Just for Families
If you are planning a visit to the Underground Adventure with children, here
are some tips to help you make the most of the visit:
The world underground is a fascinating place, home to an incredible variety of living
creatures. In fact, so many different kinds of organisms live in soil that thousands
of new species are discovered each year. Soil study can be particularly interesting
for young people because it involves something they can readily see and touch—and
gives them a chance to get dirty in the name of science!
Soil study is also a great opportunity for families to learn together. Many of the
activities provided in the Kid Zone of this Web
site can be done at home with little supervision and easily accessible tools. These
activities provide a fun, hands-on way to engage young scientists in the process of
learning about soil and conducting research—whether done on their own or in
conjunction with a visit to the Underground Adventure exhibition at The Field
Museum. You may also want to try your hand at our Rock
Crystal Cycle activity, or learn about 10 Things
You Can Do to Improve Soil.
If you are planning a visit to the Underground Adventure with children, here are some
tips to help you make the most of the visit:
Before you visit
- Explore the Underground Adventure online Virtual
Tour with your child. Encourage children to think of questions they hope their
visit to the exhibition will answer or to identify critters they hope to see there.
- Plan ahead to include a scavenger hunt as part of your visit. Print images of
some of the critters from the field
guide
 provided
on this Web site. Then, during your visit, give your child three to five of these
images to look for as you tour the exhibit. Older students can write down one
interesting thing they learn about each critter.
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In the exhibition
- Encourage your children to try out the interactive parts of the exhibition. These
include features like tunnels for exploration, cicada shells to crawl into, interactive
quiz games, insect identification, and more!
- Field Museum scientists, Soil Adventure Mobile educators, and U.S. Department
of Agriculture soil scientists often set up demonstrations and hands-on activities
in the exhibition. Check out our electronic visitor kiosk in Stanley Field Hall
to see what additional programs are available during your visit to Underground
Adventure.
- Note: Much of the Underground Adventure exhibition contains
animatronic creatures, atmospheric noises, and low light levels that very young
children might find intimidating. You may choose to take pre-school age children
directly to the end of the exhibition—called the Mud Room. In this area
of the exhibition, children are encouraged to try their hand at insect identification,
measurement activities, hands-on experiments, and a computer interactive.
- Encourage your children to make connections to their own experiences with soil.
As you go through the exhibit, ask your children some of the following questions:
- Which of these creatures have you seen before? Where?
- What would a day in the life of an ant be like? How about a June beetle
grub? An acorn?
- How do the underground habitats depicted in the exhibition compare and
contrast to above-ground habitats?
- How do you depend on soil in your everyday life?
- What do you think are the primary challenges to soil health and underground
ecosystems in your neighborhood?
- While you're in the Museum, check out other related exhibitions, such as Plants
of the World, What Is an Animal?, the Insect Gallery, and
Messages from the Wilderness. Help your children make links between what
they learned in Underground Adventure and these other nature-related
exhibitions.
- For those families interested in the intersection between nature and culture,
explore Underground Adventure keeping in mind the following four questions:
- In what ways do we depend on soil in our everyday lives?
- How have different cultures and societies around the world through time
relied on soil?
- How have beliefs and attitudes toward nature changed over time in different
societies?
- What role have soil, rocks, and minerals played in preserving the history
and cultures of past societies?
Now, keeping these questions in mind, link your visit to Underground Adventure
to a trip to Inside Ancient Egypt, Pacific Spirits, the Pawnee
Earth Lodge, and/or The Northwest Coast/Arctic Peoples Halls. Answer
the four questions above for each culture area.
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Extending the concepts beyond the museum visit
- Look for the critters you met in Underground Adventure in your own backyard.
You can print the field
guide from
this Web site and use it to identify critters you find in your neighborhood. The
Looking for Life or Rock
Flip activities give directions on looking for soil critters. Encourage your
children to see what different critters they can find in different areas of your
yard, such as under a tree or under a leaf pile. After your visit to Underground
Adventure, ask older children to predict which critters they might find in
different areas of your yard, then do some research to find out if they were right.
- Encourage your children to keep a field journal at home and to use the journal
to record observations they make about nature in their own backyard. Making and
recording observations at the same place on a regular basis can give children
a deeper understanding and appreciation of nature. It can also spark questions
and inquiries and inspire creative writing and poetry.
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Additional education opportunities available from The Field Museum
- Soil Adventure Mobile
The Soil
Adventure Mobile offers community groups, schools, libraries, and neighborhood
groups a perfect way to extend their Underground Adventure exhibition
experience. Explore the world beneath your feet with a hands-on educational program.
Identify the critters you can find in your backyard, learn how soil is created,
view microscopic life underground, and interact with live decomposers (worms,
millipedes, and other invertebrates). For more information, call 312-665-7519
or e-mail soiladventuremobile@fieldmuseum.org.
- Harris Educational Loan Center
Families, educators, youth group leaders, and home-school parents are encouraged
to check out materials from our Harris
Educational Loan Center. The Field Museum has hundreds of items related to
Underground Adventure that you can borrow to reinforce the concepts you
learned underground. Exhibit dioramas of local animals, insects, and plants allow
students to see real specimens up close. Our Underground Adventure Experience
Boxes (Prairie Life, Vacant Lot, Science Explorer,
and Critter Connections) contain ready-made lesson plans, real animal
specimens, soil samples, and lab kits. You can check out the materials for up
to three weeks at a time—borrow one today and start exploring! For more
information, call 312-665-7555.
- Calendar of events
Take a family workshop, sign up for an adult course, or go adventuring on a Field
Museum field trip! Dozens of public programs focused on environmental themes are
offered each month at The Field Museum. Check out our calendar
of events.
- Teacher and student programs
Student classes and educator workshops related to Underground Adventure
themes are also available for school-based or summer camp audiences. For more
information, check out our upcoming
teacher and student programs.
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 Take a virtual tour of the Underground Adventure exhibition at The Field Museum!  |
