I never figured I’d work so much of my career in science museums, but looking back it really comes as no surprise. The city park in the area that I grew up in is right next to what was then the Denver Museum of Natural History. Our family would go on picnics in the park on weekends in the early ‘70’s and at the time the museum was free to the public. While we lathered our barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs with copious amounts of ketchup, I would suss out which of my siblings (often my brother) I could coax into taking me over to the museum to see my three favorite exhibits: the scale model of the solar system, a collection of bird eggs ranging from wrens to ostriches, and the towering mastodon that looked as though it was charging through the darkened hall where it was displayed. I never grew tired of it, never grew tired of the entire museum and was always disappointed when we had to leave.

Today, the mastodon is still there, although it does not appear (to me at least) to be as menacing as it did over 30 years ago. What used to make me want to grab my brother for dear life as a kid, had always made me smile as I passed by the mastodon over the course of the 13 years that I worked in the education department at the museum, now known as the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

I had always been interested in science and intended to go to medical school, but ended up starting my career teaching for the Hall of Life Health Education Center, which eventually was incorporated into the museum. At the museum, you could be developing a class for pre-schoolers on animal adaptations, getting a briefing on the latest NASA mission, and walking through an exhibit on the Mayans—all in the same day. I feel very blessed to have worked in places with such rich opportunities for learning.

Working with NSDL is no different. My “classroom” has now become virtual and I’m continually learning new things. Our web seminar series through the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Le… is a great opportunity for professional development and building content knowledge provided by our experts from NSDL’s partnering organizations. I’m pretty spoiled: I get to learn with everyone else on these online programs, including where to find some really great resources mentioned on the seminars.

We often collaborate with some of the best museums and science centers in the country. Here are some great NSDL collections you can find from informal education science centers:

Lawrence Hall of Science
TryScience from New York Hall of Science
Science Bulletins from the American Museum of Natural H… The Exploratorium Digital Library