Park / Museum Field Trips
Create your Custom Field Trip Today!
Bring your class to Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park for a day of discovery with one of our school programs. We offer hands-on, inquiry-based education programs that foster positive outdoor experiences and encourage critical thinking. Programs are designed to align with Maryland Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). These programs can be customized and tailored to any group or can be combined for a full day experience.
To schedule a program, fill out the form below. For more information, contact us via email or call us at 410-295-0104 ext. 27.
Fish and Friends
- Capacity: 15-25 Students (best for 2 – 3 year-olds)
- Location: Park Campus or off-site
- Length: 45 minutes
From fins to legs, discover the various body parts that animals need to survive. Engage with fishy friends and see how they are different from each other and us as well as what makes them the same. Students will meet two native animals.
Fins, Feet, & Feelers
- Capacity: 15-25 Students (best for 4 – 6 year-olds)
- Location: Park Campus or off-site
- Length: 1 hour
Explore the variety of animals that call an oyster reef home through story time, sensory exploration, hands-on interaction with critters, and a sing-along. Students will meet up to 5 native animal
Our experienced educators will adapt materials and information to be age-appropriate for different grades. See the recommended grade range next to each station in the Description of Station Choices. Use the chart below to determine how many stations your group can do during your visit.
| Length | # of Students | Price (unless otherwise noted) | # of Stations | ||
| 1 Hour | Up to 40* | $8 / student | 2 | ||
| 2 Hour | Up to 80* | $16 / student | 4 | ||
| 3 Hour | Up to 100* | $24 / student | 3 + 1 Chesapeake Challenge |
*Interested in bringing more students? Consider our Chesapeake Challenges (see tab on left) or a Critter Cruise.
Oysters 101
You may have known that oysters are filter feeders, but did you also know that they are ecosystem engineers? Investigate how the natural history of the Eastern Oyster makes it an irreplaceable resource for the animals of the Chesapeake Bay along with the humans who harvest them.
Station Choices:
Description of Station Choices
- Oyster Reef Animals
- Oyster Dissection (+$1/student materials fee)
- Harvest Game
- Hand Tonging
- Erosion Experiment
- Suggested Chesapeake Challenge for 3-hour programs: Build a Filter
A Changing Chesapeake: Climate Change Education
The effects of climate change are already being felt here in the Chesapeake region, often more intensely than in other areas of the country. Discover how the people and animals that call the Chesapeake Bay region home are being affected by and adapting to impacts such as sea level rise, ocean acidification, and changing weather patterns, as well as solutions that are being used to tackle this issue.
- Capacity: Maximum 60 Students
- Cost: $16/ Student
- Location: Park Campus
- Time: 2 hours
- Age: 7th – 12th grade
Includes these stations:
- Surviving Sea Level Rise
- Climate Survival Game
- Shell Shock
Animal Investigators
As the largest estuary in the country, the Chesapeake Bay supports over 3,600 species of plants and animals. Join us as we explore some of the different fish and invertebrates that call the Bay home and discover their unique adaptations and how they rely on different habitats throughout their life cycles.
Station Choices:
Description of Station Choices
- Blue Crab 101
- Horseshoe Crab
- Oyster Reef Animals
- Oyster Dissection (+$1/student materials fee)
- Seining (counts for 2 stations)
- Suggested Chesapeake Challenge for 3-hour programs: Build a Plankton
Eco-Explorers
Science doesn’t only happen in labs! Use scientific tools and techniques to collect data and conduct experiments investigating the biotic and abiotic factors that make up the Back Creek ecosystem.
Station Choices:
Description of Station Choices
- Watershed Model
- Erosion Experiment
- Oyster Dissection (+$1/student materials fee)
- Water Quality
- Seining (counts for 2 stations)
- Suggested Chesapeake Challenge for 3-hour programs: Build a Buoy
Working the Water
How fast can you harvest a bushel of oysters? Can you catch more than your competition? Find out if you have what it takes to make it in this grueling industry!
