School Field Trips

Explore rays, penguins, sharks and more virtually from your classroom! Expand your students' minds with learning programs on animal behavior, habitats, adaptations, ecosystems and anatomy.

Our learning programs are designed to support the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Common Core Standards and CPS' science curriculum, Amplify Science.

In-School Programs
Nature Field Trips
Virtual Field Trips

Book an Onsite School Group Visit

Learn More

These student and teacher programs were funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

In-School Programs

Learn More and Register, visit Learn with Animals: Snakes and Enrichment

Learn with Animals: Snakes and Enrichment

Launch into a new unit by inviting a snake visitor to the classroom! In this program, students will learn about interdependent relationships in ecosystems, biodiversity and relations to humans. Their exploration will focus on enrichment, which gives animals an outlet for physical activity and mental exercise, as well as choice and control over how they spend their time. The exploration will make students aware of key conservation challenges connected to the species that live at Shedd.

Learn More and Register , visit Learn with Animals: Snakes and Enrichment

Learn More and Register, visit Environmental Science: Coral Reef Relationships

Environmental Science: Coral Reef Relationships

Invite Shedd experts to visit the classroom and, together with students, explore the complex relationships in our ocean’s coral reefs. In this program, students will learn coral is an animal and better understand why coral is an important part of an ecosystem. They’ll also analyze the symbiotic relationship between coral and algae. Students will get hands-on with science as they practice engineering and design principles and delve into the organization of matter and energy flow in organisms. They will even get to see coral skeletons in person, perform a coral reef transect with quadrats and model the expulsion of algae with a high-tech, color-changing coral model.

Learn More and Register , visit Environmental Science: Coral Reef Relationships

Learn More and Register, visit Environmental Science: Mussel Structures and Reproduction

Environmental Science: Mussel Structures and Reproduction

Invite Shedd experts to visit the classroom and, together with students, explore local freshwater mussels — a mighty animal that is generally misunderstood. In this program, students will understand that the freshwater mussel is an animal, examine its physical structures and role in an ecosystem, learn about its reproductive cycles and recognize its connections to invasive species and biodiversity in our local habitats. Students will get hands-on with science as they practice constructing arguments, exploring structures and functions, analyzing and interpreting energy dynamics and explaining how ecosystems affect mussel populations. They will even get to dig for mussels in a streambed, just as our researchers do, and K-2 students will create a take-home model of a freshwater mussel — among other activities.

Learn More and Register , visit Environmental Science: Mussel Structures and Reproduction

Nature Field Trips

Learn More and Register, visit Nature Field Trips at Bemis Woods Forest Preserve

Nature Field Trips at Bemis Woods Forest Preserve

Book an expert-guided field trip in nature at Bemis Woods Forest Preserve. Through circuit-based activities like guided hikes, exploration of local aquatic plants and macroinvertebrates, cyanotypes and leaf etchings, stream characteristics surveys and scavenger hunts, learners will dig into structures and processes to better understand the world around them. At this specific location, we recommend the 120-minute program duration.

Learn More and Register , visit Nature Field Trips at Bemis Woods Forest Preserve

Virtual Field Trips

Learn More and Register, visit Virtual Field Trip: Life in the Tropics

Virtual Field Trip: Life in the Tropics

Grades: K-2 and 3-5
Cost: $95-$125 per group

Explore the diverse habitats of the tropics, the region surrounding the equator, from the comfort of your classroom! During this engaging virtual field trip, observe fishes, frogs, snakes, birds, turtles, rays and more from Southeast Asia and South America. Your students will have the chance to create and test an enrichment object for a freshwater turtle and ask questions of an expert about the animals of the tropics! Led by a Shedd educator, this is a great way for kids to ask questions, compare and contrast regions of the world, make predictions, look nature in the eye and expand their knowledge of our blue planet.

Pre- and post-trip asynchronous lessons are also provided.

Learn More and Register , visit Virtual Field Trip: Life in the Tropics

Learn More and Register, visit Virtual Field Trip: Penguins

Virtual Field Trip: Penguins

Grades: K-2, 3-5, and 6-8
Cost: $95-$125 per group

Where do penguins live? What do they eat? Why don't they fly?

Chicago is a long way from the waters of the Southern Hemisphere. So how does Shedd Aquarium provide a habitat for Magellanic and rockhopper penguins that meets their needs? In this virtual field trip, your students will see inside the penguin habitat at Shedd to observe penguins up close, while never leaving the classroom! Learn some of the surprising ways in which our Animal Care team cares for these charismatic birds.

Pre- and post-trip asynchronous lessons are also provided.

Learn More and Register , visit Virtual Field Trip: Penguins

Friday, December 8, 2023

Coming Up: