The north carolina museum of natural sciences (ncmns), the largest natural history museum in the southeastern united states, will expand participatory paleontology programs that connect middle…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded Friends Of The North Carolina State Museum Of Natural Sciences $1,254,324 on September 1, 2026, under the Museums for America program (CFDA 45.301) to expand participatory paleontology initiatives serving middle school classrooms nationwide.

The recipient will integrate and scale two existing programs—Cretaceous Creatures and Shark Tooth Forensics—through a unified online platform featuring a teacher portal, interactive species-identification modules using high-resolution 3D fossil scans, standardized lesson plans aligned with Next Generation Science Standards, and improved systems for student data collection and validation. Approximately 160 teachers and more than 15,000 students, including those in rural and remote communities, will participate in authentic scientific research over the project period. Students are expected to discover and document approximately 12,000 vertebrate fossils that will become part of the museum's research collections and generate new biodiversity datasets.

Work is performed in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a period of performance from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2029. The project targets eighth grade students and teachers across the country, aiming to improve science literacy and access among American middle school students.

The north carolina museum of natural sciences (ncmns), the largest natural history museum in the southeastern united states, will expand participatory paleontology programs that connect middle school classrooms directly with museum research and collections. The project will integrate and scale two successful programs-cretaceous creatures (CC) and shark tooth forensics (STF)-to increase access to authentic scientific experiences for teachers and students, including those in rural and remote communities. This project will standardize and centralize CC and STF through a unified online platform that includes a teacher portal, interactive species-identification modules using high-resolution 3D fossil scans, standardized lesson plans aligned with next generation science standards, and improved systems for student data collection and validation. Over the project period, approximately 160 teachers and more than 15,000 students will participate in authentic scientific research. Students are expected to discover and document roughly 12,000 vertebrate fossils that will become part of the museum's research collections, generating new biodiversity datasets. The primary beneficiaries of this project are eighth grade students and teachers across the country. Project outcomes include improving science literacy and access among american middle school students.