Docent Led Programs for Visiting Classes and Youth Groups

The Museum offers four docent-led programs for pre-school to jr. high school classes. Each program lasts 30-50 minutes depending on the age group.

Fees and Registration: Call the Museum at (707) 826-4479 at least two weeks in advance of your desired visit date. We charge $1.50 per person (all adults included) with a $25 minimum There is a maximum group size of 25 students or one class.

The programs are interactive - incorporating real objects to be seen and touched (shells, insect mounts, dinosaur fossils, etc...), plus live animals, student skits, and activities that engage the students while teaching about natural science.

California Content Standards for Science themes and appropriate grades follow the description.

Current Program Topics include:

Reptiles and Amphibians - Find out the difference between reptiles and amphibians by meeting (and touching some) live toads, frogs, salamanders, snakes and turtles. See how each of these creatures survives and what its life-cycle is like. Examine the shed skin of a snake, shells of turtles and the skeleton of a frog. (Life Science - grades K, 1, 2, 4)

Dinosaurs and Fossils - Fossils are like books in stone and can tell the story of pre-historic life. Whether you are studying dinosaurs, early humans or trilobites fossils can give clues to the past. Students touch real fossils, millions of years old, and act in a skit as they find out how living things become fossils. (Earth Science - grades 1, 2, 3)

Insects - Built to Survive - Insects have many adaptations for helping them survive. Find out how insects are similar and different from each other and where they live. Touch live Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, listen to a live beehive and try to find well-camouflaged walkingstick insects. Learn why insects have been around for 400 million years and live in every terrestrial habitat. (Life Science - grades K, 1, 2, 4)

Natural History for Pre-schoolers - Youngsters can watch a snake crawl and touch its scales, see a turtle's slow crawl, and touch a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach's smooth back. Hands-on snake skin, turtle shells and fossil insect relatives. (Ages 2-5)