Next Generation Science Standards-aligned experiences for your class! Reservations are required.
- Museum reservations taken Monday through Friday from 1:00–5:00 PM at 805-682-4711 ext. 108.
- Sea Center reservations taken Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM, at 805-962-2526 ext. 108.
- Interactive Tour
(Tuesday–Friday, 10:00–11:00 AM; 11:00 AM–Noon) Group size: maximum 80 students per hour. May be combined with a Discovery Lab or Outdoor Nature Exploration.
These tours provide open-ended opportunities for discovery in small groups with docents, as available. Students explore the Museum, visiting exhibit halls that focus on regional natural history, including birds, insects, mammals, marine life, paleontology, geology, and Chumash Indians. In various halls, Exploration Stations with Museum docents, as available, offer hands-on opportunities for close observation.
Tours go to most of the Museum’s halls. Clipboards and other student supplies are not allowed on these tours; please see “Mondays My Way” for that option or to focus on one or more halls.
- Discovery Lab
(Tuesday–Friday, 10:00–11:00 AM; 11:00 AM–Noon) Group size: maximum one class. May be combined with an Interactive Tour or Outdoor Nature Exploration.
Be a Scientist
This versatile lab explores how scientists make sense of our diverse natural world by observing patterns and grouping abjects according to their similarities. Students observe, describe, compare, and sort a variety of seashells. They also identify and compare bones they share with another mammal, the Blue Whale.
- Outdoor Nature Exploration
(Tuesday–Friday, 10:00–11:00 AM, 11:00 AM-Noon) Group size: maximum one class. May be combined with an Interactive Tour or Discovery Lab.
Reconnect to Nature Students visit a natural environment where they use their curiosity and imagination to explore, create, and test their own ideas. This experience offers the freedom to explore in a natural setting and make one's own discoveries. A visit to the Nature Cub House is included where the signs say "Please Touch."
- Mondays My Way
(Monday, 10:00–11:00 AM; 11:00 AM–Noon) Group size: maximum 80 students per hour.
This is an opportunity for teachers to conduct investigations in the exhibit halls with their own classes. Teacher-prepared scavenger hunts, single hall studies, and special topic focus are some of the possibilities. Monday is the only week day that clipboards are allowed in the Museum.
SEA CENTER EXPLORATIONS
- Interactive Tour
(Monday–Friday, 10:00–11:00 AM; 11:00 AM–Noon) Group size: maximum 80 students.
Trained docents lead small groups in hands-on explorations with marine life. Students learn firsthand about the vast diversity of life in the Santa Barbara Channel.
- Outdoor Explorations (at East Beach)
(Monday–Friday, 10:00–11:00 AM; 11:00 AM–Noon) Group size: maximum 80 students. May be combined with an Interactive Tour
What Lives at the Beach?
Students take a guided nature walk along the beach, using their senses to detect signs of life. They observe local birds and examine the sand. Students may find clams, worms, insects, kelp, feathers, bones, rocks, and even tree branches. Buckets, tweezers, and hand lenses are used to respectfully observe found items of interest. Students carefully sort their discoveries according to similarities/differences as well as examples of living things versus nonliving things. Ultimately, students return all biotic items to the natural habitat.