity. Enrichment is a term for anything that is provided to animals to keep them from getting bored – like interesting treats, puzzles, and new toys. At the museum, we have several strategies for changing up the rats’ routines to make sure there’s always something interesting going on. They get food treats, from peanuts hidden around their enclosure, to blocks of alfalfa hay, to cute little rat-sized “hamburgers” made of seeds and dried fruit. They also get new toys like wicker balls and salt licks regularly – and every so often they get new hammocks, tunnels or houses to cuddle up in. Every time they go back in their enclosure after their morning exercise, there might be something new and exciting waiting for them!

By the time the rats have had their exercise, gotten their home cleaned, and finished eating breakfast, it’s usually close to opening time. Once the museum is open again you can come in and see exactly how the rats spend the rest of their busy rodent day. And they’ll be just as excited to see you as you are to see them!

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Daily Discovery: Walking Rainbows

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Ages 6-8, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Experiments, Physical Science, Visual Arts

Post written by Hannah Curtis, Education Assistant.

Daily Discovery: Walking Rainbows

Put your lab coat on; we’re getting scientific! With this experiment, discover how colors interact to form rainbows and observe the natural process of capillary motion in action!

Supplies:

  • Time
  • 6 full sheets of paper towels
  • 6 mason jars (clear if possible). If you don’t have jars use cups or bowls
  • Red, blue, and yellow food coloring

Instructions:

Before you get started, review the color wheel on page two and remember the colors you need to form a rainbow. Feel free to experiment to see how mixing certain colors will create different colors. Together, determine how you will create a rainbow using only red, blue and yellow.

  1. Fill three jars full of water. Add red food coloring to one, blue
    to another and yellow to another, 4-6 drops each.
  2. To form a circle place the empty jars between the red, yellow
    and blue jars.
  3. Roll each sheet of paper towel into tubes. Drape one side into
    a full jar and the other into an empty jar until each jar is
    connected with paper towels.
  4. Start your timer to see how long it takes for the colored water
    to move from one jar to the next. Water will begin absorbing
    right away, but the whole process will take around 48 hours,
    so check back every few hours to see how it has changed.

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Image credit: Messy Little Monster

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Daily Discovery: Make your own Bee Buzzer!

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 6-8, Ages 9-12, Animal Encounters, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science

Post written by Eisen Tamkun, Music Education Lead.

Daily Discovery: Make your own Bee Buzzer!

BZZZZZZZZZ! The bees are coming! Make your very own bee buzzer and rock out with these amazing pollinators.

Supplies:

  • Popsicle Stick
  • Tape- any will do!
  • Scissor
  • Index Card
  • Eraser Heads
  • Rubber Band
  • About two feet of string
  • Stapler
  • Color Pencils or Markers

Instructions:

  1. Take the index card and cut it into a square.
  2. Break out the color pencils and draw a bee on the index card.
  3. Once you’ve drawn your sweet honey bee, go ahead a staple
    the card to the popsicle stick.
  4. Next, tie and tape the string to the stick.
  5. Place the eraser heads on each end of the stick.
  6. Lastly, stretch the rubber band over each eraser.
  7. Voilà you have created your very own bee buzzer.

Take a firm grip of the string at about half way. Start swinging
building up speed until you hear you bee abuzzing.

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Bohemian.

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Daily Discovery: Over on the Farm Finger Puppets

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Animal Encounters, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Over on the Farm Finger Puppets

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Over on the Farm. Then grab your craft supplies and create some adorable farm finger puppets! Keep practicing your counting at home with the lovely flashcards featuring illustrations from the book.

Supplies:

  • Printed finger puppet activity sheet
  • Scissors
  • Crayons or markers
  • Glue (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Color the finger puppet activity sheet.
  2. Cut out the finger puppets.
  3. Cut a small slot to connect the paper ring that goes around your finger or use glue to close the ring.
  4. Have a farm animal finger puppet show! Tip: Try doing a video chat puppet show for your friends and family while you practice social distancing!
  5. Print out the additional coloring page and the farm animal flash cards to keep the discovery going!

