Virtual Field Trips & Workshops
Enhance your school’s teaching and learning with a virtual field trip to the Nature Museum that includes a live interactive workshop centered around unique museum resources!
- Time of Year
- All Year
- Location
- At The Museum
- Grades
- PreK-12
Register for our creative science and nature workshops to focus your virtual field trip and create meaningful connections between in- and out-of-school learning experiences in real-world contexts. All workshops are taught by an experienced museum educator and correlate with the Next Generation Science Standards.
Workshops
Explore the diversity of local living things! Students will compare and contrast Chicago-area land and water habitats – and the living things that call those places home – on an interactive virtual hike integrating the Museum’s collection.
NGSS: LS4, ESS3
Get a look behind the scenes of our Istock Family Look in Lab, home for many of the animals in our living collection! Then, using a live “critter cam,” students will get up close with a local frog or salamander. Students will use observations and their critical thinking skills to compare and contrast the features and movements of local frogs and salamanders.
NGSS: LS1
Practice sampling populations of local butterflies just like our scientists do! Students will unpack the importance of biodiversity in butterfly habitats, the work of Nature Museum scientists, and the ways in which people impact local butterfly populations.
NGSS: LS2, LS4
Sample for pollinator diversity around the Nature Museum grounds! Students will sample pollinator populations in different habitats around the Nature Museum. Students will then analyze the data to explore differences in pollinator diversity in human altered environments.
NGSS: LS1, LS4
"I was excited to provide some unique learning experiences for my students!"
Preparing for your Virtual Field Trip
Once you register for your workshop, you’ll receive your Virtual Field Trip Guide and confirmation, where you’ll find your virtual student workshop time, FAQs, and an asynchronous pre-visit activity to ground your Nature Museum experience!
Bring locally focused science education to your class and create meaningful connections to the Nature Museum through an interactive, educator-led virtual workshop.
After your virtual visit, share the asynchronous post-visit activities and resources in the Virtual Field Trip Guide with your students and families to continue your Nature Museum experiences.
Cost & Registration
To ensure the quality of the interactive virtual experience, schools may not combine multiple classrooms into one workshop.
- $120/45-minute workshop
- Payment is due 14 days prior to the program date or the program will be cancelled.
Questions? Special requests? Email fieldtrip@naturemuseum.org.
"Guided virtual experiences are a wonderful way for our young learners to still explore the world even during a pandemic! Thank you!"
Experience nature and science up close with a trip to the Nature Museum.