The National Museum of Dentistry will be closed to the public Thursday, Dec. 5th and Friday, Dec. 6th as our staff will be attending a Faculty Development Program. We will return to normal operations on Tuesday, Dec. 10th.

Homeschool

Take a bite out of history, health, and STEAM with our interactive onsite field trip programs. Developed from current Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as well as Common Core standards in literacy and mathematics, our curated field trip programs can easily supplement curriculum at every grade level. Choose from one of the curated programs below, join us for a guided tour of all the exhibits, or go through the museum at your own pace. Coordinate your own visit, or join us for our reduced price homeschooler days every third Wednesday of the month!

For more information about NMD’s educational offerings, please contact the
Museum Education Coordinator, Elise Petersen, at 410-706-4819 or epetersen@umaryland.edu.

Learn more about NMD’s educational programs and resources with our Program Guide.

BITE-SIZED BIOLOGY:
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION | GRADE 3

Students encounter key concepts and vocabulary for Grade 3 science including fossils, natural selection, and adaptation. Students will create their own fossils to take home, have a hands-on experience with replicas of real fossils, and view animal skulls and teeth from the museum’s collection to make inferences about various animals’ environments and adaptability.

Cost: $5/student

Bite-Sized Biology: Biological Evolution Curriculum Standards

NGSS 3-LS4 (1-4): Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

  • 3-LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago. Students will handle and analyze tooth fossil replicas from three extinct animals to identify various types of fossil data (shape, size, shine, sharpness). With guidance from a museum educator, students will make inferences about the animals based on the data they have collected, including the animals’ approximate size, diet, and closest living relative.
  • 3-LS4-2: Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. Students will consider, observe, and handle real-world examples of plant and animal characteristics that enable survival and reproduction, including two species common in Maryland: peppered moths and maple trees.
  • 3-LS4-3: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. Students will analyze real skulls and teeth of three animals (African warthogs, sharks, and horses) to identify the adaptations that enable these animals to survive and thrive in their native habitats. With guidance from a museum educator, students will discuss what would happen if any two of these animals swapped environments—would their adaptations help them survive in their new environments? Why or why not?
  • 3-LS4-4: Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change. Students will revisit three species previously discussed in the program and consider imaginary shifts to the environments of each of the species (peppered moths, roses, and horses). Students will brainstorm potential ways each species might adapt to survive and learn about real-world examples of how the species (or similar species) have adapted to survive the very same challenges.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY: Speaking and Listening

  • ELA.LITERACY.SL.3.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. Students will engage with a museum educator, peers, teachers, and chaperones during fossil identification and animal observation activities.
  • ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.2: Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Students will encounter presentation of information in a variety of media formats, including visual and quantitative presentations throughout the museum, oral presentations from the museum educator, and video presentations by external organizations including the Smithsonian Institution. Through various activities, students will determine the main ideas of presented information.
  • ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.3: Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail. Students will engage with a museum speaker to ask and answer questions related to presented information.

BITE-SIZED BIOCHEM:
STRUCTURES OF LIVING ORGANISMS GRADE 4

Students observe plant and animal specimens from the museum’s collection and consider the physical structures that help organisms survive and thrive. Students will experience a hands-on activity modeling sensory information collection and processing and draw on the experience to discuss the ways animals collect, interpret, and respond to information about their environments.

Cost: $5/student

Bite-Sized Biochem: Structures of Living Organisms Curriculum Standards

NGSS 4-LS1 (1-2): From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

  • 4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. Students will encounter many examples of internal and external plant and animal structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. Items will include animal skulls and teeth from the museum’s collection as well as the seeds of a common Maryland species (the maple tree).
  • 4-LS1-2: Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways. Students will engage in a sensory activity using Jelly Belly jellybeans which models the ways animals use their senses to receive and process information about their environments. Following the activity, a museum educator will lead the students in a follow-up discussion to help students relate their experience to the ways animals use their senses to help them survive, grow, behave, and reproduce.

ELA-LITERACY: Speaking and Listening

  • ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. Students will engage with a museum educator, peers, teachers, and chaperones during discussions and activities about the structures and processes of plant and animal organisms.
  • ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.2: Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Students will encounter presentation of information in a variety of media formats, including visual and quantitative presentations throughout the museum, oral presentations from the museum educator, and video presentations by external organizations and creators. Through various activities, students will determine the main ideas of presented information.
  • ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.3: Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support particular points. Students will engage with a museum speaker to ask and answer questions related to presented information.

