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As an educator, we know you are always looking for ways to enhance your students’ learning process and to give them lasting educational experiences. In addition to the interactive, hands-on exhibits and Special Presentations at the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum, our staff has developed a wide variety of Outreach Programs that focus on the sciences and mathematics, the humanities, and the arts. Most of our exhibits and programs meet Virginia Standards of Learning requirements.
The Discovery Museum represents hours of learning and hands-on fun for your entire classroom of students or group. For a description of the exhibits go to Tour the Floor.
[links to Tour the Floor with pop-ups]
The Discovery Museum is prepared to receive groups of approximately 75 children plus chaperones.
Group Admission Fee
$3.50 per child in groups of 10 or more with advance reservations
Free per child under age 2
(Adults accompanying field trips in order to satisfy the required adult:child ratio below will be admitted free. Additional adults are welcome for the special group admission fee of $3.50 per person—that’s $2.50 off the normal individual admission fee.)
Additional fees apply to Special Presentations (see below).
Adult:Child Ratio
Children ages 3 and under: |
1 adult for every 2 children |
Children ages 4 and 5: |
1 adult for every 3 children |
Children over age 5: |
1 adult for every 4 children |
Special Presentations at the Discovery Museum
The Discovery Museum can arrange to make Special Presentations to your group while visiting the Museum (see list below). The presentation generally will include hands-on activities presented by experts on the topic selected. Presentations will last between 30 minutes to one hour, leaving adequate time to explore regular Museum exhibits during your field trip.
*1. Magnet Magic
*2. Water, Water Everywhere
*3. Introduction to Seeds
*4. Insects: Characteristics & Life Cycle
*5. Five Senses
*6. All about Air
*7. Having Fun with Peanuts
*8. Masters of Adaptation—Migratory Songbirds
*9. Fun with Finance
*10. Reflections on Mirrors |
*11. A World of Geography
*12. Mind-Boggling Molecules
*13. Investigating Insects
*14. Wind and Weather
15. Digging into Dinosaurs
*16. Race Away with Physics
17. Moccasin Trail
*18. Star Lab (multi-curriculum)
*19. Kinesthetic Astronomy
*20. Virginia's Watershed
*21. Earth Worms |
*Available as Outreach Programs
Special Presentation Fees
$2.50 per child (in addition to Museum Group Admission Fee)
(Minimum $25.00 for Pre-K and Kindergarten groups and $35.00 for groups of First Grade and older)
It is advisable to make reservations one month or more in advance. To hold your reservation a deposit is required representing 25% of your estimated total, which will be deducted from your total fees.
Outreach Programs at Your Location
Presentations listed above marked with an asterisk (*) also are available as Outreach Programs, whereby the presentation will be brought to your location. Outreach trips can incorporate multiple presentations to different classes.
Outreach Program Fees
$2.50 per child
$3.00 per child for Star Lab only
Plus $60.00 travel fee for each 30 miles from the Museum (downtown Winchester)
To Make Reservations
Call (540) 722-2020.
To hold your reservation a deposit is required representing 25% of your estimated total, which will be deducted from your total fees.
Cancellation Policy
Registration fees will be refunded if cancellation is received two weeks prior to the scheduled trip. The Museum will make every effort to reschedule field trips cancelled due to weather. If a trip cannot be rescheduled all fees will be refunded.
 For presentation descriptions, how they meet Virginia
Standards of Learning, a Field Trip map and
much more, download the Teacher's Packet.
 Teaching the Fun of Science
by Janice Van Cleave
The more interactive we can make the educational experience the more solidly our students will absorb and remember the material. The hands-on aspect of involving children directly in experimental science means they will anchor to both a concrete and emotional base of knowledge we want them to acquire.
No one does this as thoroughly and profusely as Janice Van Cleave. We have listed only one of her titles, but she has authored many more that represent general science and specific disciplines, such as earth science or biology. Her work is keyed to the National Science Education Standards and attention is always paid to various ways to present information, appropriate vocabulary and extensions for your use in the classroom. Her works can be recommended to students ready for that extra stretch. She has several publications devoted to science fair projects that students and parents would find useful. But, our strongest praise for her work is that it is fun and accessible. Whether you are a reluctant science presenter or long-time lover of scientific methodology, you’ll find her work useful and your students will have a great time.
Janice VanCleave. Teaching the Fun of Science, New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.2001, W ISBN 0-471-19163-9
 Life of the Powhatan
Life in a Longhouse Village
Nations of the Eastern Great Lakes
by Bobbie Kalman
All three of these books are excellent guides for classroom teachers to knowledgeably introduce information to their students regarding Eastern Woodland people prior to and through early contact with European settlers. There are some necessary generalizations made but details specific to different nations also are offered related to housing, family life, use of natural resources and cultural practices. Although not extensive, some attention is given to the current situation of Eastern Woodland people.
Bobbie Kalman. Life of the Powhatan, New York, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2005. ISBN 0-7787-0472-6 (pbk)
Bobbie Kalman. Life in a Longhouse Village, New York, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2001 ISBN 0-7787-0462-9 (pbk)
Bobbie Kalman. Nations of the Eastern Great Lakes, New York, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2005. ISBN 0-7787-0473-4 (pbk)
For a video book review of Bein’ with You This Way
and a game called “What’s the Rule?”
click here (WMV, 10MB)
For more ideas and teaching resources, go to other areas of this website:
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