Discovery Kits
Through our Discovery Kits, students can engage with the Museum’s artifacts and specimens directly in their classrooms, while educators gain access to a variety of resources and suggested activities curated by our education team to foster meaningful learning experiences.
Educators can rent a discovery kit with artifacts and specimens that students can touch and feel, or download Virtual discovery kits that utilize the Museum’s extensive Digital Collections online for an interactive, digital learning experience.
Discovery Kit Loan Program
Discovery kits include a variety of artifacts and specimens from the Museum’s Collection that allow students to investigate global and local objects. The Collections support the Museum’s mission of inspiring curiosity and discovery around science, history, and culture.
Each kit includes objects from the Museum’s archives, helpful resources, and suggested activities. Discovery kits are a great way to incorporate primary source and object-based learning into the classroom or as a way to prepare for or extend a Museum visit.
Reservation Information
- Rental length: 1 week
- Cost: $25 per kit
- Pick up and drop off: Kits can be picked up any time after 12:00 p.m. Monday of your confirmed week. Kits must be dropped off no later than 5:00 p.m. the following Sunday. Pick up and drop off will take place at the GRPM security entrance
- Please submit your reservation request at least one week ahead of your preferred loan date.
Watch our Discovery Kit Safety Video with your class to learn how to utilize the discovery kits and practice safe handling!
Â
Discovery Kit ThemesÂ
- Anishinabe Culture: Learn how Anishinabek have lived alongside the natural world through a variety of artifacts that tell the story of the first people of this place.
- Early Hominin Stone Tools:Â Think like an archaeologist and examine realistic reproductions of the stone tools created by early humans.
- Foodways: Food is a universal language. Discover how cultures around the world work in the kitchen.
- Fossils: Step back on the geological timeline to explore a variety of plant and animal fossils.
- Hats: What people wear on their heads can tell us an interesting story; learn the history behind headwear from across the globe.
- Holiday Traditions: Winter is the season for celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and more. Learn how trees, drums, and shoes play a part in holiday traditions around the world.
- Meteorites: Enjoy an “out of this world” opportunity to touch and examine real meteorites- pieces of rock, metal, and ice traveling through space that have landed on Earth.
- Music: Music is one of the first elements of culture we think of; investigate a variety of musical instruments from around the world.
- Newcomers: If you were moving to a new country and had only one suitcase to pack, what would you bring with you? Take a glimpse into the immigrant experience with this discovery kit.
- Numismatics: Yen, Roman coins, credit cards… Explore currency from around the globe.
- Rocks & Minerals: Think like a geologist and explore a collection of rocks and minerals, many of which are found here in Michigan. Learn about Earth’s minerals, geological processes, and how rocks are formed!
- Space Exploration: Space, the final frontier! Discover the story of Roger B. Chaffee, a hometown hero, and get an up-close look at space fragments.
- Zoology: Investigate specimens native to West Michigan and from around the globe. Discover where these species live, what they eat, and what makes them special!