PROTECT YOUR TEETH,
PROTECT YOUR PLANET | GRADE 5

Students are invited to consider a common household object (the toothbrush) in a new light: using algebraic reasoning, students model the number of toothbrushes deposited annually in landfills across the United States in a visually meaningful way. Students will also encounter sustainability concepts including recycling and sustainable material science.

Cost: $5/student

Protect Your Teeth, Protect Your Planet Curriculum Standards

NGSS 4-LS1 (1-2): From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

  • 4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. Students will encounter many examples of internal and external plant and animal structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. Items will include animal skulls and teeth from the museum’s collection as well as the seeds of a common Maryland species (the maple tree).
  • 4-LS1-2: Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways. Students will engage in a sensory activity using Jelly Belly jellybeans which models the ways animals use their senses to receive and process information about their environments. Following the activity, a museum educator will lead the students in a follow-up discussion to help students relate their experience to the ways animals use their senses to help them survive, grow, behave, and reproduce.

ELA-LITERACY: Speaking and Listening

  • ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. Students will engage with a museum educator, peers, teachers, and chaperones during discussions and activities about the structures and processes of plant and animal organisms.
  • ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.2: Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Students will encounter presentation of information in a variety of media formats, including visual and quantitative presentations throughout the museum, oral presentations from the museum educator, and video presentations by external organizations and creators. Through various activities, students will determine the main ideas of presented information.
  • ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.3: Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support particular points. Students will engage with a museum speaker to ask and answer questions related to presented information.

HEALTHY MOUTH,
HEALTHY BODY TOUR | GRADES PK-5

Students encounter key concepts about proper oral health care and experience the history of dentistry firsthand. Students will explore the origins of the teeth, find out what the first toothbrush was like, and have the opportunity to become a dentist, dental hygienist, or dental assistant in MouthPower, one of our interactive exhibits.

Cost: $5/student

DENTISTRY
AND HEALTH TOUR | GRADES 6-12

Students re-encounter key concepts about proper oral health care and learn about dentistry as a career choice. Students will learn about each of the dental specialties, the allied professions, and dental research, along with exploring an exhibit on bioengineering, forensics, and saliva. Students will also learn about the Changing Faces of dentistry with a new exhibit exploring the progress of diversity in the dental profession.

Cost: $5/student

PROFESSIONAL PATHWAYS |
GRADE 9-POSTSECONDARY

This tour is appropriate for high school career and technical education (CTE) programs as well as postsecondary programs. Students engage with the historical context of the dental profession, including its global origins, the founding of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, emergence of various dental technologies, and diversification of the field. Students also learn about career opportunities in dentistry including interdisciplinary connections between dentists and biology, engineering, emergency response, anthropology, and more.

Cost: $5/student

NMD FIELD TRIP RESERVATION FORM

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Program capacity is 60 students. For student groups larger than 60, museum staff will reach out about scheduling across two or more visits. For elementary-aged student groups, we recommend an approximate ratio of one adult teacher/staff member/chaperone for every 5-6 students.
(FREE)
(2 FREE per 10 students)
Tour Type (Guided tours require at least 1 week notification*)*
*Tour guides are not guaranteed, and depend upon the availability of volunteers and staff on the date of your visit.

Scheduling Options

Field trips can be scheduled Tuesday-Friday between 10am-4pm. For an NMD Field Trip Program followed by self-guided exploration of the museum, we recommend that you schedule a 2-hour visit. Staying through lunch? We welcome school groups to bring packed lunches to enjoy onsite. For lunch, we encourage you to allot an additional 30 minutes.
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Please note this is not a confirmed reservation. You will be contacted by the museum to finalize a date and to receive an invoice for your request. You can also call us at 410-706-0600 to follow up on your request.
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hours

Tuesday - Friday: 10am to 4pm

Address

31 S. Greene St. Baltimore, MD 21201

Phone

410-706-0600

The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry is an auxiliary enterprise of the University of Maryland, School of Dentistry at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

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