EOL and Natural History Museums

EOL Features Mammals from the Pleistocene Epoch

EOL has created educational species pages on the mammoth (Mammuthus), mastodon (Mammut americanum), giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus), and two types of giant ground sloths (Megatherium americanum and Mylodontidae). 

In these pages you can find student friendly information on the biology and ecology of these species and unique fossil photos from the collections of The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, USA.

Mammoth (Mammuthus)

American mastodon (Mammut americanum)

Giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus)

Giant ground sloth (Megatherium americanum)

Giant ground sloths (Mylodontidae)

Outlined below are several ideas for your class that use these EOL pages and museum exhibits.  These activities are for students of different ages and abilities that can be used for quick reinforcement or as a long-term project.  Some of the activities include: adding information to the Pleistocene species pages, uploading original student artwork, and uploading photos from a photo scavenger hunt in a natural history museum.  Your students will not only enjoy learning about Mammoths and Mastodons, but also help build the Encyclopedia of Life!

Activities for the Classroom

Find out how your students can contribute to and use these Pleistocene mammal pages.

Activities for Natural History Museum Field Trips

Prepare you students before the field trip and find activities for your museum visit.

Post Natural History Museum Field Trip Activities

Find out how your students can contribute what they learned during their field trip to the EOL.

© The Field Museum_GEO86543_048Bd_Mammut_americanum

United States National Science Education Standards

These activites may be used to meet National Science Education Standards (NSES) in Language Arts, Science, and Fine Arts, but they most closely align with the following NSES:

A: SCIENCE AS INQUIRY
Understanding about scientific inquiry

C: LIFE SCIENCE
Characteristics of organisms, Organisms and environments, Regulation and behavior, Populations and ecosystems, Diversity and adaptations of organisms, Biological evolution, Interdependence of organisms, Behavior of organisms

D: EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
Properties of earth materials, Earth's history, Origin and evolution of the earth system