Museum of Science, Boston

Books for Kids

  • Field Guide to Tracks
    , by
    Myron and Charles Chase
  • How to be a Nature Detective
    , by
    Millicent E. Selsam
  • In the Woods: Who's Been Here?
    , by
    Lindsay Barrett George

Contact Us

Contact the Discovery Center and Living Lab staff at livinglab@mos.org

Nature Detectives: Early Elementary Schoolers






  

    

  Nature Detectives can be a fun science activity for people of all ages. We provide these generalizations as guidelines about what children at different ages might do during a Nature Detective exploration at the Discovery Center, in the kitchen at home, or at school. Listed below are science and technology process skills that children may be practicing during their explorations. Please remember: each child develops at a different rate, so some children in each age group may be able to do some of the things described in the age group before or after their own.


How might early elementary schoolers become Nature Detectives?



  

      


  

    
Act Cooperatively - Early Elementary




Early elementary explorers can work with others to figure out what animals were there. They can work together to measure tracks, identify food and scat, and look around for more clues. Also, they can share their findings with others.
  





  

    
Classify and Observe - Early Elementary Schoolers




Early elementary aged children can look at clues like scat, food, and tracks to figure out what animals were there.  


They can also look at the color, shape and size of the scat to figure out what animal it came from and what it possibly could have eaten.
  





  

    
Use Tools - Early Elementary




Early elementary visitors can use the magnifying glasses to look more closely at the clues they find.  


They can also use guides for identifying tracks or plants and use a ruler to measure their specimen. 


Recording their findings in a notebook is a great way to journal about what they saw that day.