| Education: Tours & Workshops |
The Education Department of Burpee Museum enjoys a reputation among area educators for providing high quality educational programming. The education staff and volunteer docents are uniquely qualified to give your students an educational experience in a visually exciting setting. Our dedicated staff members are professionals with classroom experience. Tours are structured, designed to meet the needs of your class, and include hands-on experiences and dialogue between the museum educator and students. Burpee Museum is the perfect destination for a focused field trip—not so large as to be intimidating but with enough to satisfy any enquiring mind! All our tours and workshops are aligned to the Illinois State Goals for Learning.
Upon arrival, groups are met by their tour guide, who assists with coats, lunches, bathrooms etc. Once the tour starts, everyone can relax and enjoy themselves with the tour guide taking the lead .The guide stays with the group throughout their scheduled time and directs the group to the lunch room or the front lobby for departure at the end of the visit. |
Ice Age Mammals |
Ice Age Mammals are here!

The first U.S. showing!
It’s a cool experience! Find out all about the last ice age; the mammals that
survived and those that didn't. Touch a real mammoth tusk; see skulls and
bones of ice age beasts, including a mastodon and a 5ft tall beaver! Detailed
artwork shows what they and their world looked like. Listen to scientists'
stories as they recount their Arctic adventures and discoveries. This exhibit is
appropriate for all ages of students.
French Teachers: The exhibit text is presented in English and French and
provides an excellent opportunity for your students to put their language skills
to the test in a real life situation.
Tour
Fee:$4.50 per student/chaperone (teachers and staff no charge)
Time: All tours last approx an hour
Minimum: 15 people or $67.50
Maximum: 30 in a group, up to 2 groups at one time
Workshop (includes tour and classroom session)
A short powerpoint presentation introduces an activity where students work interactivly, using clues to identify animals of the Ice Age, and then make a "cave art" class mural depicting the animals to take back to school.
Fee: $8.00 per student
Time: 2 hours
Minimum: 15 students or $120.00
Maximum: 30 per group, 4 groups at one time
(Fee includes the tour and the classroom session)
Aligned to Illinois State Learning Standards for Science and Social Studies
Science - State Goal 12: B: 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b. E: 2a, 4a, 4b, 5
History - State Goal 16: A: 1a. E: 1 (US), 2a (W)
Geography - State Goal 17: A: 2a, 2b. B: 1a, 1b, 2b, 3b, 4a. C: 2a, 3a
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| Tours |
Fee: $4.50 per student/chaperone (teachers and staff no charge)
Time: All tours last approx an hour
Minimum: 15 people or $67.50
Maximum: 30 in a group, up to 4 groups at one time (*see exceptions)
Fossils & Dinosaurs
This tour focuses on the scientific process using fossil evidence. Students explore an ancient ocean, walk among giant ferns and insects of a prehistoric forest, and learn about Burpee’s dinosaur discoveries. Includes time in the award winning interactive exhibit Jane: Diary of a Dinosaur and a look at the fossil prep viewing lab.
Aligned to Illinois State Learning Standards 4A, 5A, 11A, 12A, 12B, 13A
The First People: Native Americans in North America
The main focus is Woodland cultures of this area. As part of the tour, students get a taste of Native American life by gathering around a “fire” in our authentic wigwam. We compare the lifeways of people of the Eastern Woodlands, Great Plains, and the Desert Southwest and examine how the environment influenced the Peoples’ way of life. Information about prehistoric people, the mound Builders and the mounds at Beattie Park can be included.
Aligned to ISLS 4A, 5A, Goal 16, 17C, 18A, 18C
Illinois State (1 ½ hours, $5.50 per student/$4.50 chaperone)
A look at the Prairie State examining local Native Americans, state symbols, natural habitats and geologic history.
Aligned to ISLS 4A, 5A, 12E, 16A, 16E
Windows to Wilderness (*2 groups maximum at a time)
Explore nature in the Rock River Valley as you venture into our biology exhibit. Focusing on local ecosystems and wildlife, this exhibit offers a fun, interactive approach to the world around us. This tour includes “up close and personal” with some of Burpee’s live animals.
Aligned to ISLS 4A, 5A, 12A, 12B, 12E, 16E, 17B, 17C
Beneath Our Feet (*2 groups maximum at a time)
This tour covers the basics of geology including sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks; mining and earth shaping forces.
Aligned to ISLS 4A, 5A, 12E, 17B, 17C
Dinomite! and Pint Size Pow Wow
Special Preschool and Kindergarten age versions of our two most popular tours. We also offer a Preschool and Kindergarten version of our Windows To Wilderness tour.
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| Workshops |
Fee: $8.00 per student
Time: 2 hours
Minimum: 15 students or $120.00
Maximum: 30 per group, 4 groups at one time (*see exceptions)
In addition to the tour, students participate in hands on activities which allow for a more in depth experience. (The fee includes the tour and the classroom session)
The First People: Native Americans in North America
Students work with clay to make a miniature pot using Native American techniques.
Fossil and Dinosaur
Students make their own “fossil” and participate in a hands-on group exploration of fossil "time capsules."
Windows to Wilderness
This workshop includes a hands-on group activity with “habitat clue boxes” in the classroom and a take home project.
Archaeology workshop (grades 5 – 12, *2 groups maximum)
This workshop includes hands-on group work with real Native American artifacts.
Project Clear
Project Clear is a hands-on field trip available from March through October for grades 6 – 12. The program gives students the opportunity to evaluate the Rock River by collecting water samples and river macro-invertebrates from the river, then using the riverside Aqua-Aerobic Systems Water lab, they identify and analyze the samples to determine the health of the river.
Aligned to ISLS: Goal 4 A, 1a-d, 3a, 4a-c; Goal 11A, 2b-e, 3a, c-g, 4a-e;
Goal 12B, 2b, 3b; Goal 13B, 2a
Fee: High School $9 per student
Time: 3 hours
Minimum: 15 students or $135
Maximum: 40 students
Chaperones: one required for every 10 students (no fee)
Activities: chemical testing, macro invertebrates, Micro organisms, bacteria counts
Middle School: $8 per student
Time: 2 ½ hours
Minimum: 15 students or $120
Maximum: 60 students
Chaperones: one required for every 8 students (no fee)
Activities: chemical testing, macro invertebrates |
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