Let our exhibitions be your classroom!

Guided tours at Carnegie Museum of Natural History encourage interactive exploration of natural history topics. Educator guides with pre- and post-visit information are available for some tours: www.carnegiemnh.org/programs/resources.htm

A tour may cover one exhibition gallery in the museum or may combine several galleries. Because of the volume of visitors in the spring, from April 12–June 7, 2010 we offer only tours that encompass several galleries. We are also unable to use touchable objects during this time period. We include touchables in tours during all other seasons.

Guided tours for groups are customized to meet the curriculum needs and interests of the group. Tours are interactive, and our staff is trained to encourage visitors to make their own discoveries while exploring museum exhibitions and (when available) touchable objects.  Our staff will work with you to tailor your tour to meet your needs and help you use the museum as a laboratory for critical thinking.

Click here for a note on Pennsylvania Academic Standards.

Scheduling
Tours are available year-round during museum hours. Tours must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance.

Reservations
Contact the Group Visits office at 412.622.3289 or GroupVisits@carnegiemuseums.org. You may also request a tour online: http://www.cmoa.org/grouptours

Required Chaperones
Pre-K/Kindergarten: One adult per five children
Grades 1 and up: One adult per 10 children
Required chaperones admitted free; additional adults pay per-person rate.

Fee
One hour or less: $7 per person; $70 minimum fee per tour
90 minutes: $8.50 per person; $85 minimum fee per tour
Payment in full is required two weeks in advance of tour date.

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

Recommended Ages
– Tours of 45 minutes are recommended for Pre-K and K groups.  These tours make extensive use of touchable objects. Minimum age is four years.
– Longer tours of an hour in length are recommended for grades 1-5.  
– The longest tours, 90 minutes in length, are most appropriate for grades 6-12 or for tours that combine several exhibition galleries.

Commonly Requested Exhibition Galleries
The following is a listing of the most common galleries requested for tours; however, all exhibitions and galleries are available for tours. Please refer to the Exhibitions Web pages for a complete list of galleries and scheduled exhibitions.

Spanish-language Tours

Back by Popular Demand!
Grades 3-12
Don’t miss this opportunity for your students to explore the museum while using their Spanish conversation and listening skills. These four hands-on, inquiry-based tours are presented in Spanish, adapted to the language proficiency of your students. Educator guides prepare students for their museum experience. Fees, chaperone policies, and scheduling procedures for guided tours apply. Dates subject to availability. Maximum for each tour time is 15 students.

Academic Standards and Museum Programs

Carnegie Museum of Natural History can help you address state standards. Numbered references to relevant Pennsylvania Academic Standards and Assessment Anchors follow many program descriptions in these program pages.

If you teach in Ohio or West Virginia or are required to address national standards in your work, we can assist you in identifying the corresponding relevant standards for each museum program.

Connections are readily apparent between museum programs and a multitude of the academic standards for science & technology, environment & ecology, geography, and history. Less well-known are the ways in which the museum’s versatile teaching resources can enhance lessons that address standards for arts & humanities or reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Art teachers have long utilized taxidermy mounts from the museum’s loan program as drawing models, and in recent years, some English teachers have used archived news releases from the museum Web site for creative writing assignments. We will continue to share information about using the museum to meet standards, so if you and your colleagues develop effective lesson units that utilize our materials, please let us know about them!