Indiana Academic Standard correlation to a museum school visit Kindergarten Language Arts K.1.3 Understand that printed materials provide information.           Explain that exhibit labels provide information about the materials in the exhibit. Help students recognize where labels might be located, and what they might look like. K.3.2 Identify types of everyday print materials.           In the museum, you and your students will see many types of print materials. Look at signs and the visitor map in the museum. They give information about the exhibits or provide directions to exhibits, restrooms, or exits. Also look for familiar logos, like for The Children's Museum, infoZone, or even in the Food Court. K.7.2 Share information and ideas, speaking in complete, coherent sentences.           Encourage students to discuss what they are seeing with their peers, chaperones, or with museum staff. Remind them to use complete sentences that give facts and ideas related to the museum exhibits. K.7.3 Describe people, places, things (including their size, color, and shape), locations, and actions.           Throughout the museum there are many opportunities to use descriptive language. For instance, visit the polar bear on Level 2 in the Welcome Center. Encourage students to describe the bear, using words like "big," "white," "furry," or even words like "scary," "strong," "fierce." Find other objects, such as the toy displays in Carousel Wishes and Dreams or the turtle pond in ScienceWorks on Level 4 and describe those with action words, such as "fast," "slow," etc. Social Studies K.3.3 Describe people and places in the school and community.           The Children's Museum has been a part of the Indianapolis community since the 1920s. It began with school children giving special things to the museum. Over the years, many have come to visit. The Children's Museum also provides a branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Library system called infoZone that serves as a community resource. K.5.1 Identify ways in which people are alike and different.           When you visit Passport to the World on Levels 3 and 4 you can share that all people are alike because they all celebrate, create, imagine, and communicate. Then, by comparing objects in the exhibit, discuss how cultures do things in slightly different ways. For instance, all people make music, but they use different instruments and make different-sounding music. Compare how the instruments in the cases look and sound. All people create toys; however, they look different based on available materials and tastes. Find examples of the same type of toy-an animal, a mask-and examine how they are alike and different. K.5.4 Identify and compare similarities and differences in families in other places and cultures.           In Passport to the World, look for examples of different celebrations and traditions. You can see a display about Boys Day and Girls Day in Japan. Can the students think of similar holidays or holidays with similar elements in their lives? Students will also see examples of how familiar celebrations, such as birthdays, weddings, or funerals, are celebrated in different ways around the world. Look for the mini-dioramas near the Boys and Girls Day display and lead the class in making comparisons. Science K.1.1 Raise questions about the natural world.           There is a large collection of natural science objects at The Children's Museum. Visit the What If? gallery on Lower Level to see a coral reef or a dinosaur discovery area. Ask students to think of questions about what they are seeing. Where are coral reefs found? How old are the dinosaurs?           Visit ScienceWorks on Level 4 to see a typical Indiana pond with turtles or an underground habitat. Encourage students to ask questions of the museum staff. Model asking questions such as "I wonder…(what turtles eat, where they live, how old they get, etc.)." K.3.2 Investigate that things move in different ways, such as fast, slow, etc.           Look for things that move in The Children's Museum. Observe the Carousel on Level 4. Notice how it speeds up and slows down, how some horses move up and down. Visit Dock Shop in ScienceWorks. The students can make a boat and make it move. Encourage them to investigate ways to move the boat faster or slower. K.4.1 Give examples of plants and animals.           To see plants and animals living together, visit the coral reef in the What If? gallery or the pond in ScienceWorks. When you visit the pond on Level 4, have students tell the difference between plants and animals in the pond. What other animals or plants can they find in the museum (polar bear, fox, beaver, etc.)? Help students understand that although these animals are now dead, they are all real and were all once living. K.4.2 Observe plants and animals, describing how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do.           Visit the coral reef in the What If? gallery. There are many types of fish swimming in the same tank. Have students describe how they are different-color, shape, size. Then have them brainstorm how they are alike-they all swim, they all have mouths, they all have fins. Upon entering or leaving the museum, stop in the Allen W. Clowes Memorial Garden located outside the main entrance. Have students observe the garden, or have them speculate what types of animals might live the garden (birds, insects, turtles, butterflies). Why do all these animals live in this environment? K.6.1 Describe an object by saying how it is similar to or different from another object.           Have students pick two shells located in the coral reef exhibit on Lower Level. Invite students to compare them by describing color, shape, and size. Encourage them to use descriptive language to make comparisons, such as "One is pink, the other is white," "Both are round," etc.

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