Our Museum Educators are experienced with all ages and we are happy to adapt our programs to fit the specific developmental needs of your class.

Click here to download our Guided Tours and Focused Fieldtrips Guide.

When to Come & What to Request

• Education programs are available Monday – Friday, from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.

• Focused school programs are 30 minutes long for K-3 and 60 minutes for grades 4 and up and limited to 50 people. These programs are more in-depth and include hands-on activities. You may link up to two areas.

• Guided field trips take students through selected areas of the museum for a 30-minute guided tour on specific topics and are limited to 80 people. They are more general in nature. You may link up to five areas.

Group Size for Field Trips

• Each Guided program accommodates up to four groups of 20 people. Programs may run concurrently. We can accommodate a total of 80 people in one field trip, divided into four groups.

• Each Focused program accomodates up to two groups of 25 people. Programs may run concurrently.  We can accommodate a total of 50 people in one field trip, divided into two groups.

Chaperones

• One adult is required for every five children, first grade and younger; one for every 10 children in 2nd through 12th grade is required and given free admission.

Fees

• Admission is $2 per child up to age 12, $4 for older children, due on day of program.

• Required chaperones admitted at no charge. Additional adults pay $7 each.

• There is no Admission charge for Calvert County School and non-profit groups. Additional adults pay $7 each.

• All groups will be required to pay program fees prior to your scheduled visit.

• There is a $15 program fee for each focused field trip you choose.

• Guided programs are charged per number of people and programs chosen. See form below.

For Example:
You are bringing 58 people which you will divide into three even groups.
You are choosing 4 programs. Your program fee will be $60.
These fees are per visit.

Bus Parking

• After group drop-off, bus parking is available in our parking lot.

Lunch Facilities

• Groups may eat in a covered, outdoor picnic area.

• In inclement weather, bag lunches may be eaten on mezzanine level through prior arrangement with the Education Department.

How to Schedule a Field Trip

We recommend that you register as early as possible to reserve your desired date by calling 410-326-2042 ext. 41 or email. Our Group Services Coordinator will help you work out the details of your visit. When you call, please have the following information handy:

• Name of the school/organization

• Contact person with address, phone number and email

• Number of classes/children

• Age/Grade level

• Calendar with preferred dates

After making your reservation, you will receive a registration packet in the mail.

Program Descriptions

Focused Field Trip Programs – Recommended for students in grades 3 and up.

FOSSILS OF CALVERT CLIFFS

Ten million years ago, Southern Maryland was a watery world inhabited by whales, crocodiles and giant sharks. Working with Museum Educators in the fossil hall, students will learn how the famous Calvert Cliffs formed and examine teeth, jaws, shells, skulls, coprolite, and other specimens from the paleontology collections. Talk with our trained volunteers in the fossil prep lab and learn how paleontologists collect these specimens and use them as clues to study the past. Students investigate the clues that fossils leave us about the past as they prepare their own fossil, identify and chart what they have discovered.

ESTUARY: LIFE ON THE EDGE

Measure water quality using scientific sampling equipment, identify adaptations in the estuary with the aid of an experienced educator, chart the movement of life along the Chesapeake “highway,” and experience how human activity in the watershed contributes to the health of the bay. Fourteen aquariums bring you face to face with some of the bay region’s most famous residents, making the preservation of this unique and fragile resource a real and immediate concern. Students also visit the otter habitat and the amazing skate and ray exhibit where they get a glimpse of our successful baby skate nursery.

MARSH WALK & OTTER HABITAT

This program is recommended March through October. Explore the relationship between marsh creatures both above and below the water. This outdoor exhibit is a living study of the plant and animal communities that inhabit saltwater, freshwater, and upland marshes. Includes a visit to our otter habitat where students interact with these most social of animals. Students learn the critical role the marsh plays in protecting the environment and investigate the clues animals leave behind to identify inhabitants in the marsh. Our Maritime Exhibit explores over 400 years of life on the Patuxent River, touching on Native Americans, colonists, boat builders, watermen, military training, recreation and research. We offer three different field trips in this area.

EARLY ENCOUNTERS: NATIVE AMERICANS AND COLONISTS

The world that John Smith encountered was very different from the Chesapeake Bay we know today. On his 1607 voyages to map the Chesapeake Bay, he also mapped the Native American villages he saw along the way, and took careful notes about his encounters with the native people. It is from these notes, maps and journals, coupled with the drawings of John White, that we know as much as we do about the world at that time. Students will have the opportunity to explore these primary resources and draw their own conclusions about life 400 years ago. They will learn how to read and interpret John Smith’s map and play “Chesapeake Millions” to display their new skills.

ALL ABOUT BOATS! Recommended for 4th grade and up.

This hands-on workshop engages students in learning the basic components of how all boats work: hull/shape, paddle/control, and sail/propulsion. They will do experiments to understand these elements, try their hand at operating a radio controlled model boat in the basin, weather permitting, and figure out why some boats float better than others. To prepare for this test, the “old salts” (members of the museum’s Small Craft Guild) will explain the fundamentals of boatbuilding, what the various boats were used for, and the many trades involved in a thriving boat building community.

