Maryland District Field Trips

Students get first hand experience while learning to protect their local environment.

NPS

Bring your students to the park for a fun, free and hands-on learning experience!

The Maryland District of Assateague Island offers a variety of field trip programs that cover multiple Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students will gain field experience while learning to become stewards for their local environment. Admission for school groups is free. For school groups interested in self guided field trips, information is available here.

Accepting field trip requests starting February 1, 2025.

To request a field trip, please email the Maryland District Education Coordinator. In your request, please provide the following information: number of students, grade, anticipated arrival time, school, contact information, and programs requested.

 

Field Trip Programs

 

Pre-K

Down by the Seashore:

Young learners will discover the underwater animals of Assateague Island and the different body parts these aquatic creatures have. Through building, pantomime, and imagination, students will explore how animals living underwater use their bodies to move, protect themselves, and survive.

Program Length: 45 min. - 1 hr.

Kindergarten

Kinderkritters:

All the animals at Assateague need the same things we do to survive, food, water, air, space, and shelter! Park rangers will use puppets and props to excite the imagination as students explore the habitats of Assateague, and the different creatures that live in each one.

Program Length: 45 min. - 1 hr.

NGSS: 1-LS1-1, K-LS1-1, K-ESS3-1

Grade 1

Animal Tails and Trails:

Traverse the elevated boardwalk of the Marsh Trail and look for signs of animal life! Students will join a ranger on a guided walk to explore the plants and animals of the marsh and discover the ways this habitat provides for all the creatures who live there.

Program Length: 45 min. - 1 hr.

NGSS: 2-LS4-1

Grade 2

Roots and Shoots:

We need plants, and plants need many of the same things that we do to survive. If you can’t move around, how do you get what you need? Students will join a ranger on two guided walks to explore the parts of plants and compare plant life on the different habitats of Assateague Island.

Program Length: 2 hours

NGSS: 1-LS1-1, 1-LS1-2, K-LS1-1, 2-LS2-2

Grade 3

Young Meteorologists and Engineers:

Weather is something we all experience every single day. Students will use scientific tools to measure and record what our senses tell us about the weather and utilize engineering skills, with weather hazards in mind, to create a sand structure that will be put to the test!

Program Length: 2 hours

NGSS: 3-ESS2-1, 3-ESS2-2, 3-ESS3-1

Grade 4

Sand Sifters:

Assateague is known for its beaches, but what provided the sand for these shores, and how did it get here? Students will explore how weathering, erosion, and deposition created the island beaches and explore the adaptations that plants and animals have who call these sandy open spaces their home.

Program Length: 2 hours

NGSS: 4-ESS2-1, 3-LS4-3, 2-ESS2-1, 2-LS4-1

Grade 5

Marsh Muckers:

Salt marshes are the nurseries of the sea. These mucky, soggy, buggy places produce and support an incredible variety of life. Students will need appropriate “mucking” footwear for their visit into the wonderful world of marshes. This immersion experience will stimulate the senses while reinforcing the critical role that salt marshes play in the web of life.

Program Length: 45 min. - 1 hr.

NGSS: 5-ESS2-1, 5-ESS3-1

 

Be Prepared!

Check out our web page on how to prepare for your field trip.

How to Prepare for a Field Trip