Elementary School Field Trips

The Museum of Chincoteague Island is pleased to offer the following field trips. These trips are designed to fulfill Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) through presentations, tours, scavenger hunts, and hands-on activities. Please contact the museum at least 2 weeks in advance to schedule your field trip. Field trips are offered for FREE to students in Accomack and Northampton Counties. There is a $2/Student fee for schools in other counties.

We can comfortably accomodate 25-30 students at a time. Please contact us if you have a larger group – we may have suggestions on other activities for your group. If you don’t see your grade level listed here, please contact us. We are always willing to come up with a program to suit your needs. Consider combining your field trip to the Museum of Chincoteague Island with a field trip to the National Park Service Toms Cove Visitor Center on neighboring Assateague Island.

Email for details and scheduling: mofci.collections@gmail.com

First Grade: Lights & Lighthouses (COMING SOON!)

Students will explore the history of the Assateague Lighthouse, learn what it was like to be a lighthouse keeper, and discover the science of light at the Museum of Chincoteague Island. Students will learn how humans have harnessed light throughout the ages and how their technologies have changed over time. Students will learn about the history and science behind our local lighthouse, tour the museum, participate in a hands-on workshop about change over time, and design their own lighthouse to take home with them.

Total Time: 1.5 hrs

Second Grade: Digging in to History

Students will explore the museum and the history of Chincoteague Island through the lens of Archaeology. Students will learn how the Island, its people, and their technologies have changed over the past 600 years. Students will get introduced to archaeology as a science and profession, will tour the museum, and will participate in a hands-on workshop to understand how archaeologists learn about past and present communities through a mock excavation and map making.

Total Time: 1 hr, 45 min

Third Grade: Adapting to Change

Students will explore the museum and the history of the Chincoteague Island through the lens of specialization. Students will learn how the Island and its people, and their technologies and businesses have changed over time. Students will tour the museum while completing a scavenger hunt to find items related to specialization. Students will participate in a workshop activity which allows them to understand how changes (good & bad) impact an industry and they will design their own oyster can label.

Total Time: 1.5 hrs

Fourth Grade: (COMING SOON!)

Fifth Grade: History Telling

Students will explore the museum and the history of the Island of Chincoteague through the lens of researchers and exhibit curators. Students will learn how the Island and its people, and their technologies have changed over time. Students will tour the museum and will take time to look at how objects are presented and how exhibits are arranged to tell the story of Chincoteague’s past. Students will participate in a workshop activity which allows them to become a museum curator and create their own exhibit, including object labels and descriptions.

Total Time: 1.5 hrs