Tip: Don’t have a printer? Try drawing and cutting out your own finger puppets from paper! Here is a tutorial!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Image Credit: Arty Crafty Kids

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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Daily Discovery: Build Your Own Ball Run

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 6-8, Ages 9-12, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Experiments, Physical Science

Post written by Angela Kettle, School Programs Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Build Your Own Ball Run

Missing the Ball Run at the museum? Sharpen those engineering skills, and use cardboard, paper, and whatever else you can find around your house to build your own version!

Supplies:

All supplies are optional – use what you have!

  • Large piece of cardboard or posterboard
  • Paper towel rolls
  • Cardstock paper
  • Hot glue
  • Duct tape
  • Scotch tape
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Marble
  • Yarn or string
  • Blank paper
  • Pencil

Instructions:

  1. Start by identifying a surface you can use to build your Ball Run on. For example, this might be a large piece of cardboard, or a piece of posterboard that you tape up on a wall (with an adult’s permission!).
  2. Gather up different supplies from around your house. Decide which supplies you would like to use for your Ball Run. Here are some ideas!
    a. Use paper towel tubes as slides for your ball. You can cut one paper towel tube into smaller tubes if you would like.
    b. Fold cardstock paper into thirds. Tape the top to make a triangular tube. If you don’t have cardstock paper, you can tape together several regular sheets of paper to make them thicker.
    c. Make your own tubes out of duct tape.
    d. Find other tube-shaped materials around your house!
    e. Find a marble to use for a ball. If you don’t have a marble, you can make a ball out of play-doh, clay, aluminum foil, or whatever else you can think of.
  3. . Keeping in mind the size of your surface, sketch your Ball Run. Where will your ball start and end? Which materials will you use for each portion? How will you make sure your ball has enough momentum to keep going until it has reached the end of the run?
  4. Using your sketch as a guideline, build your Ball Run! Lay it out so you can see it before you start attaching anything – that way, if you need to change anything, you can!
  5. Time to attach your pieces to your surface! There are lots of
    different ways to do this. You can use hot glue, tape, or one of the methods shown in the picture. Or, maybe, you’ll think of your own way!
  6. Try it! Place your ball at the top of your Ball Run. What  happens? Did it go as you expected? Why or why not? Make repairs as needed.
  7. Take a photo or video of your final project. With your adult’s
    permission, share it with us on social media using #DailyDiscovery. Great job, Engineer!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

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Daily Discovery: Map Making

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 6-8, Ages 9-12, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Social Studies, Visual Arts

Post written by Charlotte Conway, Public Programs Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Map Making

Have you ever looked up your house on Google Maps? It can be pretty cool to see your own neighborhood from a different  perspective! You can also find all sorts of maps and photographs of your town from history through the local Archives and Collections at FCMoD! Check out maps from your own community, and then make a map of your own!

Supplies:

  • Graph paper or paper
  • Colored pencils
  • Pencils
  • Ruler

Instructions:

  1. Maps are a two-dimensional representation that records the natural and build world around them, usually from a “top-down” perspective. There are many different types of maps each with different uses and looks!
  2. Compare and contrast the maps provided from Fort Collins Museum of Discovery’s Archives and Collections. What do the maps have in common? What is different about them? How do the maps differ based on how people might use them? How do the maps make use of colors, symbols, or labels to communicate their meaning?
  3. Now, it’s time to start designing your map! First, select a place you would like to make a map of. It could be your own neighborhood, somewhere from a different city, or even a made-up place!
  4. Next, consider the purpose of your map. What is your map trying to communicate? Will it be a political or road map that focuses on man-made features? Will it be a physical map that shows natural features?
  5.  Now that you have your purpose in mind, plan out the other features of your map that will make it more effective for your users.
    a. Legend – This is a visual explanation of the symbols you use on your map. How will you show the contents of your world on your map? If you use symbols, how will people know what they represent?
    b. Scale – This is the relationship between distance on your map and the same distance you are trying to represent on the ground. How will you translate the scale of world into a map that will fit on the paper? How will people who see your map know how large your world really is?
    c. Labeling – This is how you will write labels so that they clearly identify the right features on your map. How will people know what your map is supposed to be showing? How will they know who made the map and when?
  6. Draw out your map. Get creative with your representation, but remember to keep your purpose in mind so that your map is useful too!
  7. Keep the exploration going! Did you know FCMoD houses artifacts and collections from Northern Colorado, including historic maps? Explore maps from Northern Colorado. Explore your town using the GPS applications on smart phones or Google Maps, and then explore the world! What will you discover?

