In-Museum Experiences

Some of the richest learning experiences start by looking nature in the eye…or right into the eye socket!

Bring your students to Burpee to explore the modern and prehistoric world. Step out of the classroom and into an active scientific expedition! At Burpee Museum of Natural History, your students will journey through the deep timeline of our planet, standing face-to-face with legendary prehistoric skeletons, interacting with live animal ambassadors, and observing our active research labs.Our in-museum experiences are uniquely designed to spark intense scientific inquiry, build critical thinking skills, and bridge the gap between classroom textbooks and real-world discovery.

Our In-Museum Guided Tours:

Click the title to jump to descriptions and links for details!

• Fossil Dino Tour 
• Dinomite
• Reptiles & Amphibians
• Windows to Wilderness
• Native American Stories
• Of This Place-Voices, Artifacts & Culture
• Earth’s Forces
• Beneath Your Feet
• Icy Illinois

Journey Through Deep Time

Trace Earth’s history from a 450-million-year-old sea right here in Rockford up to the Cretaceous period. Students will touch real fossils, meet cephalopod preditors, and stand face-to-face with Jane, the world’s most complete juvenile T. rex!

(Grades 3 & Up. High School and University levels available)

Upgrade with Lab/Workshop:

Add a hands on activity and lab paired with the standards and content of this field trip. ($7/student | 60 mins)
• Grades 3–5: Explore fossil formation by making your own fossil replicas and sort through real fossil and guided identification.
• Middle School & Up: Step inside active research with a private Lab Tour and a hands-on dinosaur fossil analysis.

Prehistoric Giants

What is a fossil, and how does it form? Tiny paleontologists will journey through time to meet giant dinosaurs, handle real fossils, and explore the ancient past through interactive, age-appropriate storytelling.

(Grades 2 & Under)

Upgrade with Lab/Workshop:

Add a hands on activity and lab paired with the standards and content of this field trip. ($7/student | 60 mins)
• The Experience: Supercharge your tour by making your own fossil replicas and trying your hand at fossil identification.

Local Wildlife & Habitats

Explore the hidden biodiversity of Illinois’ woodlands, prairies, and wetlands. Featuring endangered and threatened species specimens in partnership with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to inspire local conservation action.

(Grades 3 & Up. High School and University levels available)

Upgrade with Lab/Workshop:

Add a hands on activity and lab paired with the standards and content of this field trip. ($7/student | 60 mins)
• The Experience:Turn your students into wildlife detectives! By examining and comparing real animal skulls, students will decode the mysteries of local ecosystems. They will analyze teeth and eye placement to map out food chains (energy transfer), identify specialized survival adaptations, and discover why a creature thrives in an Illinois prairie but would struggle in a wetland.

Living Legacies

Discover our region’s history through the beautiful traditions, oral histories, and artwork of native nations as history comes alive and connects to modern day.

(Grades 2 & Under)

Upgrade with Lab/Workshop:

Add a hands on activity and lab paired with the standards and content of this field trip. ($7/student | 60 mins)
• The Experience: Step into the shoes of regional artisans! Tiny potters will get their hands messy using traditional techniques to mold, shape, and craft their very own traditional clay pinch pot to take home. Along the way, they will touch real prehistoric pottery fragments and explore Native American storytelling through art.

Unleash Dynamic Geology

Walk through the immense forces of weathering and intense compaction. Students interact with regional geology to discover how solid rocks become sand and what gives minerals their vibrant colors.

(Grades 3 & Up. High School and University levels available)

Upgrade with Lab/Workshop:

Add a hands on activity and lab paired with the standards and content of this field trip. ($7/student | 60 mins)
• The Experience: Step into the shoes of a field scientist and take on the ultimate mineral identification challenge. Students will use real geological tools and testing techniques such as streak plates, hardness tests, and acid checks to crack the code on mystery minerals, discover their vibrant colors, and learn about the intense natural forces that shape them. Explore earthquakes, volcanos and other forces of the Earth!

Step Into the Ice Age

Travel back to a frozen landscape ruled by Mammoths, Giant Sloths, and Giant Beavers. Students touch prehistoric teeth, handle thick fossil fur, and see how carving glaciers sculpted modern Illinois.

(Adaptable for All Ages)

Upgrade with Lab/Workshop:

Add a hands on activity and lab paired with the standards and content of this field trip. ($7/student | 60 mins)
• The Experience: Dive deeper into the frozen landscape ruled by Mammoths and Giant Sloths. Students will act as Ice Age detectives, examining prehistoric skeletal clues to decode how Pleistocene megafauna adapted to survive extreme, frozen environments.