<p>We often talk to children about the importance of being flexible and adapting to new situations. This lesson about mastodons focuses on how physical adaptations help animals live in different environments. By looking at the different body parts of both a mastodon and a modern day elephant, children are able to see similarities/differences and predict why these traits changed from the ice age period to present day. What about these physical traits help the animal in their environment? By observing and predicting, children are practicing their critical thinking skills and gaining deeper understandings than if they were simply told the answer.</p> <p>Designed as part of the Get a Head Start with the Smithsonian collaboration with the National Head Start Association, these activities support the following Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) standards:</p> <p>- Goal P-LC 1. Child attends to communication and language from others.</p> <p>- Goal P-LC 2. Child understands and responds to increasingly complex communication and language from others.<br></p> <p>- Goal P-ATL 11. Child shows interest in and curiosity about the world around them.</p> <p>- Goal P-ATL 13. Child uses imagination in play and interactions with others.<br></p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 1. Child observes and describes observable phenomena (objects, materials, organisms, and events).</p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 2. Child engages in scientific talk.</p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 3. Child compares and categorizes observable phenomena.</p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 5. Child plans and conducts investigations and experiments.</p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 6. Child analyzes results, draws conclusions, and communicates results.</p> <p><strong>Goals for Scaffolding for Infants/Toddlers:</strong></p> <p>- Goal IT-LC 12. Child comprehends meaning from pictures and stories.</p> <p>- Goal IT-ATL 7. Child shows interest in and curiosity about objects, materials, or events.</p> <p>- Goal IT-ATL 8. Child uses creativity to increase understanding and learning.</p> <p>- Goal IT-C 1. Child actively explores people and objects to understand self, others, and objects.</p> <p>- Goal IT-C 2. Child uses understanding of causal relationships to act on social and physical environments.</p> <p><br><br></p> <p><br></p>

<p>Objectives</p> <ul><li>Compare movements of the flying trapeze artist to the movements of monkeys swinging from the trees  </li><li>Imagine what it would feel like to swing (like a trapeze artist and like a monkey)</li><li>Learn about how monkeys move  </li></ul>

<p>This collection uses Eric Carle's book <em>From Head to Toe </em>to explore how animals and people move. To talk about the book with your child, first read From Head to Toe together (or watch the video in the first box). Next, let your child look at the other animals on the webpage and decide what he/she wants to explore. Encourage conversation and exploration!</p> <p>This collection was created by Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center faculty member. #SEECStories</p>

<p>OBJECTIVES</p><ul><li>Look carefully at a variety of carousel animals </li><li>Identify the animals </li><li>Compare and contrast the animals </li><li>Talk about which animals people typically ride</li><li>Talk about real vs pretend</li><li>Create a model carousel</li></ul>

<p>OBJECTIVES:<br /></p> <ul><li>Learn that people make robots to do things to help people </li><li>Look closely at a robot that some people have in their house</li><li>Learn about other types of helping robots </li><li>Talk about why robots are made</li><li>Learn that robots are designed with a purpose </li><li>Think about times when it might be helpful to have a robot </li><li>Use creativity to design robots </li></ul>

<p>OBJECTIVES:</p> <ul><li>Experiment with objects to see if they sink or float</li><li>Learn that boats float</li><li>Discuss how sometimes boats sink and learn the word shipwreck </li><li>Look closely at the 3D model of the Philadelphia Gunboat (a boat which sunk and was then later brought to the surface and into the Natural History Museum)</li><li>Make ships out of aluminum foil and experiment to see how many pennies can go on the boat before it sinks</li></ul>

<p>You may think of spoons as everyday objects, but spoons can tell special stories and teach us about cultures. Explore this collection to learn more. </p><p>This collection was created by Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center faculty member. #SEECStories<br /></p>

<p>Artwork, museums, and the community are powerful resources that bring concepts to life with young children. This collection provides examples of how to utilize museums and the community to explore STEM concepts through artwork. </p> <p>This collection was created by a Smithsonian Early Enrichment faculty member to support a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvnS1yxWT0w" target="_blank">webinar</a> with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, presented in October  24, 2018.  </p> <p><br /></p> <p></p>

<p>This lesson is about the extinct relatives of the modern elephant - woolly mammoth and mastodons. By looking at the teeth of these animals, scientists can discover what the animals are capable of eating and figure out how species are the same and different. Children are encouraged to look closely at woolly mammoth and mastodon teeth and describe how they are similar and different. Children will explore how different teeth allow animals to eat different types of food. To finish the lesson, they will take puppet woolly mammoths and mastodons (which they make) out to eat. </p> <p>Designed as part of the Get a Head Start with the Smithsonian collaboration with the National Head Start Association, these activities support the following Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) standards:</p> <p>- Goal P-LC 1. Child attends to communication and language from others.</p> <p>- Goal P-LC 2. Child understands and responds to increasingly complex communication and language from others.<br></p> <p>- Goal P-LIT 2. Child demonstrates an understanding of how print is used (functions of print) and the rules that govern how print works (conventions of print).</p> <p>- Goal P-LIT 5: Child asks and answers questions about a book that was read aloud.</p> <p>- Goal P-ATL 11. Child shows interest in and curiosity about the world around them.</p> <p>- Goal P-ATL 13. Child uses imagination in play and interactions with others.<br></p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 1. Child observes and describes observable phenomena (objects, materials, organisms, and events).</p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 2. Child engages in scientific talk.</p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 3. Child compares and categorizes observable phenomena.</p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 5. Child plans and conducts investigations and experiments.</p> <p>- Goal P-SCI 6. Child analyzes results, draws conclusions, and communicates results.</p> <p><strong>Goals for Scaffolding for Infants/Toddlers:</strong></p> <p>- Goal IT-LC 12. Child comprehends meaning from pictures and stories.</p> <p>- Goal IT-ATL 7. Child shows interest in and curiosity about objects, materials, or events.</p> <p>- Goal IT-ATL 8. Child uses creativity to increase understanding and learning.</p> <p>- Goal IT-C 1. Child actively explores people and objects to understand self, others, and objects.</p> <p>- Goal IT-C 2. Child uses understanding of causal relationships to act on social and physical environments.</p>

<p>Objectives - </p><p><br /></p><ul><li>Learn that active volcanoes erupt </li><li>Discover that volcanoes erupt when pressure builds up </li><li>Experiment with eruptions </li><li>Learn that some mountains are volcanoes </li></ul><p><br /></p>