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Photo Credit: BABYCCINO

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Enter the Zooniverse

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Any Age, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Earth & Space Science, Experiments, Life Science, Physical Science, Uncategorized

Post written by Ben Gondrez, Digital Dome Manager.

Enter the Zooniverse

Have you ever wondered if there was an easy way to help scientists and researchers make new discoveries from your very own home? Well, whether you’ve had that thought or not, you can indeed be a vital participant in actual research through the Zooniverse! The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. By utilizing the power of volunteers – more than a million people around the world who come together to assist professional researchers – Zooniverse makes it easy for anyone, including you, to contribute to real academic research from their homes on their own computers. As many of us are spending more time than usual at home observing social distancing in response to COVID-19, now is the perfect time to become a citizen scientist and Zooniverse makes it easy for all ages of people to get involved. So how does Zooniverse work? Check out this short animation to learn more:

Ready to get started helping with real research projects from your own home? You can visit zooniverse.org to see all active projects including projects like Planet Four, a project exploring the surface and weather of Mar’s south polar region, or the project Bash The Bug, helping researchers find effective antibiotics to fight tuberculosis. Not sure where to start? Here are a couple of curated lists of projects and other links from Zooniverse to help you get started:

Designed for 5-12 year olds:

  • Curated list of age-appropriate Zooniverse projects for younger learners
  • Zooniverse-based Activity for 5-12 year olds
  •  Classroom.zooniverse.org
    • Wildcam Labs
      • Designed for 11-13 year olds, but the content can easily scale down for younger audiences.
      • Great way to engage if you love looking at photos of wild animals and want to investigate ecological questions. The interactive map allows you to explore trail camera data and filter and download data to carry out analyses and test hypotheses.
      • Educators can set up private classrooms, invite students to join, curate data sets, and get access to the guided activities and supporting educational resources.
      • Individual explorers also welcome – you don’t need to be part of a classroom to participate. · Planet Hunters Educators Guide

Designed for 11-13 year olds:

Designed for teens and adults:

  • Curated list of Zooniverse projects
  • Zooniverse-based Lesson Plan for teens and adults
  • Classroom.zooniverse.org
    • Wildcam Labs
      • Designed for middle school classrooms, but the content can easily scale up for older audiences.
      • See description above.
    • Astro101 with Galaxy Zoo
      • Designed for undergraduate non-major introductory astronomy courses, but the content has been used in many high-school classrooms as well.
      • Students learn about stars and galaxies through 4 half-hour guided activities and a 15-20 hour research project experience in which they analyze real data (including a curated Galaxy Zoo dataset), test hypotheses, make plots, and summarize their findings.
      • Developed by Julie Feldt, Thomas Nelson, Cody Dirks, Dave Meyer, Molly Simon, and colleagues.
    • For both Wildcam and Astro101 Activities
      • Educators can set up private classrooms, invite students to join, curate data sets, and get access to the guided activities and supporting educational resources.
      • Individual explorers also welcome – you don’t need to be part of a classroom to participate.
  • Planet Hunters Educators Guide
    • Designed for 11-13 year olds, but the content can easily scale up for older audiences.
    • See description above.
  • Notes from Nature Activity
    • Designed for 11-13 year olds, but the content can easily scale up for older audiences.
    • See description above.
  • Snapshot Safari-based Lesson Plans and Interactive Timeline
    • Developed by University of Minnesota PhD student Jessica Dewey
  • Kelp Forest Ecology Lab
    • Through the Zooniverse FloatingForests.org project, researchers are striving to understand the impact of climate change on giant kelp forests, an indicator of the health of our oceans. In this lab, students analyze Floating Forest and other ocean data to explore their own research questions.
    • Developed by Cal State – Monterey Bay faculty Dr. Alison Haupt and colleagues
  • NEH Teacher’s Guide for Digital Humanities and Online Education
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Daily Discovery: Harness the Wind!

