Learning
Field Trips
Embark on a journey of discovery with your students at the RMSC Museum & Science Center, RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium, and RMSC Cumming Nature Center. Find the program to match your curriculum needs using the search tool below or call us at 585.697.1942 and we’ll help you identify the best program for your class.
Educator Programs
Explore school programs using our Program Search below. This tool is designed to help you find the RMSC experience that best fits your needs. As always, we’re here to help. Give us a call at 585.697.1942 and we will answer any questions you have.
Please note: as of September 1, 2022 the RMSC will no longer offer Monday school programs while the Museum & Science Center is closed. Thank you for your patience and understanding!
WE OFFER THREE TYPES OF SCHOOL EXPERIENCES TO BEST FIT YOUR NEEDS:
- In-Person Field Trips: Guided or self-guided experiences
- RMSC Delivers: Live science experiences at your site
Thanks to Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation and Vision Auto Group for their support of this program!
- Virtual Field Trips: Highly interactive sessions via Zoom
bring your curriculum to life & Plan Your Visit!
Once you have perused our offerings and are ready to request a program, fill out the form below. You can expect to hear back from our Guest Services team within 3-5 business days.
Alternative Energy on the Red Planet
Grades 2-8 | Become part of an elite team of astronauts as you construct an energy grid for the first human settlement on Mars.
Animal Adaptations
Grades PreK-4 | Beavers, bears and birds, oh my! Structure follows function as students explore the adaptations that abound in the animal kingdom!
Bats
Pre-K-2 | This fun and interactive program will help your students to understand bats, and the important part they play in our ecosystem.
Beaver Ecology
Grades 3-7 | Discover adaptations, natural and cultural history of beavers.
Black Holes Revealed
Grades 6-12 | Discover the mysteries of Black Holes through one of our most popular shows.
CNC Delivers: Field Journaling
Grades K-12 | Discover the natural history of field journaling and what value a field journal can have for individuals and citizen science.
CNC Delivers: Plant & Animal Adaptations
Grades PreK-4 | This adventure explores the unique defense mechanisms that our local plants, animals, and other critters use to protect and defend themselves.
Dinosaurs
PreK-2 | This very interactive program expands the students’ imagination as they learn about and “create” a fossil. Students become “paleontologists” to uncover answers.
Earthskills
K-5 | Students will discover how to tune in to nature through games and activities involving stealth and observation while practicing survival skills like shelter, fire building, woodcraft, and more.
Ecological Explorations
Grades 5-8 | Collect data from field, forest and pond communities to gain insight into communities, succession, food webs, and population dynamics.
Energy
Grades 1-12 | The question is: “What is energy?” Demonstrators guide students in exploring these different forms of energy, how they connect, and how they are used.
Erie Canal Simple Machine Challenge
Grades 4-8 | Simple Machines to the rescue! It’s time to clear the path to make way for the Erie Canal, but we need your team to build a “stump puller.”
Expedition Earth
Grades 2-9 | Get hands on with rocks, minerals and fossil and discover the Earth Systems that shaped our local geology.
Field Journal Journey
Grades K-12 | Explore the complexity and biodiversity of the natural world through observation and data collection using field journals.
Flight to Freedom–Rochester’s Underground Railroad
Grade 3-8 | Follow the North Star on a journey from slavery, to the doors of abolitionists, and on to freedom during this Underground Railroad Immersion Experience in our Flight to Freedom exhibition.
Focus on Native Frogs
Grades 3-5 | This is a fun and dirty adventure that explores the amazing adaptations, lifecycle, and habit of the native frogs in our region.
Holiday Laser
Grades K-8 | A holiday classic returns, with popular songs choreographed to dancing laser light effects.
I See the Sky
PreK-K | Young children learn about day and night, the Sun and moon, bright and faint stars, constellations and meteors.
Inquiry Room Exploration
PreK | Explore science in a less structured setting as you learn and play in the unique Carlson Inquiry Room. Meet our live animals and investigate magnetism. Learn about states of matter as you experiment with vinegar and baking soda and make your own slime to take home.
Insect Investigations
Grades K-3 | Explore the wonder of butterfly metamorphosis. Learn how insects communicate and meet the live critters that make their home in the RMSC Carlson Inquiry Room.
