Call (412) 622-3289. Click here for a note on state standards.

Docent-guided tours at Carnegie Museum of Natural History encourage interactive exploration of natural history topics. Click here for Guided Tour topics.

Click here to fill out our pre-tour questionaire.

Scheduling
Tours are available year-round during museum hours. Please note: From Apr. 20–June 5, 2009, only 1-hour highlight tours are offered and do not include touchables.

Tours must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance.

To make a reservation, contact Group Visits at (412) 622-3289 or GroupVisits@CarnegieMuseums.org.

Tour requests may also be made online. School groups requesting a guided tour should use the School Tour Request Form. All other groups interested in booking a tour should use the general Group Tour Request Form.

Customized Tours
If the following tours do not suit your needs, a 1- to 1½-hour tour can be designed for your group. Contact Cathy Andreychek at (412) 622-3233 or AndreychekC@CarnegieMNH.org.

Special Needs
If any students in your group have special needs, please let us know in advance.

Preschool and Kindergarten Tours
These tours make extensive use of touchable objects (except during Apr. 20–June 5, 2009). Tours are 45 minutes long. Minimum age is four years.

Grade 1–12 Tours
These tours use specially trained Docents to encourage students to observe objects closely and make their own discoveries about museum exhibits. Tours address standards in social studies and science and are adapted to support your educational needs.

Highlight Tours (Any Grade)
For groups that would prefer an overview of the museum, we offer highlight tours that visit two or three galleries. Visit the Exhibits pages for an overview of permanent and traveling exhibits.

Back by Popular Demand!
Para los estudiantes de Español: Visitas al Museo de Historia Natural para disfrutar de la nueva exhibición de dinosaurios. El guía hará la presentación en Español.

(Grades 3–12)
Don’t miss this opportunity for your students to learn about our world-famous dinosaur collection while using their Spanish conversation and listening skills. This hands-on, inquiry-based tour is presented in Spanish and will be adapted to the language proficiency of your students. Fees, chaperone policies, and scheduling procedures for one-hour docent-guided tours apply for this tour. Dates subject to availability. Maximum of 15 students.

Tour Topics
Tours are arranged into four main categories:

Culture & Anthropology | Geology & Paleontology | Environment & Ecology | Geography & History

Culture & Anthropology:

Who Lives in the Arctic?
Preschool–Grade 1, 1 hour

Meet the people and the animals that live at the top of the world. Come face to face with a polar bear, touch the fur of a muskox, and visit a snowhouse without getting frostbite.

Where Do You Live?
Preschool–Grade 2, 1 hour

Discover how the clothing, food, homes, and lifestyles of the Tlingit, Hopi, Lakota, and Iroquois were influenced by their environments.

Polar World: Life on Ice
Grades 2–6, 1 hour

Winter in the Arctic may last eight months. See how the people, plants, and animals survive in this frigid environment. Experience life on the frozen ocean in winter and during summer days when the sun never sets.

Living with Nature
Grades 3–6, 1 hour

The Northwest Coast, Southwest Desert, Midwest Plains, and Northeast Woodlands are the homes of very different American Indian peoples. Visit these environments and explore the lives of those who live there.

Life in Ancient Egypt
Grades 3–12, 1 hour

Travel to the banks of the Nile River. Savor life under the pharaoh’s rule and decipher the meaning of mummies.

American Indians of North America
Grades 4–6, 1½ hours

Explore the diverse American Indian peoples represented in the museum’s Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians. Students will examine four distinct environments and their accompanying natural resources to discover how they shape each culture’s food, clothing, and shelter. An extensive pre-tour activity packet is provided that contains a Venn diagram, vocabulary and data collection sheets, and a post-visit writing activity.

Comparison of Three Cultures
Grades 5–12, 1½ hours

Examine the responses of the Hopi, Inuit, and ancient Egyptians to their challenging environments as we compare and contrast their lifestyles and cultures.

Treasures and Traditions
Grades 7–12, 1 hour

Through investigation of the treasures of American Indian peoples, discover their traditions and glimpse how they have changed over the past 100 years.

Geology & Paleontology:

Fascinating Fossils
Preschool–Grade 1, 1 hour

Bones, skin, scat, and claws are among the clues dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures left behind. Unlock their secrets and explore Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Dinosaurs in Their Time.

Carnegie’s Dinosaurs
Grades 2–6, 1 hour

Our fascination with dinosaurs is endless, and our knowledge is constantly changing. We learn about the lives of creatures that lived millions of years ago by exploring the clues these ancient animals and their environments left behind. Students will explore the incredible Dinosaurs in Their Time to learn the answers to “How do we know?”

Earth’s Building Materials
Grades 3–6, 1 hour
Grades 7–12, 1½ hours

Uncover the secrets buried below the surface of our world. Visit Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems and investigate the formation and properties of rocks and minerals and find that even something “rock-solid” is constantly changing.

Dinosaurios en Español
Grades 3–12

Don’t miss this opportunity for your students to learn about our world-famous dinosaur collection while using their Spanish conversation and listening skills. This hands-on, inquiry-based tour is presented in Spanish and will be adapted to the language proficiency of your students. Dates subject to availability. Maximum of 15 students.

The Evolution of Life
Grades 7–12, 1½ hours

Evolution is a fundamental concept of modern science. Life on Earth has evolved over millions of years. Students will evaluate the evidence as they journey through Dinosaurs in Their Time and search through the fossil record of the past 600 million years to discern trends and mechanisms for this process.

Environment & Ecology:

Animal Adaptations
Preschool–first grade, 1 hour
Grades 2–6, 1 hour

Adaptations are special traits that help animals survive in their environment. Explore the varied ways animals adapt through camouflage, seasonal migration, and other unique responses.

Let’s Go to Africa
Preschool–Grade 6, 1 hour

Take a safari to the continent of giraffes and gorillas as we step into four African biomes: desert, savanna, rainforest, and mountain slopes.

Biodiversity: Threatened, Endangered, Extinct
Grades 3–5, 1 hour
Grades 6–12, 1½ hours

Our planet is a complex web of interactions between man, plants, and animals. Learn how the extinction of one species can lead to a chain of extinctions and discover plants and animals in danger in Pennsylvania and around the world.

Biomes Across North America and Beyond
Grades 3–5, 1 hour
Grades 6–12, 1½ hours

A biome is a community of plants and animals adapted to a particular environment. Explore the biomes that make up North America and compare them to environments across the globe.

Geography & History:

Pennsylvania’s Natural History
Grades: 1–3, 1 hour
Grades: 4–6, 1½ hours

Travel through the museum in search of the plants, animals, minerals, fossils, and the early people that called Pennsylvania home. A comprehensive pre-tour education package is available with this tour.

Highlight Tours
During the Spring, schedule a highlight tour. Choose three exhibit areas (see Exhibits pages) or choose one of the following highlight tours with a theme. Please remember, touchables are not available Apr. 20–June 5, 2009.

Animal Adaptations
Biodiversity: Threatened, Endangered, Extinct
Biomes Across North America and Beyond
Carnegie’s Fossils
Comparison of Three Cultures
Pennsylvania’s Natural History

Virtual Tours: For an additional $2 per student, take a virtual tour of the Temple of Horus and/or a Seneca village in immersive Earth Theater. See page XX for more information.

New offering: Dinosaurios en Español (Dinosaurs in Spanish). Students spend an hour with a docent in Dinosaurs in Their Time. Available Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays; dates subject to availability. Maximum of 15 students.