Courses · Explore Tracks · Self-paced · Elementary & junior high
Explore Tracks
Some children want to know everything about sharks, or T. rex, or Hannibal. Explore Tracks let them run. They are not grade-level courses but self-paced trails of short, stand-alone stops a child can start anywhere and follow as deep as he likes: a true story, a great picture, something to do with his hands, a game and a page in his Field Notebook.
Choose a trail
Trail A at the 🟢 Scout level is ready now (videos coming). The other trails, and the 🔵 Ranger (ages 9–12) and 🔴 Expert (ages 12–14) levels, are coming soon.
🟢 Scout · Ages 7–9 · 28 stops
Trail A: Mammals, Meet the Dinosaurs, The Ancient World
Ten mammals from the lion to the American bison; ten famous dinosaurs and the museum words Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous; and eight battles of the ancient world from Marathon to Alesia, ending with Jericho and Gideon. Badge quizzes and a Trail certificate for each track.
🐾 Animals
Trail B · 10 stops
Birds
Eagles, owls, hummingbirds, penguins, migration, nests and Audubon the bird painter.
Coming soon
Trail C · 10 stops
Reptiles and Amphibians
Crocodiles, Komodo dragons, sea turtles, chameleons, frogs and the Gila monster.
Coming soon
Trail D · 10 stops
Ocean Life
Sharks, octopus, coral reefs, the giant squid, dolphins, salmon, and Jonah and Leviathan.
Coming soon
Trail E · 10 stops
Insects and Small Creatures
Ants, honeybees, monarch butterflies, spiders, fireflies, Fabre the insect watcher and a bug hotel.
Coming soon
Trail F · 10 stops
Animals Doing Amazing Things
Echolocation, camouflage, hibernation, animal builders and tools, and the sled dogs of the Nome serum run.
Coming soon
🦕 Dinosaurs
Trail B · 10 stops
Dinosaur Hunters
Mary Anning, Buckland, the Mantells, Owen, the Crystal Palace dinosaurs, the Bone Wars and Sue the T. rex.
Coming soon
Trail C · 10 stops
How Dinosaurs Lived
Teeth and diet, eggs and nests, trackways, herds, speed, feathers and sauropod necks.
Coming soon
Trail D · 10 stops
Dinosaurs and the Bible
Day six, Behemoth and Leviathan, the Ark, the Flood, dragon legends and reading a museum sign.
Coming soon
Trail E · 10 stops
Sea and Sky Reptiles, and the Ice Age
Ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, woolly mammoths, saber-toothed cats and La Brea.
Coming soon
⚔ Great Battles
Trail B · 8 stops
The Middle Ages
Tours, Hastings, Hattin, Bannockburn, Agincourt, Orléans, Constantinople and Lepanto.
Coming soon
Trail C · 8 stops
The Age of Sail and the American Founding
The Armada, Vienna, Quebec, Lexington and Concord, Trenton, Saratoga, Yorktown and Trafalgar.
Coming soon
Trail D · 8 stops
The Nineteenth Century
Waterloo, New Orleans, San Jacinto, Bull Run, Monitor and Merrimack, Vicksburg, Gettysburg and Appomattox.
Coming soon
Trail E · 8 stops
The World Wars
The Marne, Sergeant York, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Midway, El Alamein, D-Day and the Bulge.
Coming soon
How a track works
- Stops. Each stop takes 15–25 minutes and stands by itself, so a child may start with the animal, dinosaur or battle he loves best.
- Three depths. 🟢 Scout (ages 7–9): read-aloud story, picture study, draw or build. 🔵 Ranger (ages 9–12): more facts, a map or diagram, a notebook entry. 🔴 Expert (ages 12–14): primary sources, numbers and a go-deeper list.
- Badges and certificates. Optional badge quizzes along the way, and a Trail certificate earned by finishing stops, not by scores.
- Goes deeper. Each stop points to the matching lesson in our full courses; lessons not yet published are marked “coming soon.”
Every trail can also be downloaded as one printable PDF.
Videos coming. When a video is placed, it opens on YouTube. A parent should preview it first, and stay nearby, since YouTube shows its own recommendations and ads around it.