Classroom Programs
Let the Asombro Institute bring the wonder of science to your classroom! During Asombro’s classroom programs, students learn about a variety of science topics through fun, hands-on activities. Programs are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards. Select a grade below to learn more about our program offerings.
- Where: In your classroom
- Cost: Regular price is $100 per lesson, but thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we are able to offer a reduced price of $60 for the first presentation; $30 for additional, same-day presentations (additional travel charges may apply for schools outside Las Cruces, NM: $25 + 45 cents per mile)
- Maximum Group Size: 1 class per presentation (exceptions on an individual basis)
- Length: Approximately one hour per presentation
Please contact us to request a classroom program.
Apply for a Science Sponsorship
If you are a classroom teacher who would like Asombro to visit your classroom but do not have funds available, consider applying for a science sponsorship by clicking the button below. If selected, teachers receive a free classroom program through a generous Science Sponsor who has donated the funds to cover the cost. To learn more about Science Sponsors, click here.
- All Classroom Programs
- Kindergarten
- 1st Grade
- 2nd Grade
- 3rd Grade
- 4th Grade
- 5th Grade
- Middle School
- High School
Patterns of Plant and Animal Survival
Using their own observations, students will determine what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. They will collect data on Chihuahuan Desert plants and animals, both from models and in animal habitats. As a class, they will use data from their observations to find patterns in plant and animal survival needs. Finally, the class will play a “survival game” using their new knowledge and showing evidence of their learning.
K-LS1-1
Sun and Shade in the Schoolyard
Students will conduct a scientific investigation to learn that the sun warms the Earth’s surface and design a model to show the ideal place for animals to stay cool on a sunny day in the Chihuahuan Desert.
K-PS3-1 and K-PS3-2
Cows and Calves
What do Criollo cows do to help their calves survive in the Chihuahuan Desert? Students will learn about Raramuri criollo cattle, a heritage breed that scientists are researching as a sustainable ranching solution in the dry southwestern United States. Students will discover how Criollo dams, or mothers, help their offspring, or calves, survive. They will conduct investigations to determine different ways Criollo ensure calves survive by studying their behaviors and how data are being collected in New Mexico using precision tools. They will then analyze data they collect to understand how Criollo are well suited to survive in the Chihuahuan Desert.
1-LS1-2
Sounds and Vibrations
Students will learn how the Great Plains Toad creates sound. They will conduct investigations to determine that vibrating materials create sound. They will then plan and carry out an investigation to demonstrate that sound can cause materials to vibrate.
1-PS4-1
Young Arthropod Identification
Students examine and collect data on adult arthropod specimens and match them to photos of young individuals of the same species.
1-LS3-1
Desert Stories 1st Grade
Desert Stories consists of three, hour-long lessons delivered by staff from the Asombro Institute for Science Education in your classroom.
Lesson 1 – Students learn about the New Mexico state plant and animals symbols and think about the similarities between plant and animal structures and everyday objects. After reading the book Life in the Slow Lane, students think about how animals would build homes in the desert. They test the strength of building materials and begin designing a desert home.
Lesson 2 – Students compare plant root lengths and investigate how plant roots keep tall plants stable in a yucca bowling game. Then they use animal feet models to dig a hole and compare the evaluate the effectiveness of each foot.
Lesson 3 – Students think about how plants and animals protect themselves through camouflage (animals), and spines and thorns (plants). They use these ideas to add to the home design they started in the previous lessons.
1-LS1-1 and K-2-ETS1.3
Desert Stories 2nd Grade
Desert Stories consists of three, hour-long lessons delivered by staff from the Asombro Institute for Science Education in your classroom.
Lesson 1 – Students listen to a reading of Flip, Float, Fly to learn that seeds have different adaptations to help them disperse. They then use adjectives to describe and categorize seeds by their dispersal methods. Finally, students conduct an experiment to determine if animals are a good way to disperse seeds.
Lesson 2 – Students act out a skit by being yucca seeds dispersing to determine if there are enough natural resources for survival. Then students conduct an experiment to see if a yucca seed or a honey mesquite seed is better shaped for wind dispersal.
Lesson 3 – Students listen to Gopher to the Rescue: A Volcano Recovery Story. They then put their knowledge from lessons 1 and 2 into practice as they design their own seed with structures that will help it disperse to an area cleared by a volcano.
2-LS2-2 and K-2-ETS1-2
New Mexico Wildlife Wonders
In this three-part lesson, students will explore two different habitats (the Chihuahuan Desert and New Mexico Mountains), and learn about types of wildlife that need protection in those habitats.
2-LS4-1
Schoolyard Habitats and Animal Diversity
Many arthropods are found around the schoolyard. Students will use pitfall traps, a simple tool to collect ground insects and spiders, to investigate types of ground arthropods in two different habitats in the schoolyard and from one habitat in the open desert at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park. They will use this information to make predictions about animals and plants.
2-LS4-1
Are You This Cow's Herd?
