Programs Offered for 5th Grade
Read course information carefully for size limits and which programs are available at MNS or at your school.
ABCs of Chemistry
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1ab, 3ad, 4ab, 5abcd
Chemistry can be fun! This class will introduce children to the basics of chemistry, states of matter, and mass of everyday objects. Through hands-on experiments and demonstrations students will determine whether a chemical or physical reaction is taking place using fun, non-threatening materials.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 students
Available at MNS or your school
Adapt to Survive
TEKS: 5th Grade: 3a, 9abcd, 10ab
Students will learn about physical and behavioral adaptations that enable animals to live in many diverse Texas ecosystems. Students will explore which animals live in their neighborhood and understand the adaptations that allow those animals to survive in their urban backyard! Various taxidermy specimens, skulls, shells, and other objects will be used to engage students in a lively discussion for this program.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Auditorium Program
Class Size: 15-60 students at MNS; 15-30 students at your school
Available at MNS or your school
Air and Weather
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 3ad, 4ab, 8ab
In this program, students will explore the water cycle and discover the many types of weather. A Van der Graaff generator will provide kids with the “shocking” facts about lightning. Your students will also learn how clouds are formed and the explosive power of tornadoes. Hands-on experiments will demonstrate air pressure and student volunteers will be asked to join our educator ‘on stage’ as assistant meteorologists.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Auditorium Program
Class Size: 15-60 students
Available at MNS only
Amusement Park Physics
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2abcdef, 3ad, 4ab, 5a, 6ad
Everyone loves roller coasters, bungee jumping, free falling and bumper cars. Learn how physics plays an important role in the design of our favorite amusement park rides. Students will explore various topics such as: force, mass, velocity, acceleration, motion, gravity, momentum, inertia, kinetic and potential energy, and friction.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 students
Available at MNS or your school
Ancient Inquiry: Finding Fossils and Discovering Dinos
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2bcd, 3ad, 7abd, 10a
Our dynamic Earth – and the life on it – has continued to change over millions of years. Scientists use clues hidden in rocks to unravel mysteries of ancient habitats, dinosaurs and other organisms that lived and died on Earth. Explore rocks, fossils and compare ancient life to animals of today. Explore evidence that gives us clues to how life existed and evolved over time, including an examination of dinosaur and other rare fossils from our Earth’s past!
Duration: Standard 50-minute Auditorium Program
Class Size: 15-60 students at MNS, 15-30 at your school
Available at MNS or your school
CSI: Mystery Dot
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2abcdf, 3a, 4a, 5acd
Mrs. Parker, the 6th grade English teacher, knows someone looked at her grade book while she was out of the room. There was a small black smudge that she knew wasn’t there before – and she needs to know who left it there! Students will learn about matter and mixtures while using paper chromatography to solve the mystery and determine exactly who looked in Mrs. Parker’s book. Was it Laura, Stacey, Derek or Paul? Only you will know!
Duration: Standard 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 Students
Available at MNS or your school
Electric Theater
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2abcdf, 3ad, 4ab, 5a, 6ab
Explore the world of electricity and magnetism through this highly interactive auditorium program with educator-led demonstrations supported by audience volunteers, this program offers a broad range of content for all age groups. Explore topics such as “what is electricity?”, static electricity using a Van de Graaff generator, plasma, electromagnetism, Lenz’s Law, direct and alternating current, Ohm’s Law, Joule’s Law, transformers, and a Tesla coil. You are guaranteed to have a real “hair raising“ experience.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Auditorium Program
Class Size: 15-175 students at MNS; 30-250 at your school
Available at MNS or your school
Farming for Fuel
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1ab, 2abcd, 3acd, 4ab, 5a, 6a, 7c, 9b
In this hands-on, center-based program, students will conduct experiments to understand the carbon cycle as well as how biofuels made from mom-food plants are appropriate for transportation. Students will use these inquiry-based activities to understand the balance of energy on our planet and ways to improve and maintain that balance through the use and production of biofuels. This program is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and the BioEnergy Science Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 students
Available at MNS or your school
Fire & Ice
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2abcdf, 3ad, 4ab, 5ab, 6a
This explosively entertaining program teaches about the states of matter in a unique way. Student volunteers help the presenter explore how temperature affects matter. Both physical and chemical changes are demonstrated using fire and liquid nitrogen.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Auditorium Program
Class Size: 15-175 students at MNS, 30-250 at your school
Available at MNS or your school
LEGO®: Simple Machines
TEKS: 5th Grade: 2b, 3acd, 6ad
In this hands-on array of guided activities, students will learn all about simple machines and what makes them…not always so simple. But building with LEGO® blocks to construct levers, fulcrums, and other machines your kids will walk away with a stronger understanding of what “mechanical advantage” really means!
Duration: Standard 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 students
Available at MNS or your school
Look Out: The Eye
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2a, 3a, 4ab
Discover the inner workings of the eye and vision. By dissecting a cow eye, students will see how an eye works. Comparing cow and human eyes will provide insight into differences and similarities among species.