LIGHTHOUSES ON THE BAY

Lighthouses are embedded in our nation’s history as being critical to both the security and the economy of our fledgling nation. The museum has two lighthouses – the Drum Point Lighthouse built in 1883, and the Cove Point Lighthouse built in 1828. Students will investigate the different types of lighthouses built around the bay, and why they were built in specific locations. They will also learn about the Fresnel lens and how it dramatically improved the lighthouse technology of the day. A visit into the fully furnished Drum Point Lighthouse allows them to see what a keeper’s life was like. Accessibility to the lighthouse interior is limited; a video tape discussing the lighthouse is available.

Seasonal Programs
The following field trips are available from May through October.

OFF-SITE PROGRAMS

FOSSIL FIELD PROGRAM

These focused field trips are designed for maximum experiential learning. Program fee is $25; cost per participant $6. This two-hour program is designed for a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 25. Differentiated instruction makes this experience appropriate for third grade and up.

Our off-site fossil field experience invites students to explore the evidence of that ancient past for themselves. Working at a local beach, students will collect a field sample, identify and label what they have found, and learn to interpret the clues about the past. Dress for adventure!

LORE OYSTER HOUSE

The Lore Oyster House, recently renovated to return it to mint condition as a working oyster processing plant, is located a half-mile south of the museum and offers students the opportunity to become familiar with one of the economic engines of the 19th and early 20th century in Southern Maryland. Opened in 1922, it operated until 1978 processing and shipping oysters all over the United States. In this program students will learn the history of the oyster house, “follow the oyster” as it moves from the dock to the shipping crate, learn the ecology of the oyster, try their hand at tonging for oysters off the dock, try “shucking” and loading an oyster, and generally experience all of the various tasks involved in the process. ($25 program fee)

Guided Field Trip Program Topics

The Discovery Room

Groups may reserve this special, child-friendly space for their field trip; limited to 25 people at one time. Students can find a fossil in our beach box and using our interactive touch screen, identify the fossil they want to keep. They can learn to tie basic knots on our knot board; hoist a sail in the sailing skiff, and learn how to steer a boat. Climb the lighthouse and visit the keeper’s cottage. Learn about the creatures in our aquarium, touch a terrapin or horseshoe crab, and get a close-up look at starfish and whelks. There are six Activity Boxes available that may be checked out and taken up to the Discovery Loft that offer small groups of two to four students a chance to learn about creatures from the salt marsh, signal flags, navigational charts, fossils, and Native Americans.

Skates and Rays Exhibit

Located the lower exhibit gallery, this exhibit features "Secrets of the Mermaid's Purse: Skates & Rays of the Mid-Atlantic." In addition to the large tank holding skates and rays, the exhibit includes a skate “nursery,” a touch screen information station, and an interactive photo wall.

Animals in the Estuary

The Estuarium takes visitors 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 3,500 gallons bring you face to face with some of the bay region’s most famous residents, making the preservation of this unique and fragile resource real and immediate concern. Sea horses, crabs and fish of all stripes will amaze you. Also includes the otter habitat where our two frisky otters, Bubbles and Squeak, cavort to the delight of visitors.

The 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, helps visitors understand the importance and distinctive beauty of the wetlands. In addition to observing the marsh, students will learn how to read clues animals leave behind to find out more about each animal and bird. Students will also have the opportunity to visit with our two North American river otters and observe their playful interaction and response to people.

Drum Point Lighthouse

Visit the Drum Point Lighthouse built in 1883 and see what it might have been like to be part of the lighthouse keeper’s family. The screw pile cottage-style lighthouse is completely furnished, and one of only three cottage style lighthouses remaining on the bay. Students will learn about the amazing Fresnel lens and how it dramatically improved the lighthouse technology of the day. Accessibility to the lighthouse interior is limited; a video tape discussing the lighthouse is available.

Fossils of Calvert Cliffs

Ten million years ago Southern Maryland was a watery world inhabited by whales, crocodiles and giant sharks. Working with museum educators in the fossil hall, students will learn where the Miocene Epoch fits into deep time, and how the famous Calvert Cliffs formed. They will be able to talk with our trained volunteers in the fossil prep lab and learn how paleontologists collect these specimens and use them as clues to study the past.

Work Boats on the Patuxent

In our collection, we have remarkable models of the many different types of boats that have plied the waters of the Patxuent River and Chesapeake Bay for the past 400 years. This program focuses on the boats that, over time, have worked the waters of the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay by focusing on our model collection and the boats in our small craft shed.

Trades in a Maritime Community

In our maritime hall, we highlight the work of boat builders, carpenters, sail makers, blacksmiths, waterman, and many other trades related to a maritime community. Museum educators will talk with students about these trades as shown though our collections.