After an introduction to traits and several types of cows, students visit six hands-on stations to gather data to compare a lost cow’s traits to the traits of other cattle types. They analyze and interpret these data to help a rancher reunite the lost cow with her herd.
3-LS3-1
Through grant funding, this lesson is available as an Asombro-led program in your classroom. Materials are also freely available online and can be accessed here.
¡Criollo! Desert Cattle
After a quick activity that demonstrates the relevance and importance of cattle to human life, students will play an active game that models the foraging behaviors of regional heritage cattle (Criollo) versus those of more recently introduced English breeds (Angus). Following a discussion of traits and inheritance, students will gather evidence to support an explanation of how cattle like Criollo come to have traits that help them survive by breaking into groups to collect data on the geography and climate of the various arid locations where Criollo’s ancestors originated. Finally, students develop a timeline of Criollo history and construct an explanation for the phenomena.
3-LS4-2
Desert Stories 3rd Grade
Desert Stories consists of three, hour-long lessons delivered by staff from the Asombro Institute for Science Education in your classroom and schoolyard.
Lesson 1 – Students receive a “mystery object” (yucca seed pod) and listen to a reading of Night Life of the Yucca: The Story of a Flower and a Moth to determine what their mystery object is. They complete a yucca life cycle model as a class and, then, assemble the yucca moth life cycle model on their own.
Lesson 2 – Students complete a scientific investigation to discover the common number of insect holes in yucca seedpods. They will measure, create graphs, and read and answer questions to better understand their results and conclusions.
Lesson 3 – Students practice skills with a second scientific investigation on yucca roots. They will measure, convert feet to inches, graph, and describe their results and conclusions.
3-LS1-1 and 3-LS4-3
Life Cycles
Students will learn about life cycles in a variety of organisms. They will use models to discover that even though there are differences in life spans of various organisms, all organisms share common life cycle stages, including birth, growth, reproduction, and death. Students will then set up an experiment to help solve a real-world problem involving life cycle stages in mealworms.
3-LS1-1
Plant Traits: Learning From Herbarium Collections
Students will investigate the trait of leaf size in two species of oaks found in New Mexico. They will use their understanding of humidity and stomata on leaves to explain why a species from an area with lower humidity has smaller leaves than a species from an area with higher humidity. Throughout the lesson, they will role-play as botanists working with specimens from a herbarium, learning the importance of natural history collections.
3-LS3-2
Desert Stories 4th Grade
The Desert Stories Program engages students in a multi-lesson science and literacy project.
Lesson 1 – Through interactive dress up play, students learn about the adaptations a Kangaroo Rat possesses that allow it to live in a desert environment. They complete a scientific investigation about heat transfer using model Jackrabbit ears.
Lesson 2 – Students will complete short investigations on leaf size, root length, and presence versus absence of spines to better understand the function of common structures of desert plants. They will then apply their understanding of the function of these structures to an Ocotillo to explain how it survives in the desert.
Lesson 3 – Students will practice their story-writing skills by reading and answering story prompts and then acting out their story in skit format.
4-LS1-1 and 4-PS3-2
Let It Blow
Students learn about wind erosion in the desert and use a kit of materials supplied by Asombro to test the effects of three different types of ground cover on dust created by wind erosion. They then design and test their own engineering solution to reduce soil erosion by wind.
4-ESS2-1, 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, and 3-5-ETS1-3
Structure and Function of Plants
Students will learn about the structures and functions of plants found in the Chihuahuan Desert. They will investigate the external structures of multiple plant species and discuss their functions in supporting the plants’ survival. Students will develop arguments about a structure of the creosote bush. Then, the class will discuss how the structures function together in a system to support the survival of the creosote bush.
4-LS1-1
Mystery Matter
Students gather evidence and conduct investigations to help Ricardo and his grandmother figure out which unlabeled item in the pantry contains the baking soda they need to make cookies. They conduct investigations to determine if unknown materials (powders, minerals, and metals) can be identified based on observable characteristics.
5-PS1-3
Science Interns: Matter
This four-lesson module helps students learn (1) to describe the different states of matter when substances are mixed, (2) to identify materials based on their properties, and (3) that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved. They also prepare to teach three mini-stations to younger students at their school.
Lesson 1 – Students review the three states of matter and conduct investigations to find the correct recipe for oobleck.
Lesson 2 – Students gather evidence and conduct investigations to help Ricardo and his grandmother figure out which unlabeled item in the pantry contains the baking soda they need to make cookies. They conduct investigations to determine if unknown materials (powders, minerals, and metals) can be identified based on observable characteristics.
Lesson 3 – Students are introduced to the phenomenon of the conservation of matter when the shape of an object is changed.
Lesson 4 – Students plan, outline, and practice their presentations to fellow classmates before they present to the younger students.
5-PS1-2, 5-PS1-3, and 5-PS1-4.
Where's The Fence?