Duration: Premium 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 students
Available at MNS or your school
Nothing But Net
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2acefg, 3ad, 4a, 6ad
How do basketball players launch three-pointers? Are there machines and physics on the basketball court? In this program, students will use catapults and shoot miniature basketballs… all in the name of helping them understand energy, mechanics and the three classes of levers. By analyzing their distance data and using what they learn from these simple machines, they’ll be able to compare catapults to the structure of a human arm!
Duration: Standard 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-25 students
Available at MNS or your school
Moments in Time: An Archaeological Investigation
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2abcdf, 3a, 4a, 7d, 9a
Imagine a world with no supermarkets, restaurants or electricity! Discover how the first naturalists survived in Texas thousands of years ago using their extensive knowledge of our natural resources. Realistic replicas of American Indian artifacts including clothing, tools, food sources and instruments will be shown and discussed in this hands-on interactive program. Plus, students will work as archaeological “lab techs” to interpret the history and meaning of artifacts covering 12,000 years of human life from a site near Texas A&M University. The hands-on analysis of the artifacts will allow them to explore human technological advances through time.
Duration: Premium 90-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-25 students
Available at MNS or your school
Portable Universe
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2f, 3ad, 8cd
Gaze at the enigmatic beauty of the night sky and learn the exotic names of those heavenly bodies from the comfort of… almost anywhere! We’ll bring the stars to you with our state-of-the-art digital portable planetarium. This program is well-suited for both cultural and scientific studies. Students will be guided through the movement of planet Earth and experience how sunrise and sunset can affect each day. Explore star movement, color and brightness, and learn how to locate stars and constellations. Since this program is offered across multiple grade levels, content is tailored to meet the learning needs of each specific age group. This program is a perfect way to introduce students to the wonders of the solar system or supplement an upper-level study of astronomy.
Duration: 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 10-30 students (depending on students’ age)
Requirements: Large air-conditioned indoor room with dimensions of at least 25 ft. X 25 ft. and 13 ft. overhead clearance; 110 V electric outlet
Available at your school only
Pump Up: The Heart
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2a, 3a, 4ab
Explore the fascinating world of the heart through this hands-on guided dissection of a pig heart! Students will have an up-close encounter with real hears as they learn about heart structure and function as well as the need to stay healthy. If you want students to learn about their heart, this program can’t be “beat”!
Duration: Premium 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 students
Available at MNS or your school
ROCKin’ Thru Texas
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2abcdf, 3a, 7ab
Discover the earth through tis geologic past. In this program the rock cycle is taught and the students will gain hands-on experience identifying the different types of rocks: metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary, Students will have the opportunity to examine the differences between rocks and minerals as well as participate in activity stations including mineral identification and landform exploration.
Duration: Standard 50-minue Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 students
Available at MNS or your school
Sound Abounds
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2abcdefg, 3ad, 4a, 6a
We experience many sounds everyday… from birds singing to police sirens. But what is sound? What is the difference between music and noise? Discover the physics of sound with this hands-on interactive program that explores such topics as vibration, amplitude, frequency, pitch, musical notes, noise, and the Doppler effect.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 students
Available at MNS or your school
Super Hero Science
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2abcdf, 3ad, 4ab, 5a, 6abcd
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s super science! Discover the real science of super heroes with this educator-led interactive stage show. Explore topics such as lasers, invisibility, x-ray vision, kinetic energy, levitation, and smart materials.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Auditorium Program
Class Size: 15-175 students
Available at MNS only
Trash Island: Albatross Bolus Dissection
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 2abcdf, 3a, 4ad, 9ac
Garbage, garbage everywhere and not a bite to eat! Ocean current in the Pacific Ocean have caused floating trash and debris to gather into a single large heap known as the Pacific Ocean’s Garbage Patch. Diving foragers like the Albatross often mistake floating plastics for their favorite foods and then feed those wastes to their young. Before a young albatross can fledge, it must regurgitate an undigested mass called a bolus. In this hands-on lab, students dissect a bolus* to identify, sort, classify, quantify, and summarize contents. This program emphasizes the impact of humans and material waste on delicate ocean ecosystems and food chains.
*Note: Real boluses will be available to observe and examine, but dissection boluses might be artificial due to Pacific storms and bolus availability.
Duration: premium 50-minute Classroom Program
Class Size: 15-30 students
Available at MNS or your school
Urban Nature Walk
TEKS: 5th Grade: 1a, 4a, 9a, 10a
Join one of our Museum Naturalists for a guided walk in our own backyard! With the aid of field guides and binoculars, students will identify and learn about urban wildlife, explore various habitats and learn about the diversity of life within the confines of the Metroplex. This program can be adapted for all grades and helps to reinforce food webs, pond ecology, adaptations and biodiversity. The nature walk is available during any season, so please instruct your class to dress accordingly.
Duration: Standard 50-minute Outdoor Program
Class Size: up to 25 students
Available at MNS only
