Within the first week of school closures being announced, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science staff quickly worked with other Colorado science educators to first see what teachers needed and then respond to those needs.

Autumn, a sixth-grade teacher in Glenwood Springs, was at a loss for how to help her students when the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly shut down schools in March 2020.

Within the first week of school closures being announced, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science staff quickly worked with other Colorado science educators to first see what teachers needed and then respond to those needs.

Autumn leaned on many of the opportunities the Museum created for teachers in this unusual time. She used DMNS on Demand videos to provide an activity to her remote learning students when she was scrambling for what to assign them. Through other teacher programs, Autumn was able to connect and collaborate virtually with science teachers from all over Colorado. For instance, she participated in weekly Tools @ Tea Time programs – brief, virtual professional learning sessions with the Museum’s teacher educators. Topics from assessment, to top resources, to even teacher self-care were covered and were all valuable to her.

Your support ensures that teachers like Autumn receive the programs and support they need. You ensure that the Denver Museum of Nature & Science is here for our community, pivoting to meet the quickly changing education needs of teachers and students, providing a place for everyone to follow their curiosities, and catalyzing a lifetime of learning. Thank you!

Outreach experiences like the one described above are possible thanks to heroes like our donors and longtime Museum volunteer and supporter Ann O’Donnell.

Imagine that a colorfully wrapped box bursting with imaginative, hands-on activities and specimens from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science collections arrives at Fraser Valley Elementary School in Fraser, Colorado.

Everyone who lays eyes on the box realizes that an extraordinary experience awaits. Guided by their teachers—who are now experts in earth science thanks to lessons and activities curated by the Museum—students dig deep into Colorado’s past to discover what our state looked like when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

As students create simulations of Colorado’s lost worlds, they practice using the teamwork, communication, and critical thinking skills they’ll need as the innovators, explorers, and community builders of tomorrow. Outreach experiences like the one described above are possible thanks to heroes like our donors and longtime Museum volunteer and supporter Ann O’Donnell.

Words can’t express the depth of our gratitude to Ann for her 40+ years of volunteer service and to the many supporters who contributed to the Ann O’Donnell Endowment for Outreach and Education in her honor. The endowment, which was created in 2019, supports hands-on science education experiences for K-12 students, both in their own schools and communities and on Museum field trips.

Your support helps spark excitement and wonder in youth like Jonathan, for whom this close brush with the real workings of science may inspire a lifetime of continued learning.

Eighth-grader Jonathan was enjoying a hike in the Boulder foothills when an object that looked like a small, slightly shiny, rock caught his eye, and he picked it up. He didn’t know what the rock in his pocket was, but he had a special feeling about it.  Following his curiosity, he brought it to the attention of paleontologists at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Jonathan was shocked and thrilled when the scientists told him he found a fossil tooth from a Tyrannosaurus Rex that lived and died 68 million years ago!

That moment ignited a scientific journey for both Jonathan and the Museum. Jonathan’s discovery was displayed in the paleontology prep lab viewing window inside the Prehistoric Journey exhibition. Museum scientists now have evidence pointing to a new Front Range location and will secure permits to dig further. Could this tooth be potential evidence of a larger fossil find beneath the Earth’s surface? Jonathan may even be able to participate in the field work to find out.

Jonathan’s story reminds us to explore our backyard, ask questions, stay curious and follow the science. Your support helps spark excitement and wonder in youth like Jonathan, for whom this close brush with the real workings of science may inspire a lifetime of continued learning. This story is just one of the many impacts your support has on our community.

Thank you for investing in discovery, science, and the exploration of our natural world!

BENEFITS:

Become a corporate member and enjoy many special perks that connect your employees to the Museum and reward them for a job well done. Corporate membership includes Museum, giant screen theater, and Planetarium passes and other benefits.

* Your executives will receive invitations to special events and a Family Plus Membership to give away

** A private viewing of the Museum collections, exclusive artifacts, and areas not available to the general public (group of 20 or less)