Science on the Go
Build your classroom learning around the wonder of relevant, observable, nature-based phenomena.
- Time of Year
- Quarterly During School Year
- Location
- At Your School
- Grades
- K to 8th
Provide your students with unique experiences that inspire their connection to the natural world using accessible, NGSS-aligned curricula through Science on the Go. Nurture academic and emotional growth with collaborative thinking and interactive exploration activities.
With Science on the Go you’ll experience both professional learning and practical support through a curriculum-specific workshop, all lesson materials prepped, and an ongoing partnership with a museum educator to collaborate around classroom implementation and reflection. For over 30 years, our experienced education staff has been working side-by-side with teachers and their students throughout Chicago.
Science on the Go registration is open for the 2024-2025 school year. Quarter 3 implementation runs February 11 - April 4, 2025. The registration deadline for Q3 is January 30, 2025, but registration for all quarters is open.
Click the button below to register your classroom.
Have questions about the Science on the Go program? Please contact our program manager at scienceonthego@naturemuseum.org.
"I would recommend SOG to any of my colleagues. I thought it was a great program and I especially appreciated how all lesson materials were so painstakingly prepared and organized in advance. It was so user friendly."
Science on the Go Program Highlights
With Science on the Go, you’ll invest in:
- Professional Development workshop to prepare for classroom implementation
- Nine NGSS-aligned lessons that explore local science content with all teacher and student materials and documents provided
- All curricula include authentic connections to Chicago’s natural world that foster curiosity and wonder and promote social and emotional well-being
- All interactive and student materials will be provided in English and Spanish to support students and teachers as they make nature and science connections in the classroom
- Three lessons taught in your classroom by a visiting museum educator, modeling best practices in science education and incorporating unique resources from the Nature Museum’s living and preserved collections
- A Field Trip experience to connect classroom learning to real-world experiences at the Nature Museum (including a Field Trip bus reimbursement for an in-person visit)
"We utilized the Spanish language resources. Thank you for providing the great graphic organizers and other visual resources as well as hands on materials. Great for ELLs!"
Curriculum Choices
Browse our Quarter 3 curriculum choices below, or click here to see the full suite of curriculum choices with descriptions and NGSS alignment for grades K through 8.
Explore the ways trees around us affect their surroundings and change over time, and how other living things use structures and senses as they interact with the trees.
NGSS: K-ESS2-2, K-ESS3-3, 1-LS1-1
Explore the animals and habitats of the Midwest! Discover the different ways adult animals care for their young in wetland, prairie, and woodland habitats.
NGSS: 1-LS1-2, 2-LS4-1
What is this plant and how did it get here? Explore plants, what they need to survive in one place, and how they might get to a new location.
NGSS: 1-LS3-1, 2-LS2-1, 2-LS2-2
What lives in—or used to live in—Chicago’s Great Lakes environment? Students will examine evidence of the ways local freshwater ecosystems have changed over time.
NGSS: 3-LS3-2, 3-LS4-1, 4-ESS3-2
Where do Chicago’s animals go in the winter? Use hands-on activities and nonfiction text to develop a claim about animals’ structural and behavioral adaptations.
NGSS: 3-LS4-3, 4-LS1-1
Join conservation scientists at the Nature Museum as they monitor endangered species, and work to improve local ecosystems and increase these animals’ chances of survival.
NGSS: 3-LS1-1, (3-LS4-4), 4-LS1-2, 5-ESS3-1
What happens to ecosystems when 12 million people move in? Students will analyze and interpret data, construct arguments, and explore the dynamic ecosystems of Illinois to discover how organisms respond to human disruptions.
NGSS: MS-LS2-1, MS-LS2-4
How are local species affected by climate change? Students will construct an explanation about the cause of a changing climate and its effect on biodiversity in the Chicagoland area.
NGSS: MS-LS2-2, MS-ESS3-4, MS-ESS3-5
"Students work together to discuss and reflect. Sharing findings builds their self-esteem. Now my students are paying more attention to nature nearby!"
Frequently Asked Questions
Science on the Go is a quarter-long program. Each quarter lasts about 7 weeks.
A “classroom” of Science on the Go is the group of students who regularly learn science together at your school in the same place at the same time (often one homeroom group, or one period group).
Register each group for their own “classroom” of Science on the Go.
Absolutely! There are multiple curricula in each grade band to choose from. Register for each quarter separately.
Experience nature and science up close with a trip to the Nature Museum.