March 17 – 29, 2026 | Celebrating our Collections
We’re thrilled to celebrate the museum’s collections during spring break 2026. From March 17-29, we’ll focus on one of our collections every day. Be sure to visit on your favourite day, and we hope you visit multiple times to see it all!
With themed colouring sheets, scavenger hunts, and activities we have everything in place for a self-led exploration of the collections. Investigate at your own pace throughout the day, and plan to join one of our half-hour highlights or hands-on activities featuring the day’s theme to round out your visit!
Find our topics on the daily schedule!
The Beaty Biodiversity Museum reserves the right to change or modify programming as needed. Please note that the Beaty Biodiversity Museum is closed on Mondays and statutory holidays.
The museum is open to all ages and our activities are included with membership or museum admission on a drop-in basis. Children under the age of 13 must have adult supervision in the museum at all times. Please visit our accessibility page if you have any access questions!
Are you offering a spring break camp? Check out our in-person program options for private, hands-on, biodiversity experiences suitable for your group.
Tetrapods | Spring Break 2026 | March 17, 27
Today we will be highlighting birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, the four groups of vertebrates in the Cowan Tetrapod Collection. While you’re outdoors today, see if you can spot any tetrapod neighbors nesting near the museum! Check our schedule here.
Extend your learning at home:
- Find an animal that starts with each letter of the alphabet – be descriptive to try to get the toughest letters!
- Learn about mammals and birds that live at UBC in these guides! Bird Guide and Mammal Guide.
- Head to a local park and observe the signs of spring, finding and sketching your findings along the way;
- Learn about how camera traps are used to research mammals with Cole;
- Roseanna talks about Western toads in Haida Gwaii;
- Learn about the Cowan Tetrapod collection at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.
How do you compare to a muskox? Get up close to one in our Tetrapod Collection!
Fishes | Spring Break 2026 | March 18, 28
Today our focus is on our aquatic fishy friends! Fishes are animals that live in water and have a backbone and gills. Fishes range from tiny little sardines, to top predators like great white sharks; and from scary looking monkfish to elegant angelfish! Check our schedule here.
Extend your learning at home:
- Learn about the Sturgeon Harpoon Knowledge web;
- Sam uses machine learning when researching guppies;
- Dolph talks about how new species form and how they are different from each other, focusing on sticklebacks;
- Trout conservation is a complex problem worked on by many people, including Trish, Jared, and Kai;
- Learn about the Fish collection at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.
Immerse yourself in the Sturgeon Harpoon Knowledge Web!
Entomology | Spring Break 2026 | March 19, 29
Today, we are focusing on insects and other arthropod relatives. From millipedes and spiders, to butterflies and beetles, there is at least one creature that will catch your eye! Check our schedule here.
Extend your learning at home:
- Print your own insect guide to learn about common critters at UBC!
- Savi talks about hoverflies, an amazing group of flies that mimic bees and wasps;
- Michelle explains her research, learning about how insects respond to climate change;
- Have you wondered what’s in a wasp nest? Watch Nancy as she dissected a nest live over zoom in 2020;
- Visit our youtube channel to learn about dragonflies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLunW5aF88c) , new species of spiders, and more!
- Learn about the Spencer Entomological collection at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.
Every drawer in our collections is a surprise – can you find an amazing story about parental care in tarantula hawk wasps? Photo by Derek Tan
Marine Invertebrates | Spring Break 2026 | March 20, 25
Today we’ll be focusing on our squishy friends who live in the ocean – marine invertebrates! “Invertebrate” means without a backbone, and this includes creatures like snails, octopuses, sea stars, and more! Check our schedule here.
Extend your learning at home:
- Learn about echinoderms with Francisco;
- Colour a copepod while you learn about their life cycle;
- Focus in on classification using Marine Invertebrates. It’s a great group activity for the beach!
- Head to your local beach! Download a field guide to 40 prominent intertidal species of marine life which inhabit the rocky shore in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC. By Sheila Byers;
- Learn about the Marine Invertebrate collection at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.
The marine invertebrate collection is filled with amazing creatures – including hermit crabs! See if you can spot one on display during your visit. Photo by Derek Tan.
Herbarium: Plants, Algae, Fungi & Lichen | Spring Break 2026 | March 21, 24
The herbarium is filled with interesting organisms, some who photosynthesize, like plants and algae; and others that don’t, like fungi & lichen. Meet mosses, find a fern, touch a tree, see a seaweed, and fawn over flowers! Lichens are a composite organism made up of a fungus and an alga. Fungi are eukaryotes with a wide range of different growth forms. Check our schedule here.
Extend your learning at home:
- Learn about how herbarium specimens are used for research with Jamie;
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Use our Mushrooms Up! guide to some common mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
- Download and print a plant guide and log for common plants at UBC;
- Explore amazing algae from the seashore to the herbarium floor!
- How do you press plants for art and science? Learn more here;
- Learn about the herbarium at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum;
- Extend your time at UBC! Spend some time at the UBC Botanical Garden.
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The BC Ministry of Forests published an illustrated key to the Lichens of British Columbia!
Can you find Huber Moore’s collection on display in the herbarium?
Fossils | Spring Break 2026 | March 22, 26
Today our focus is on fossils, the preserved remains or traces of organisms. They can be the shells of marine invertebrates, the bones of fish, the footprints of a dinosaur, the impression of leaves, and more. Fossils can tell us about ancient life on Earth and help us understand present-day biodiversity. Check our schedule here.
Extend your learning at home:
- Explore the Rockies searching for dinosaur footprints with Lisa and Rich;
- Meet Ludo, who studies fossil fungi;
- Walk through time, in person or online, with the Beaty and Pacific Museum of Earth;
- Learn about the Fossil collection at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum;
- One of our favourite evolution resources is from the University of California Museum of Palaeontology;
- Explore the Digital Atlas of Ancient Life;
- Extend your time at UBC! Spend some time at the Pacific Museum of Earth.
Footprints are like a movie from the past – touch footprint replicas while you learn about four different types of dinosaurs from BC. https://footprintsintime.ca/