Our Online Learning Resources pages are full of activities and collection links designed to compliment science teaching in the classroom. Created in consultation with school teachers and University researchers, we hope to provide real-life case studies and adaptable materials to help bring your topics to life.
Find our downloadable collections linked resources below, or explore our loans materials and project-based resources using the menu on the left.
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Museum Trails
Rainbow of Colour trail (1.97 MB) Nature Classroom
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(for ages 5-11)
The natural world is an amazing place. Join us as we explore it from home. Here we will be posting animal profiles, hands on activities and more, uncovering the secrets of skeletons, the evolution of animal life, and the way animals and plants live together.
Ideal for children aged 5-11.
Our Changing Planet
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(for ages 11-16)
The world around us is constantly changing. Natural processes have shaped the species we see today, but humans are having a huge impact on living things and their habitats. We have altered landscapes, accelerated climate change, and pushed species to the edge. Here we explore our evolving planet with with resources linked to current research, links to conservation efforts, and more.
Curriculum links in the Museum collection
Explore the Cambridge Museum of Zoology’s collection from your classroom through our online resource packs. These packs were made with teachers in mind. They contain high resolution images of the collections, specimen profiles accompanied by activity ideas, to make finding curriculum-specific examples for your teaching easy.
Each pack has a theme. Topics such as Evolution have a broader reach across the curriculum stages, whereas others, such as Genes and Genetics, will be more useful for higher key stages.
Search our database using the accession numbers provided in the packs.
tes_evolution_-_ideas_for_teachers.pdf (438.42 KB) genes_and_inheritance_-_ideas_for_teachers.pdf (359.28 KB) Find us and our resources on tes.com here:
Our online resources are always developing and growing. To help us shape and improve these resources, please complete the evaluation form via the link below and let us know about your experience in using them.
Evolution: Hungry birds game
Play the game as a bird, 'eating' as many non-toxic butterflies as possible to stay alive. Witness evolution in action as different wing patterns emerge or die-out.
Created by the Jiggins Lab at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge: http://www.heliconius.org/
Climate Change: the board game
You are an animal species, living in the savannah. The world is divided in four habitats based on the average temperature and precipitation (rain and snowfall) in each area. There are hotter and colder regions around you, but you find the average temperature of the savannah very comfortable. The savannah is occupied by a number of different species (the other players), all adapted to this habitat. Life is easy.
But every now and then the climate changes. When the temperature increases, the savannah expands; when it drops the savannah shrinks, and the ice sheets grow. In order to survive, species need to adapt and change quickly, or they will become extinct.
Do you have what is needed to survive?
Which species will you be in around 10 million years, at the end of the game?
How will these species have changed?
Discover the answers to these questions and more in this printable board game:
climate_change_game_materials.pdf (674.44 KB) climate_change_game_boards.pdf (1.6 MB) CREDITS
This game has been created by Dr Michela Leonardi of the Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Cambridge
With the help of: Dr Eleanor Miller, Dr Gian Luigi Somma, Prof Andrea Manica, Prof Elisa Anna Fano, Dr Rosalyn Wade.
This work has been funded by the ERC Consolidator Grant 647787: Local Adaptation
This work, including all associated images and text have been published under a Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0
