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Group Educational Programs

Home School Groups

Schedule Your Visit
To arrange a group visit, please call 410-326-2042 ext. 41 or email Melissa McCormick.

All program times and dates are dependant upon the availability of staff and facility.

After a date has been arranged you will have two weeks to return a registration form along with a non-refundable $25.00 program fee.

Upon your arrival, you will be charged $2 per child to 12 years and $4 for children 13 and above as well as for adults.

We would like to offer you the following programs.

Maritime History: Featuring tours of the Maritime History Hall, the Drum Point Lighthouse and the Small Craft Shed.

Estuarine Biology: This includes a trip through the Estuarium, Marsh Walk and the Touch Tank in the Discovery Room.

Fossils of Calvert Cliffs: After learning about fossils, children will have an opportunity to dig in a fossil matrix and keep their fossils.

Important Information

Arrive at the museum at least 15 minutes prior to your scheduled visit.

This program is 90 minutes in length and can be geared for children in first grade through 12th grade.

The minimum number for a visit is 10 and the maximum is 40 persons for a program. This number includes all adults and students.

We request that you bring no one younger than five years of age on your program. If you must bring younger siblings, then please arrange for an adult to accompany them through the museum on their own.

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Programs

How to schedule a field trip.

You must call to reserve a field trip. Contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 ext. 41 or by email

What are my field trip options for visiting CMM?

Option 1: Museum Visit-Self Guided

• Discover the museum at your own pace with a self-guided experience.

• Contact the Group Services Coordinator two weeks in advance of your planned visit.

• You must have at least ten paying persons to request a Group Rate. (ages 5 and up)

• Children must be divided into groups of no more than 10 with a chaperone aged 18 and older.

• One and a half hours is recommended to visit the museum’s 8 exhibit halls.

Group rates are $2 for ages 5 through 12 and $4 or ages 13 and older.

Option 2: Museum Visit-Guided Programs

Discover the museum with an interpreter leading your group.

Call for program fees.

Fees are waived for Calvert County municipal and Calvert County non-profit groups.

Admission fees can be paid by check, cash or credit card.

Upon your arrival, a $2 admission fee per child up to 12 years, and a $4 admission fee per adult will be collected. This rate applies to pre-school groups as well. This rate applies to one chaperone for every ten students or two chaperones per subgroup. For preschool we allow one chaperone for every 5 children or 4 per subgroup.

Prior to your arrival, students and chaperones should be divided into equal groups of no more than 20 per subgroup. We reserve the right to allow or not to allow extra persons to follow along with the program.

Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled visit. Late arrival may result in cancellation of a portion of the program.

There are no provisions for groups to eat inside the museum. Non-covered and covered picnic tables may be available outside. Groups may need to eat on their bus or in their vehicles during inclement weather. Eating is not allowed on any other part of the museum groups.

A Note to the Group Leader:

If there are any questions about your confirmation, please call immediately. Please check all times, numbers and programs on your form.

It is very important that you notify me if you change the number of persons on your confirmation. No sub-group is to exceed 20 persons, this includes adults and children. Remember, we cannot add a sub-group to any visit one the confirmation is sent out.

Please arrive 15 minutes early and have your children in their sub groups.

If your program is in the Oyster House, you will need to provide your own transportation to get there.
Headphones, game boys, food, drink, smoking and gum chewing are not allowed within the exhibit areas.

Thank you for choosing the Calvert Marine Museum and we hope you have an educational experience with us.

Souvenirs

You may arrange to visit the museum store as an additional activity with your program.
You may also order $2 “Goodie Bags” from the store. These bags can be ordered by calling the store at 410-326-2750.

If you plan on visiting the store on a self- guided basis, please restrict you number of children to 10 at a time with a chaperone.

How to arrange a visit:

• You must call the Group Services Coordinator to arrange a self-guided or guided visit

• Have several dates available as your preferred date may be full.

• Your tentative telephone reservation will be held for two weeks. When your reservation form and nonrefundable fee(s) are received, a confirmation of your planned visit will be sent to you.

Choosing your programs:

The Discovery Room
Operate a lighthouse, go for a sail or watch Sea Stars and find a fossil. Climb inside our lighthouse and save a ship from running ashore. Learn the parts of a sailboat and experience the many parts to use but don’t forget your lifejacket. Look and see what is swimming in our Discovery Tank. You can also “stroll” the beach and find a fossil.

Fossils of Calvert Cliffs
Ten million years ago southern Maryland was a watery world inhabited by whales, snails crocodiles and giant sharks. Discover how the famous Calvert Cliffs were formed, examine teeth, jaws, shells, skulls, and other specimens from the paleontology collections. Learn how scientists collect these specimens and how they use them as clues in their study of the past.

Estuary Patuxent
Come on a naturalist’s journey up the Patuxent River, from the Chesapeake Bay to the tidal freshwater reaches of the River. Fourteen aquariums ranging up to 3500 gallons bring you face to face with some of the Bay region’s most famous residents, helping to make the unique importance of the fragile resource real and immediate for all visitors alike.

Skates and Rays
Learn the secrets of the “Mermaid’s Purse”. Come see first hand skates and rays swimming in our 1500 gallon tank. Get up close and personal with skate eggs and see the development from egg casing to swimming adolescent. Learn the differences between skates and rays, close cousins to sharks. You will be amused and amazed.

Marsh Walk
This outdoor exhibit is a living study of the plant and animal communities that inhabit saltwater, freshwater, and upland marshes. Watching for crabs, fish, and water birds, smelling bay leaves and petting cattails, help visitors understand the importance and distinctive beauty of the wetlands.

Maritime Patuxent
Explore over 400 years of life on the Patuxent River. Native Americans, colonists, boat builders, watermen, soldiers and sailors, tourists and scientists have called this region home, and used the waters around the museum for food, profit, transportation, recreation, and research. Discover the artifacts of life on the River, and the people and events that brought the past into the present.

Drum Point Lighthouse
Built in 1883, this beacon guided sailors into the Patuxent River for 79 years. In 1975 the entire structure was moved by water to the museum grounds. The building is furnished to help visitors relive the days when the lighthouse keeper and his family called the picturesque cottage home. Accessibility to the lighthouse interior is limited; however, video tape discussing the lighthouse is available.

Small Craft Shed
The museum’s collection of traditional Chesapeake Bay wooden vessels includes log canoes, workboats, and skiffs used for crabbing, clamming, oystering, sailing, rowing and hunting. Learn how native materials, and traditional designs and skills have served the needs of waterman in the region for centuries.

J.C. Lore Oyster House
Located on Solomons Island proper, on-half mile from the main museum complex, you can enter the once flourishing world of commercial fisheries. In this historic building a video introduces each step of the oyster harvest, from tongs to can, and a rich array of objects brings the local seafood economy to life. CLOSED FOR '08 SEASON.

You will be required to travel by your own vehicle to this location. This exhibit is open May through October and is counted as two programs.

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