Virtual fences may be a technological solution that could help ranchers better manage their cows while preventing overgrazing and protecting the land. Students learn about “virtual fences,” a new technology that can help ranchers in the southwestern United States prevent overgrazing and protect the land. They participate in activities and create a persuasive argument to understand what scientists are learning by studying this new tool as a method to protect rangelands from erosion associated with overgrazing.
5-ESS3-1
Creosote Bush Genetics
Creosote bushes are one of the most common plants in North America’s Deserts. However, the shrubs are different sizes and shapes in different locations. Students will use pressed creosote bush specimens to compare shrub size in the Chihuahuan, Mojave, and Sonoran Deserts. Activities will guide students through investigations to determine if the size difference is caused by genetics, the environment or both.
MS-LS1-5
Energy Transfers Around a Kangaroo Rat
Students trace the transfer and transformation of energy as it flows through a small section of the desert food web centered on a kangaroo rat. They learn about energy as a crosscutting concept, applying “physical science” concepts of kinetic and potential energy to “life science” concepts like photosynthesis, metabolism, thermoregulation, and movement of organisms.
MS-PS3-5
Get Out and Graze!
Students learn about heritage livestock as they play the roles of Angus and Raramuri Criollo cattle grazing on a rangeland under abundant and then limited forage conditions caused by climate change.
MS-LS2-1 and HS-ESS3-1
Through grant funding, this lesson is available as an Asombro-led program in your classroom. Materials are also freely available online and can be accessed here.
Human Impacts: Water Use
Students will explore two models of water conservation, while collecting quantitative data on water that is conserved. Students will review the causes of water shortages in New Mexico and craft an argument about water shortages. Lastly, students will work in small groups to design solutions for water conservation in home design.
MS-ESS3-3 and MS-ESS3-4
Insulating You, Insulating Earth
To understand how increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increase global surface temperatures, students will model the natural and enhanced greenhouse effect. Students conduct an experiment using their own body heat, thermometers, towels, and mylar blankets.
MS-ESS3-5
Magnets and Migration
Students will apply their knowledge of magnetic fields to learn about current research on animal navigation. They will first investigate how the magnetic field of a bar magnet exerts a force on a paperclip. They will then conduct investigations to explore how animals may use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate over long distances. Finally, students will evaluate the design of experiments scientists are using to test magnetoreception in butterflies.
MS-PS2-5
Natural Selection of Blanched Lizards at White Sands
Students are introduced to the phenomenon of camouflage in desert animals. They then move through activities highlighting major stages of evolution by natural selection in the context of blanched lizards at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. As students participate in activity stations, they learn that changes in genes lead to different proteins in organisms, that variation in traits may lead to differential survival and reproduction in a particular environment, and that over time, this leads to a change in the frequency of specific traits in a population. Students will apply what they learn about blanched lizards at White Sands to explain the process of natural selection in rock pocket mice at the Valley of Fires in Carrizozo, NM.
MS-LS3-1, MS-LS4-4, and MS-LS4-6
Restoring Connections (Schoolyard)
Students examine photos to discover that parts of Chihuahuan Desert have changed from a grassland to a shrubland ecosystem. After participating in an interactive game, students will explain that drought and grazing by livestock are two of the causes of shrub encroachment. Students use models to show how shrub encroachment causes increased erosion which exposes the hardened caliche layer. They will use aerial photos to estimate percent shrub cover and determine that a shrubland habitat is unsuitable for a keystone species – the banner-tailed kangaroo rat. After learning about the effects of shrub encroachment, students construct an argument to explain how a part of the ecosystem is impacted by this change.
MS-LS2-4
This lesson may be followed by a field trip to the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park. Learn more here.
Evaluating Solutions for Sustainability in the Southwest
Students will evaluate one of three solutions that hold promise for creating more sustainable beef production in the southwest: (1) the use of a heritage breed, the Rarámuri Criollo, or Criollo crossbreeds, rather than traditional cattle breeds; (2) the use of precision tools (such as GPS collars and water sensors); (3) the production of grass-fed beef as an alternative to the traditional beef supply chain. These topics stem from a large research project at New Mexico State University from 2019-2024. The module is designed to be completed as an in-class project, with some out-of-class work time for students. FFA students may also choose to expand upon their presentation and participate in the FFA Agricultural Issues Forum event.
HS-ETS1-3
Through grant funding, this lesson is available as an Asombro-led program in your classroom. Materials are also freely available online and can be accessed here.
Precision Ranching Tools
Students learn about current research into technology that could make ranching more economically and environmentally sustainable in the Southwest. Students will model several technologies, consider the pros and cons of each and make a case for which are most useful.
Zoonotic Disease Transmission Mystery
Students learn that pathogens causes diseases and can move between animal and human populations in a variety of ways. Students play the role of public health scientists and are tasked with identifying the pathogen making people ill and determining the source of this outbreak. Students will read, gather data, and think critically about the clues they have collected and write a report to city officials detailing their results. Students will be asked to consider the likelihood of future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases and brainstorm solutions to mitigate this problem.
This lesson addresses several NGSS Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts.