Field Trips

Turtle Talk Tots – Toddlers – 20 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach, or Virtual

Using our senses and interactive play, use models and movement to help us learn the differences between sea turtles, land turtles, and aquatic turtles. Then we’ll learn how fun it can be to keep our oceans clean!

ELDS: ALP.1, ALP.3, CD.1

Turtle Talk – Pre-K – K – 30 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach, or Virtual

Use models and movement to help us compare and contrast sea turtles, land turtles, and aquatic turtles. Then we’ll use problem solving skills to brainstorm ways to help the turtles thrive, and how we can play a part in keeping our oceans clean!

ELDS and SOLs: ALP.1, ALP.3, CD.1, K.7, K.11

Mini Movers – Pre-K – Kindergarten – 30 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach

Get your students up and moving while they learn how different animals move and why some animals don’t need to move to survive!

ELDS and SOLs: CD1.1, CD4.1, K.7

Water Wizards – Kindergarten – 2nd Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite

Get a little wet as your students pour, stir, and build to explore the properties of water, matter, and displacement!

SOLs: K.4, 1.3, 2.3

Sea Turtles from Egg to Adult – 1st – 3rd Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach, or Virtual

Learn how a turtle’s life begins and the dangers it faces to survive. We will play a fun game to explore its life cycle from nest to adult. We will also discuss conservation efforts and brainstorm ways that we can help sea turtles survive.

SOLs: 1.5, 2.4, 2.5, 3.4

Fish Focus – 1st – 3rd Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite

Learn what makes a fish a fish through hands-on activities including a dissection and designing a fish of your own!

SOLs: 1.5, 3.4

Life in the Chesapeake Bay – 1st – 3rd Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach

In this program we will learn about the Chesapeake Bay, and the important roles different organisms play in different estuarine habitats. Then, we will split into stations and learn about oysters, plankton, and build a creature perfectly designed for its habitat.

SOLs: 1.5, 2.5, 3.4, 3.5

Out in the Ocean – 3rd – 4th Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach, Virtual, and Assembly

Go on an adventure through the zones of the ocean and observe changes in animal adaptations in each zone! Along the way, students will learn how ocean properties, animal adaptations, and ocean geology change with depth.

SOLs: 3.4, 3.8, 4.7

Geology Rocks – 5th Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite

Get a hands-on look at the different types of rocks, how they form, and what we can learn about the Earth’s geological history.

SOLs: 5.8

Bay Watch – 4th – 6th Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach

Get an in-depth look at the Chesapeake Bay and the organisms that make up its food web. We will split into stations, and dissect an oyster, investigate planktonic organisms, and build a food web model.

Sols: 4.3, 4.8, 6.8, 6.9

Wandering Through the Watershed – 4th – 6th – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach

Join us as we explore the many environments of the Chesapeake Bay watershed! Students will use models to learn about the environments and processes that impact the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

SOLs: 4.8, 6.8, 6.9

Sea Turtle Rescue – 4th – 12th Grade (Does not fit 5th grade SOLs) – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach

Become a stranding technician with the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team! Get a hands-on look at what it takes to rescue a stranded sea turtle, and how we study deceased stranded sea turtles to help conservation efforts.

SOLs: 4.8, 6.9, LS.9, BIO.8

Inside the Squid – 6th – 12th Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach

In this program, we’ll investigate the classification of squid, looking at the defining characteristics of different invertebrate phyla to see where the squid fits in. Then we’ll dissect the squid to show how it fits in with other mollusks!

SOLs: LS. 3, LS.11, BIO.6

Behind the Scenes – 7th – 12th Grade – 45 Minutes – Available: Onsite

An amazing behind-the-scenes glance at how an aquarium runs, how we care for our animals, and different career paths in the Aquarium industry!

Life Cycles – Pre K – 2nd Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach

Join us on our journey through the life cycles of different animals. We’ll learn about sea turtles, butterflies, frogs, and more!

SOLs: K.7, 1.5, 2.4

Compare and Contrast Animal Groups – 2nd – 4th Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite

What makes a mammal a mammal? Do birds have fur? What’s the difference between a reptile and an amphibian? Come learn all this and more as we check out these fascinating vertebrates!

SOLs: 2.5, 3.4, 4.3

Out in the Ocean – 3rd – 4th Grade – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach, Virtual, and Assembly

Go on an adventure through the zones of the ocean and observe changes in animal adaptations in each zone! Along the way, students will learn how ocean properties, animal adaptations, and ocean geology change with depth

SOLs: 3.4, 3.8, 4.7

Adaptations – 3rd – 8th Grade (Does not fit 5th grade SOLs) – 50 Minutes – Available: Onsite, Outreach

We’ll show you fascinating biofacts and have student volunteers help illustrate the adaptations of some animals that allow them to thrive in a variety of ecosystems.

SOLs: 3.4, 4.2, LS.7

Live Animal Encounters – All Ages – 20 Minutes – Available: Onsite

Come meet some of our Animal Ambassadors! We’ve got reptiles, amphibians, mammals, you name it! We’ll tell you all about its life history, and about how we care for them here at the Virginia Aquarium.