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 6-8, Ages 9-12, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Earth & Space Science, Experiments

Post written by Hannah Curtis, Education Assistant.

Daily Discovery: Harness the Wind!

Wind! It doesn’t just blow silver tiles on the museum’s Wind Wall; it’s a natural renewable resource. Engineers develop ways to harness wind to help the modern and natural world. Build your own creation using the design process, materials in your home, and of course, the wind!

Supplies:

All supplies are optional – use what you have!

Pre-design supplies:

  • Scratch paper or graph paper
  • Writing utensil

Building Supplies

  • Plastic bottles and lids
  • Tin cans
  • Paper scraps or sticky notes
  • Pencils or pens
  • Straws
  • Disposable cups or containers
  • Cardboard
  • Yarn or string
  • Rubber bands
  • Natural materials (sticks or rocks)
  • Blank CD or floppy disks
  • Plastic spoons
  • Paper tubes
  • Old socks
  • Tissue paper
  • Scissors
  • Tape
  • Glue
  • Metal brads
  • Paper clips
  • Push pins
  • Magnets

Instructions:

  1. As an engineer, work through the design process to begin building! Follow the design process on the right, sketch out your design, and think creatively about what materials you can use inside your home.
    Use the following guiding questions to help you:
    a. What purpose will your design have? What is its function?
    b. Could your design be multifunctional?
    c. How will you ensure your design will hold up against heavy winds or other weather?
    d. How will you know your design was a success?
  2.  Test your design and adjust as necessary. Share your creation with family and friends through photos or videos!
  3. Wind isn’t the only renewable resource! What other renewable resources have helped other cultures and countries?
  4. Challenge yourself to build a new creation that reflects other sustainable energy sources! What do we utilize here in Fort Collins?

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

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Daily Discovery: Social Distancing – How Long Is Six Feet?

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Any Age, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Health

Post written by Angela Kettle, School Programs Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Social Distancing – How Long Is Six Feet?

We have an important job to do together – and that job is staying apart! As COVID-19 spreads, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention urges people to stay at least six feet away from those who live outside of our homes whenever possible.

What does six feet actually mean, though? Go on an adventure inside your home to see what objects (stacked together or on their own) are at least six feet long! Then, use these objects to help you picture what six feet means when you are out in public.

Supplies:

  • Measuring tape (if you don’t have one, you can print a template at the end of this document, or you can download an app like Measure from Google on a smartphone or tablet)
  • Pencil and paper to record measurements
  • Camera (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Write down six things on your paper that you would like to measure. These should be things that are already in your house. These things can be big, or small! (At the bottom of this, you can see some of the things one of our FCMoD educators measured at her house!)
  2. Get out your measuring tape, and release six feet of tape. Observe what that distance looks like on the measuring tape.
  3. Make a prediction about how long you think each of the household objects that you wrote down will be: shorter than 6 feet, 6 feet, or longer than 6 feet.
  4. Time to measure! Make sure to be safe – if you are not tall enough to reach something, ask someone taller than you to help. Write down each measurement in inches as you go.
  5. Now look at your results! Six feet is the same as 72 inches. Were your items longer than, shorter than, or equal to six feet?
  6. Math Bonus: See how many of the item you would need to make six feet!a.
    • If your object was shorter than 72 inches, divide 72 inches by the length of your object in inches. For example, since our educator’s cat was 27 inches, she would divide 72 inches by 27 inches to get 2.6 cats. So, she would need to put 2-and-a-half of her cats (stretched out!) between her and another person to practice proper social distancing.
    • If your object was longer than 72 inches, you will still divide 72 by the length of your object. However, you should get an answer that is less than 1 (a decimal). For example, our educator’s closet door was 78 inches. If you divide 72 inches by 78 inches, you get .92. So, she would need almost her entire closet door’s length – 92% of it – between her and another person to practice proper social distancing.
    •  Now, any time you have to be out in public, picture one of your items that was close to six feet long. In your imagination, place that object between you and any people around you. Share your objects with us on social media with the hashtag #DailyDiscovery to help others picture six feet, too!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Image credit: CalMatters.org

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