Gem and Mineral Hall, Natural History Museum (Kari Kelly)
Kari Kelly, John F. Kennedy Sr. High School
Los Angeles Museum of Natural History
Field Trip Information Sheet for Students
The Hall of Gems & Minerals
This exhibition focuses on Gems and Minerals of our natural world.
How well do you know your minerals? Take the challenge!
Where: Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. The Natural History Museum
is located in Exposition Park at 900 Exposition Boulevard between Vermont Avenue and Figueroa Street.
When: (Day, Date, and Time). Meet me at the school buses at the front of the school. Plan to return to school today before the end of 6th period, at around 2:15 pm. Be sure to remind students to ask their teachers for any work that they may miss IN ADVANCE of missing his or her classes.
Cost: Admission is free for public school classes. There is a gift shop, so suggest students bring money if you think they might like to purchase anything from the shop, but this is highly optional and there may not be time to look around.
Bring: Clipboard for students to write activities on, paper to write with, graphite pencils, (colored pencils or another colored drawing tool to make color notations). Cameras and photography *may* not be allowed in the museum so do not plan on using your camera phone like they usually do in class. STUDENTS SHOULD BRING A SACK LUNCH OR about $10 in LUNCH MONEY to buy food in the museum’s cafeteria. We will break to eat in the cafeteria together at 11:45 am until about 12:30 pm when we will go back up to the Mineral Hall.What to Wear: This is an indoor location. Students will be walking and standing a lot, so make sure they wear comfortable shoes. They should travel as light as possible. For example: Do the students really need to carry around a heavy backpack all day?
Expectations: Students are expected to behave in an appropriate manner as representatives of the school. Control noise, chatter, etc. and be respectful of the work, surroundings, and other museum visitors.
Chemistry Concepts addressed in class and also applied in this Field Trip: dissolution, evaporation, concentration, equilibrium, supersaturation, melting v. dissolving, phase diagrams, chemical reactions, ionic bonding, nomenclature of ionic compounds (including polyatomic ions), crystal lattice, density, specific gravity, molar mass, empirical and molecular formulas, weak acids and bases, and solutions.Sample Scavenger Hunt Activity (printables attached below): Divide students into 9 groups of 3 students. Each group is will rotate areas in order to complete all 3 Activities before we leave the museum hall today.
Groups 1, 2, & 3 will start at the Mineralogy Display (see map) with Activity #1
Groups 4, 5, & 6 will start at the Gem Vault (see map) with Activity #2
Groups 7, 8, & 9 will start at the Mineral Hall (see map) with Activity #3
(We will go to the other floors as a group, time permitting. You CANNOT go by yourself. Remember what happened to Nemo when he and his classmates wandered away from their science teacher on the class field trip??? Don’t even THINK about “touching the butt”…)
Click here to go to the Gem & Mineral Hall Gallery Guide
Location: Natural History Museum
For directions and parking information click here.