This document outlines the plans and preparations for a 4th grade field trip to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles to learn about mammals. It details arranging transportation by bus, having permission slips signed, and packing lunches. It provides an itinerary of the mammal halls to visit, discusses pre-trip activities to define vocabulary and compare African and North American mammals. Rules and expectations are outlined for the field trip. Post-trip, students will write a paragraph about what they learned and discuss in groups if they saw the mammal their group presented on.

1. Mammals History
4th grade
level
By Bianca Alomar

2. Filed Trip Preparation
• Make sure to have all student permission slips signed
and turned in before our filed trip day.
• Arrange for bus to take us to, 900 Exposition
Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90007 Natural History
Museum by 8:00 am and to pick us up at 3:00pm to
take us home.
• The drive will takes us 1 hour and 51 min if the bus
driver takes the I-10W.
• Arrange for lunch to be at 1:00pm

3. Pre-Discuss
• Talk to the students about what they might see.
• Why we are going to the Los Angeles Natural
History Museum ?
• Informed them about the tour we will be given by
the “Docent” then define docent by telling your
class it is what you call a tour guide.
• Explain to the students that they don’t need to
bring their backpacks that they can bring a water
bottle and to pack a lunch .
• Remind them they must all wear their school shirt

4. Field Trip Rules
• Stay with your group and your tour guide as well as your
chaperon.
• All students require a chaperone with them in the
museum, cafe and gift shops.
• Use quite voice when we are walking inside the museum.
• Don’t touch exhibits only when invited, and when you are
invited to touch remember to tell your students to touch
gently.
• Go over the School Bus rules:
1. Always obey the driver.
2. Do not push or shove.
3. Do not yell or shout.

5. The Halls We Will Be Visiting
North American Mammals
Hall Level 1 & level 2
African Mammals Hall
Level 1
Age of Mammals Level 1

7. Mammal Hall
State Standards National Geography
Standards
Science
• Life Science 3a: Students know ecosystems can be 17 Geographic contexts (the human and
characterized by their living and nonliving components. Life physical characteristics of places and
Science environments) are the settings for events
in the past
• 3b: Students know that in any particular environment, some
kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less Physical System
well, and some cannot survive at all. Life Science 8. The Characteristics and Spatial
distribution of ecosystem on Earth’s
• 3c: Students know many plants depend on animals for surface.
pollination and seed dispersal, and animals depend on plants for
food and shelter.
English/Language Arts Standards: Speaking
Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
• 2.1 Make narrative presentations: a. Relate
ideas, observations, or recollections about an event or
experience. b. Provide a context that enables the listener to
imagine the circumstances of the event or experience. c.
Provide insight into why the selected event or experience is
memorable

8. Pre Fieldtrip Activity
Objective:
• Students will be able to compare and contrast between African and North
American mammals in their natural environment by using a map to locate
were they are from.
• Students will be able to understand more about present and ancient mammal
• Students will be able to define and understand key vocabulary before our visit
to the museum.
Materials:
• Handout of our vocabulary
• Pencil and Paper
• Books and Internet
• Map of North America and Africa America

9. Vocabulary
• Ecosystem: An area within the natural environment in which physical factors of the
environment, such as rocks and soil, function together along with organisms, such as
plants and animals, within the same habitat to create a stable
• Climate: Temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, and numerous
other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time.
• Predator: An animal that is hunting.
• Prey: An animal that is hunted.
• Extinct : Food sources Geology Fossil
• Adaptation: A physical or behavioral feature which is especially important for an
animal’s survival. For example, the adaptation of horses' teeth to the grinding of grass,
or their ability to run fast and escape predators.
• Extinct: A species becomes extinct when the last existing member of that species dies.
• Food Source: Where and how animals find their food.
• Geology: A science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks.
• Fossil : Any evidence of pre‐historic life.

10. Video First
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApsCGttW2Us&
feature=player_embedded#!
What they will learn by watching the video:
• They will see how the continents where
once together and how they start to
move.
• How mountains start to form
• How land Bridges start to form
• You will see how climate change impacts
the Earth
• They will see how mammals have
evolved

11. Procedure
• Divide class into small groups have them pick their favorite mammal.
• Then have them as a group work on this questions
• Where does this mammal live? What is the climate like there?
(this will be done on the map they receive)
• What other plants and animals live in the same ecosystem?
• What does this animal eat?
• As a group they will present to the class the mammal they picked.
• Finally I will tell them to hold on to their map and information because
after our filed trip we will see if we saw the mammal they picked.

12. Field Trip Day
What They Will Learn
• “What is a Mammal?” “Where does this animal
live?” “What other plants and animals live in the
same ecosystem?” “What is the climate like
there?” “What does this animal eat?” “Does this
animal still exist? Why or why not ?

13. What They Will See

16. Next Day in Class
• They will have to write one paragraph telling me
what they learned about the mammals in the
museum and what they liked about the trip.
• Then they will get into their groups and they will
tell the class if they saw the animal they had
picked the day before we went on our trip and
what they learned.

17. Resources
• On the website you will see how schools can visit.

18. Links
• http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-
exhibits/permanent-exhibits/african-mammals
• http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-
exhibits/permanent-exhibits/age-of-mammals
• http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-
exhibits/permanent-exhibits/north-american-
mammals

19. The End
Thank You