Introduction to Natural Communities
Grades K-5 | Explore the woods to discover how all living things are connected through food chains and the relationships between consumers, producers and decomposers.
Journey of Sound Waves
Grades PreK-4 | Explore how sound travels by experimenting with spouting bowls and tuning forks! Investigate how vibrations and sound are related. Listen, sing, and play your way to a deeper scientific understanding of sound!
Life Cycles of Reptiles & Amphibians
Grades 1-4 | Herpetology Heroes hang onto your hats! We’re diving into the study of everything slimy and scaly. Be prepared for a mess as we discover more about the Circle of Life.
Light and Color
PreK-8 | Explore how and why we see colors in this fun, interactive show. Experiment with color mixing and learn about the different kinds of primary colors.
Live Science: Electricity Theater
Grades 1-12, adult | Experience two six-foot tall Tesla Coils throwing 8-foot arcs of plasma (lightning) while the arcs actually play music. Our Faraday Cage can make the day electrifying!
Live Science: Solids, Liquids & Gases
Grades 2-12 | Our coolest demonstrations, literally! This program explores temperature’s effect on solids, liquids, and gases using liquid nitrogen.
Maple Sugaring
Grades K-5 | From the Haudenosaunee to the American pioneers, and on to modern day methods, the time-honored tradition of making maple syrup blends both history and ecology.
Nature Awareness
PreK-2 | Discover the beauty and complexity of the natural world through activities that engage all the senses.
Our Changing Climate
Grades 6-12 | Calling all Climatologists! Deep dive into the science of calculating Earth’s health by looking at real data from around the world!
Plant & Animal Adaptations
Grades PreK-4 | This adventure explores the unique defense mechanisms that our local plants, animals, and other critters use to protect and defend themselves.
Plastics & Pollution
Grades 1-6 | What’s in your water? In this program, students will learn real strategies and tools used by scientists to protect our planet’s water.
Plate Tectonics and Earth’s History
Grades 4-8 | Earth History ROCKS! Catch the seismic waves of Geology as we delve into the past and present of our planet.
Predicting Weather
Grades 3-8 | Meteorology is SNOW laughing matter! Learning about storms, temperature, and precipitation can be a breeze, this program can’t be MIST!
RMSC DELIVERS: Bats
Pre-K-2 | This fun and interactive program will help your students to understand bats, and the important part they play in our ecosystem.
RMSC Delivers: Dinosaurs
PreK-2 | This very interactive program expands the students’ imagination as they learn about and “create” a fossil. Students become “paleontologists” to uncover answers.
RMSC Delivers: Energy
Grades 1-12 | The question is: “What is energy?” Demonstrators guide students in exploring these different forms of energy, how they connect, and how they are used.
RMSC Delivers: Flight to Freedom–Rochester’s Underground Railroad
Grade 6-12 & Adults | Get to know abolitionists who called Rochester home, their paths to freedom, and examine our city’s position during this pivotal period of American history.
RMSC Delivers: Insects
Grades K-2 | This fun, interactive program will get your class buzzing about insects. Students will take on the role of dragonflies, bees, crickets, and other insects, as they learn about insect anatomy, eating habits, and how they communicate.
RMSC Delivers: Light and Color
PreK-8 | Explore how and why we see colors in this fun, interactive show. Experiment with color mixing and learn about the different kinds of primary colors.
RMSC Delivers: Polymers
Grades 3-8 | Explore the amazing world of polymer chemistry. How does chemical makeup impact the form and structure of a material? Molecule chains link up to show us!
RMSC Delivers: Rocks and Minerals
Grades 3-7 | This outreach gives the student a hands-on understanding of geology.
RMSC Delivers: Solids, Liquids and Gases
Grade 2-12 | Our coolest demonstrations, literally! This program explores temperature’s effect on solids, liquids, and gases using liquid nitrogen.
Rocks, Fossils, and More
Grades 1-5 | Explore fossils from the RMSC teaching collection. Sort rocks into three groups and learn about the minerals that make up rocks.
Rotation and Revolution
Grades 3-6 | Take a virtual trip from Earth’s surface into the solar system to see vividly how rotation and revolution produce the cyclical sky changes we see.
