For most of human history, recording a star meant describing it with words or drawing a picture. The 19th-century invention of photography changed that—only to be revolutionized by digital imaging. This Moveable Museum article, available as a six-page printable PDF file, takes a look at the technology of digital imaging. It discusses how digital images are pictures stored as numbers and explains how computer manipulation can enhance images and reduce distortion. Some suggested resources are provided for further research.

In this classroom activity, middle school students explore the Greek and Latin root words used to create dinosaur names. The activity opens with background information for teachers about how dinosaurs are named. As a class, students explore the Greek and Latin roots of the words photograph, terrace and other familiar terms. Working individually, students complete a worksheet that challenges them to translate the meaning of seven dinosaurs' names. Then, working in pairs, students create their own dinosaur; name it; and describe how it moves, what it eats, how it raises it young, and how it behaves.

Whether caused by acts of nature, human error or even malevolence, disasters are an increasingly costly threat. The National Science Foundation works with the Administration and other federal agencies in a coordinated effort to anticipate disasters and minimize their effects. Research projects provide information on understanding the causes and predicting natural disasters, disaster preparation in the form of stronger buildings, infrastructure and cybersecurity, and disaster response.

This activity sheet for young children is designed to be completed during a visit to the Museum's Hall of Biodiversity. The printable two-page handout includes an explanation of biodiversity, a "scavenger hunt" and a writing and drawing activity using the Forest Floor Diorama, a classification activity using the Spectrum of Life Wall and a treasure hunt using the Rain Forest Diorama.

This activity sheet for young children is designed to be completed during a visit to the Museum's Hall of Planet Earth. The printable two-page handout includes notes on the rough terrain found on the ocean floors, a hall map that directs kids to seven numbered areas with observation activities, a hall-wide writing and drawing activity for the rocks on display and a collection of fun facts.

Oyster Shells is one of the AMNH Education Department's many collections of specimens and artifacts gathered the world over by explorers and scientists. In its online Discovery Collection form, Oyster Shells includes photographs of 15 specimens with classification and distribution details, an interactive key that guides you through specimen identification, an activity where students select and identify a specimen photograph using the interactive identification key and an Educator's Guide with suggestions for how to use the Oyster Shells Discovery Collection in the classroom.

This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey tells the story of researcher Sir Alexander Fleming, whose luck and scientific reasoning led to the groundbreaking discovery of penicillin.

This OLogy activity helps kids to learn about scientific illustrations by walking them through the steps for drawing a monarch butterfly. The activity begins by introducing kids to the importance of scientific illustration and why scientists prefer drawings to photographs. A photograph of a monarch and a printable monarch butterfly outline are included. In addition, students need color photographs, other research materials, paper, an eraser, and a variety of pencils. The process of creating the scientific illustration is broken down into five steps: researching, developing observational skills, tracing, filling in the illustration, and doing the background. Notes about how to research and plant a butterfly garden are included for a follow-up activity.

This Web site, created to complement the Einstein exhibit, looks at the life and contributions of this extraordinary scientist and humanitarian.

In this electrochemistry activity, learners will explore two examples of electroplating. In Part 1, zinc from a galvanized nail (an iron nail which has been coated with zinc by dipping it in molten zinc) will be plated onto a copper penny. In Part 2, copper from a penny will be plated onto a nickel.

In this activity, learners conduct a simple experiment to see how electrically charged things like plastic attract electrically neutral things like water. The plastic will attract the surface of the water into a visible bump.

This online reference list provides links to nine local and national environmental organizations that have Web sites rich in valuable biodiversity information. Where possible, it includes the following information for each: details about the organization's mission, knowledge base, and activities; the type of support offered, including educational materials, resource libraries, and classes/workshops; and mailing address and contact information. In addition, links to four Web directories are provided, which in turn have links to dozens of other organizations.

This online article, from the museum's Musings newsletter for educators, provides an introduction to environmental stewardship. It discusses Earth's rarity as a planet that supports life and the mounting evidence that indicates human activity is, indeed, altering global climate.

This online article provides a firsthand report of Ernest Shackleton's epic 800-mile ocean crossing. In 1914, Shackleton planned to cross the continent of Antarctica from one sea to the other. One day's sail away from the continent, his specially constructed ship, the Endurance, was trapped in pack ice; 281 days later, crushed, the boat sank. The fifty-six-man crew survived as castaways on the ice for five months, after which Shackleton led them some 180 miles to the relative safety of Elephant Island. He and five men then embarked on an epic, 800-mile ocean crossing to South Georgia Island, the nearest inhabited area, in a twenty-two-foot lifeboat called the James Caird. This article is an account of that journey.

In this classroom activity, students work in groups to test a variety of fabrics to determine each one's effectiveness as an insulator. The printable five-page handout includes a series of inquiry-based questions to get students thinking about the conditions in Antarctica and the properties of specialty fabrics, illustrated activity directions and a worksheet that includes areas for recording their experiment data, and questions that prompt students to compare their results against their original hypotheses.

This OLogy activity introduces kids to the concept of biodiversity by helping them discover the diversity of their local bird population. To begin, students create a simple bird feeder from a milk/juice carton or a plastic soda bottle. They then fill the feeder with black-oil sunflower seeds, popular with a range of birds. In addition, they are given a list of additional foods to experiment with, such as millet, raisins, and breakfast cereal. Students track the birds that visit their feeder in field journals, making note of the kinds of foods used and the number of birds from each species that visit. Along with step-by-step directions for creating and hanging the feeder, the activity also includes tips for attracting more or fewer visitors.

This reference includes individual titles of note along with the most popular field guide series. For each guide, the author, publisher, and publication date are given. The diverse list has 17 individual titles, which cover everything from wildflowers in the Colorado mountains and insects north of Mexico to the natural history of vacant lots. There are detailed descriptions of four of the most popular field guide series: Audubon Society Guides, Golden Guides, Peterson Guides, and Stokes Nature Guide Series.

In this hands-on botany activity, learners sprout vegetables in film canisters. Learners grow nine seeds each of cabbage, radish, and parsley, experimenting with changing one variable (light, water, or temperature) to explore differences in the germination preferences of the plants. If film canisters aren't available, other small, opaque containers with lids can be substituted.

Students learn how CCD cameras use color filters to create astronomical images in this Moveable Museum unit. The four-page PDF guide includes suggested general background readings for educators, activity notes, and step-by-step directions. Students look at black-and-white photos to understand gray scale and construct simple red and green cellophane filters and observe magazine images through them.

In this classroom activity, middle school students simulate a "dinosaur dig." The activity opens with background information for teachers about fossils. Working in groups, students excavate fossil sites created in advance by the teacher, or other group of students, and try to reconstruct a chicken skeleton. The activity closes with a two-page student worksheet that directs students to diagram the fossil site and includes probing questions to help them decode their findings.