Station Choices:
Description of Station Choices
- Hand Tonging
- Harvest Game
- Seining (counts for 2 stations)
- Crabbing
- Suggested Chesapeake Challenge for 3-hour programs: Build a Boat
From Bay to Table
From the muddy bottom of the Bay to your favorite restaurant, it takes a lot of work to make an oyster ready to eat. Follow the journey of these shellfish from harvesting to processing to designing your very own oyster can.
- Capacity: Maximum 45 students
- Cost: $20 / student (includes materials fees)
- Location: Park Campus
- Time: 2.5 hours
Includes these stations:
- Hand Tonging
- Oyster Dissection- student materials fee incorporated into total cost of program
- Harvest Game
- Oyster Canning- student materials fee incorporated into total cost of program
Chesapeake Challenges
Students use teamwork and engineering skills to take on Bay-themed STEM challenges in small groups.
- 1 Hour Program:
- Maximum 50 students
- Includes 1 Challenge
- Maximum 50 students
- 2 Hour Program:
- Maximum 100 students
- Includes 2 Challenges
- Location: Park Campus
Build a Boat
Students plan, build, and test model boats to learn about factors influencing performance such as balance and buoyancy. They discover how the design features of traditional Chesapeake Bay boats such as skipjacks and deadrises impact their function.
Build a Buoy
Students plan, build, and test buoys made of PVC pipes. They discover the many purposes that buoys serve in the Bay and experiment with the factors that make a good buoy such as balance, weight, and cost.
Build a Filter
Students plan, create, and test filters made of 2-liter bottles, coffee filters, sand, gravel, etc. They discuss the difference between physical, chemical, and biological filters and how filtering improves water quality. This program is best for 4th grade and up.
Build a Plankton
Students discover the variety of life forms that are planktonic for part or all of their life cycle. They then create their own plankton out of recycled materials with the goal of having it stay in the middle of the water column.
Sail Aboard the Skipjack, Wilma Lee
Set sail aboard AMM’s floating classroom, the historic skipjack, Wilma Lee, to experience what life was like living on the water in the 1800s. Test water quality above an oyster reef, dredge for oysters or see what biodiversity lives below in this immersive, STEM-based program!
Come explore the waterways and tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, become familiar with skipjack terminology and watermen tools, and discover your maritime history! Students will be actively engaged in water quality testing, map investigations, and Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) concepts, all while enjoying the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. Dredge for oysters, raise the sails, and feel the Bay breezes aboard the one and only, Wilma Lee!
Our Wilma Lee Education Program is available for school groups, scout troops, Homeschool Co-ops, and other youth groups (5th grade and older).
To book a Wilma Lee Education Program, please complete the inquiry form here and see our Signature Programs tab for our award winning Oyster Education Program aboard Wilma Lee – great for smaller school groups.
Wilma Lee Education Cruise
Board the historic wooden Skipjack, Wilma Lee to sail area waterways while learning about the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay and local maritime heritage.
- Cost: $18 per students and adults, up to 35 guests. Minimum $700.
- Location: Park Campus
- Time: 2 Hours
Sail & STEM
For larger groups, combine a sail onboard Wilma Lee with one of our Chesapeake Challenges.
- Cost: $1000 for up to 70 participants (students and adults)
- Location: Park Campus
- Time: 3.5 Hours (includes time for lunch on land)
Kayaking
- Capacity: Ideal with 12 or less students, max 18 participants (4th grade and up)
- Cost: $30/ per participant
- Location: Park Campus
- Time: 2 hours
Learn basic kayaking skills and tour Back Creek while discussing the ecology, history, and health of the Chesapeake Bay.
Critter Cruise (in partnership with Watermark Cruises)
- Capacity: Minimum 40 students
- Cost: $14/Student & $18/Adult (* 1 free adult per 20 students)
- Location: Annapolis City Dock
- Ages: Best for K-5th Grades
- Time: 1 hour
Climb aboard the Harbor Queen and spend an hour on the water getting up close and personal with fascinating Chesapeake Bay critters including crabs, fish, and eels! Programs are booked through Watermark at STEM – Watermark (watermarkjourney.com)
Chesapeake 101 (in partnership with Watermark Cruises)
- Capacity: 15-100 Students
- Cost: $18/Student & $23/Adult (1 free adult per 20 students)
- Location: Park Campus
- Ages: All Ages
- Time: 2 hours + 40 minute cruise
Chesapeake 101 includes a 2 hour program at either our Museum or Park campus and a 40 minute narrated cruise on the Harbor Queen. Students may have lunch either at the Park or onboard the Harbor Queen. Programs are booked through Watermark.