Same Sky: Different Cultures Same Cosmos
Grades K-8 | (Exhibit only) Embark on a journey through the cosmos as you explore the sky-watching traditions of the Diné, Hodinöšyö:nih (Haudenosaunee), and Maya peoples. Discover how Indigenous peoples from all over Turtle Island have used the night sky and stars.
Self Guided Nature Walk
Pre K-12 | Embark on a self guided nature walk at Cumming Nature Center!
Simple Machines & Fantastic Forces
Grades K-4 | Explore simple machines while experimenting with pulley systems and ramps. Learn about friction, gravity and inertia while investigating the forces of motion.
Solar System Science
Grades 3-12 | Surrounded by the best images from recent space missions such as the New Horizons Pluto flyby projected at giant scale, students encounter the majesty, mystery and wonder of our solar system.
States of Matter
Grades PreK-2 | Explore the states of matter by comparing and contrasting solids, liquids and gases. Do hands-on experiments about liquid density and chemical reaction. Learn about polymers and make slime to take home.
Sun, Moon, and Stars
Grades K-2 | Observe the Sun’s path through the sky from east to west. After sunset, find key constellations of the season by looking for distinctive features such as Orion’s Belt. Travel to the moon, returning just in time for sunrise.
Team Building
Grades 7-9 | Students will explore the woods and bond with their class/group by participating in team building activities with trained CNC staff.
The Hodinöšyö:nih (Haudenosaunee)
Grades 4-8 | Immerse yourself in learning about Hodinöšyö:nih culture and leave with a better understanding of the people who have belonged to this land for many centuries.
The Sky Tonight and the Life Cycles of Stars
Grades 3-12 | Get a unique view of what’s in the sky tonight.
The Sun, Our Living Star
Grades 6-12 | Discover the secrets of our closest star and experience never-before-seen images of the Sun’s violent surface in immersive, full-dome format.
Thunderstorm Science
Grades K-3 | Button up your raincoats and get ready to chase some storms!
Tour of the Solar System
Grades PreK-2 | All Aboard! Next stop, OUTER SPACE! Grab you astronaut gear, we’re headed to all 8 planets, with a few fun stops along the way.
Under Pressure
Grades K-8 | The formula “Force over Area” is brought to life with this program about the pressure all around us, and what happens when it’s not.
Water Monitors
Grades 5-12 | This field study examines the features of clean water. Students will collect usable data on a Cumming Nature Center creek by collecting benthic macroinvertebrates, performing chemical tests, measuring physical characteristics of one of the healthiest creeks in the region.
Winter Ecology
Grades 5-12 | Examine how plants and animals adapt to winter.
Camps
Curiosity Campers enjoy unique, rewarding, and fun-filled educational experiences, interactions with scientists and other professionals, and exploration into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics. Get ready to share in new adventure and explore exciting experiments for minds ages 2–15!
Scouts
Experience instructor-led classroom activities and experiments along with exhibit exploration at the RMSC Museum & Science Center and outdoor programs at the RMSC Cumming Nature Center. Join us with your Den, Pack, or Troop here at the RMSC! Scout programming is centered on the Scouts BSA and Girl Scouts of America badge requirements.
Forest School at the CNC
Forest School at Cumming Nature Center (CNC) provides children with the space to nurture their relationship with nature through curiosity-driven learning, unstructured play, hands-on projects and basic outdoor skills development.
More Ways to Learn with the RMSC
Whether you are a lifelong learner, researcher, retired educator, or have a passion for STEM, discover even more ways to learn at the RMSC.
Internships
Explore internship opportunities for students seeking career-readiness experiences. We accept applications from students and recent grads.
Joe Wilson Science Consultant Program (JWSCP)
Join this volunteer based program in partnership with the Rochester City School District and Webster Central School District! Visit classrooms as a science expert to lead interactive programs in STEM, igniting students’ curiosity.
Discover three floors filled with over 200 interactive science and history themed exhibits and science demonstrations.
Take a trip across the universe in our 65ft domed Star theater. Explore Star shows, laser shows, and featured giant screen films.
Explore 15 miles of hiking and ski trails, a Visitor Center, and year-round events and environmental education programs.