1. pets
2. birds

Teacher Instructions
for
Discovery Guide to
Hall of the Natural Wonders
for grades 3 through 5
Before Your Visit:
• This activity was developed by the Education Department to help your
students focus on learning while at the museum.
• Please make copies of this activity and bring it with you to the museum. The museum does not provide copies for your students.
• Please remind your students to use pencil, not pen, when completing
this Discovery Guide. Encourage your students to fold this guide in
half so it will be easier to write on. Students should not place their
papers on exhibit walls, cases, or labels, as this can damage them.
• Save paper! Print pages 2-3, and copy them one to two-sided, so that
you have a one piece of paper with questions on both sides.
While at the Museum:
• These questions will encourage students to look closely at museum
exhibits, think critically about what they are seeing, and discuss their
findings with their classmates and chaperones.
• Most of the questions can be answered by reading the labels, but there
are several thought and open-ended questions, and students are encouraged to give an original answer.
• Students may not always come up with the “right” answer, so if this activity is to be used for a graded assignment, we suggest that you grade
more on participation and thoughtfulness than accuracy.
• Volunteers are frequently available in the galleries to answer questions.
Other Information:
• This is one of three Discovery Guides for this grade range. Discovery
Guides are available for three galleries, including the Halls of Ancient
Life, People of Oklahoma, and Natural Wonders.
• Have questions or suggestions? Send us your feedback at education@
snomnh.ou.edu, or Education Department, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, OK, 73072.
Answers
1. A
2. green heron, banded sculpin, crayfish, dobsonfly larvae, stoneroller
3. Algae
4. D
5. sunfish, bass, water snake
6. B
7. D
8. 5 or 6
9. the feeding and nesting habits of all the birds are different.
10. spotted salamander, box turtle, mosquito larvae, dragonfly, cricket
frog
11. Several hundred
12. To make sure some will survive; some will get eaten.
13. B
14. answers will vary, drawings of two plants, note the number of leaves
15. Blue Jay
16. acorn
17. Bison - grazer (grass); deer - browser (leaves and twigs)
18. Two of the following: chemicals, tough leaves, spines and stinging
hairs, hidden growth tissue
19. prickly pear, red-tailed hawk, prairie dog, Indian paintbrush, tarantula
20. biting insects and relieve itching
22. C
23. 5
24. A
25. Answers will vary; something from the gallery
5. Circle the animals you see near or in the deep pool.
Discovery Guide
Hall of Natural Wonders
for grades 3 through 5
black bear
sunfish
bison
bass
water snake
Limestone Cave in the Ozark Highlands
Directions: Questions begin at the entry of the Hall of Natural Wonders
6. These caves are made out of ___________.
A) Granite B) Limestone C) Quartz D) Marble
gallery by the large mural and the Upland Stream exhibit and go in sequence
through the gallery. Finding answers will be easier if you answer the questions
in order. To answer the questions labeled Think, you have to use information on
the label, and talk to your friends and to the volunteers to think of the answer.
7. Some characteristics of animals living in caves are:
A) Little-to-no color B) Reduced or no eyes C) Slow movement
D) all of the above
Upland Stream in the Ozark Highlands
Oak Hickory Forest in the Ozark Highlands
1. What is a riffle?
A) An area of fast-moving, shallow water
B) A deep pool of water
C) A calm, meandering stream
8. How many warblers can you find? 3
2. Circle the animals that you can find in and around a riffle:
____________________________________________________
green heron
banded sculpin
crayfish
stoneroller
3. What do stonerollers eat? (Circle one)
5
6
9. How can these different species of warblers live in the same habitat
without competing for resources?
bat
10. Circle the kinds of animals that live near or in a spring pool.
spotted salamander
dobsonfly larvae
4
tarantula
box turtle
jack rabbit
Fish or Algae
4. What would happen if stonerollers disappeared?
A) Fewer animals in the steam
B) Algae might cover stream bottom
C) Silt might increase on the stream bottom
D) All of the above
mosquito larvae
dragonfly
sunfish
cricket frog
11. How many eggs can spotted salamanders lay at once? __________
12. Why do you think salamanders lay that many eggs?
_____________________________________________________
13. Why does the mother skink stay near her eggs?
A) She likes them B) To protect them C) She doesn’t stay near them
14. Look at the trees above the skinks. Find the tree with two kinds of
vines on it. One vine is poison ivy and the other one is Virginia creeper.
DRAW both vines in the space below.
18. List two ways that plants protect themselves from animals who like
to eat them.
________________________ and _________________________
19. Circle the plants and animals that live in a Mixed Grass Prairie.
prickly pear
poison ivy
(3 leaves)
red-tailed hawk
prairie dog
Indian paintbrush
Virginia creeper
(5 leaves)
Poison ivy can give you an itchy rash if you touch it, but Virginia creeper
is harmless to humans.
15. Look at the branches above the tree. What kind of bird do you see?
____________________________________________________
16. What do both the bird and the squirrel eat? (HINT- look in the bird’s
beak!)
____________________________________________________
stoneroller
tarantula
black bear
20. What is the largest land mammal NATIVE to North America?
A) White-tailed deer
B) Bison
C) Horse
21. Why would a bison wallow?
To help remove ___________________ and __________________
Mixed-Grass Prairie, back side
22. Find the tarantula. Which animal shares its burrow?
A) Coyote
B) Jackrabbit
C) Narrowmouth toad
Mixed-Grass Prairie
17. Draw a line to match the animal with what it eats.
23. How many coyote pups can you see in the den? ______________
24. Why are Texas horned lizards found near harvester (red) ant colonies?
A) Horned lizards eat ants B) Ants protect horned lizards
bison
browser
(leaves and twigs)
white-tailed deer
grazer
(grass)
25. What is your favorite natural wonder?
Created by Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Education Department, 2011