- Groups of up to 80 students will choose 2 stations and 1 Chesapeake Challenge
- Groups of 81 – 100 students will choose 2 Chesapeake Challenges
HARBOR QUEEN CRUISE Students board the Harbor Queen to cruise the waters around the historic Annapolis harbor. History, navigation, and architecture are included in this 40-minute narrated program. Programs are booked through Watermark at STEM – Watermark (watermarkjourney.co
Signature Programs
Single day versions of our award winning core programs
Little Skipjacks
Explore the variety of animals that call an oyster reef home through story time, sensory exploration, hands-on interaction with critters, and a sing-along. Students will meet up to five native Bay animals.
- Capacity: Maximum 30 students
- Cost: $8 per student ($100 minimum)
- Ages: Pre-K to 1st grade
- Length: One hour
- Location: Our campus or yours! (Travel fee may apply)
Chesapeake Champions
Discover the impact that our actions on land have on the animals living in the Bay and the actions you can take to be a Chesapeake Champion!
- Capacity: Maximum 60 students
- Cost: $16 per student
- Ages: 2nd – 5th grades
- Length: Two hours
Location: Park Campus
- Included Stations:
- Seining
- Erosion
- Watershed Model
Oyster Education Day Program
- Capacity: Up to 70 participants (students and adults)
- Cost: $700 for up to 35 participants – 2.5 hours, $1,000 for up to 70 participants – 3.5 hours
- Ages: 5th grade and up
- Length: 2.5-3.5 hours
- Location: Park Campus and aboard our historic Skipjack, Wilma Lee
- Included Stations:
- Sail on skipjack, Wilma Lee– Raise the sail, visit an oyster reef and/or conduct water quality to assess suitability for oysters.
- Oyster Reef Animals
- Harvest Game
Homeschool Programs
We welcome homeschool groups at AMM and are happy to customize any of the listed school programs to meet the needs and ages of your group. Parents/guardians are encouraged to participate in the program and must stay on-site for the duration of the program. Non-participating siblings must be supervised at all times.
Capacity: Up to 100
Ages: All ages
Location: AMM Campus or come to yours!
Length: 2-3 hours
Recommended activities for mixed-age groups include, but are not limited to:
Description of Station Choices
- Seining
- Blue Crab Station
- Oyster Harvesting Game
- Horseshoe Crab Station
- Oyster Dissection (+$1 / student materials fee)
- Oyster Reef Animals
- Hand Tonging
- Build a Buoy
Pricing
- All programs are $8/hour per student unless otherwise noted.
- Program Minimums (For smaller groups):
- 1-hour program – $100
- 2-hour program – $175
- 3+-hour program – $250
- Kayak program – $250
Details
- AMM requires a signed contract to hold your program date.
- Education Center staff will send a contract via email once your program date has been confirmed.
- If you are requesting more than one field trip date please include this information in the ‘additional comments’ section.
- All field trips required the a completed field trip request form.
In-School Programs
Engaging environmental education programming brought straight to your class. Choose from a variety of hands on options to allow students of all ages to interact with native Chesapeake Bay critters, learn about climate change though fun experiments or see if you have what it takes to make a living as a waterman!
On-The-Water Field Trips
Set sail aboard AMM’s floating classroom to dredge for oysters and experience what life was like living on the water in the 1800s. Test water quality above an oyster reef and see what biodiversity lives below in this immersive, STEM-based program!
Box of Rain
Named after the Grateful Dead song ‘Box of Rain’, the program was founded to honor the memory of Lee Griffin, a dedicated sailor and Annapolis community member. Box of Rain’s mission is to connect under-resourced youth to the Chesapeake Bay and their maritime heritage through fun, educational, and immersive experiences in nature.
