Let Curiosity Lead!
Programming for grade school students encourages asking questions, sparking wonder and providing hands on experiences. Each tour feature a Burpee educator guide, hands on experiences, and engagement tailored to the attention span, and energy levels of your amazing students! We are thrilled to bring them into our natural science museum, and help you cultivate wonder and joy around the natural world! Perfect for elementary field trips, camps, and homeschool groups.
This curriculum is typically a good fit for 3rd to 6th graders
Fossil & Dino Tour
Most Popular!
Meet the giant dinosaurs, and tiny prehistoric snails in your journey through time! Touch real fossils, and interact with Burpee educators to explore the age of dinos and more! Pairs well with "Paleontology Puzzle" Lab
Ice Age Giants
NEW!
Join us on an expedition back in time to the cold, glacial landscape of Illinois! Just 2.5 million years ago Illinois was roamed by mammoths, giant sloths, and more! Pairs well with "Analyze Adaptations" or "Stalking Smilodons" Labs
Forces of the Earth
NEW!
Starting miles under the surface of the Earth, and heading to sandy beaches, we will follow minerals as they are transformed into different types of rocks thanks to the forces of the Earth. Pairs well with "Evaluate What Rocks" Lab
Reptiles ALIVE
From slithering snakes to leaping lizards, bring your students up close with live reptiles to learn about their cold blooded nature and adaptations that help the critters survive in the wild! Pairs well with "Analyze Ectotherms" Lab
Wetland, Woodland, Grassland
Habitats of Illinois are diverse in their fauna & flora (animals & plants). Meet the locals up close, and learn the amazing creatures in the ecosystems all around us! Pairs Well with "Aqua Analysis" or "Dinner Dissection" Labs
The First People
Travel back in time, and explore woodland cultures. Gather in our authentic wigwam and then compare lifeways of people of the Eastern Woodlands, Great Plains, Desert Southwest. Pairs Well with "Apply, Analyze Create: Tools of the Trade" Lab
The People "Of This Place"
Walk through contemporary and traditional artworks of the Sac and Fox, Potawatomi, and Ojibwe Nations. Learn the narratives, experiences, and historical understandings of Native Nations of the Rockford region and beyond!
Paleontology Puzzle Lab
Learn to think like a scientist by analyzing and comparing dinosaur bones, fossil leaves, ordovician shells and more! It won't be a puzzle for you very long! Good luck.
Stalking Smilodons Lab
Would you survive the Ice Age? Humans lived among these giant beasts, stalking and hunting their prey. See the tools humans used, learn differences, and see if you could successfully throw a spear and hunt a smilodon!
Analyze Adaptations Lab
The Ice Age animals used fur and fat to stay warm. Scientists can learn so much from a single strand of hair! Examine microscopic samples, and explore the benefits of fat in these hair raising experiments!
Evaluate What Rocks Lab
Explore the diversity of minerals that make up rocks! From the many colors of quartz, to the various hardness of minerals, to minerals that appear to glow...lets evaluate what rocks.
Ectotherm Experimentation
From frogs breathing through their skin, to the smelling with a tongue...get to heart (and bones) of cold blooded animal differences through experiments and bone analysis.
Analyze, Apply & Create: Tools of the Trade
Learn techniques Native Americans in the midwest used to create beautiful pottery. You will create, and decorate, a miniature pot to take home!
Aqua Analysis Lab
Jump into the Rock River in Burpee's backyard and take your samples to our Aqua Aerobics Water Laboratory on campus. Students will identify micro and macro invertebrates, engage in water testing, and learn about river flow.
