School Field Trips
Amazement Square’s Discovery School Programs invite students to explore the Museum through immersive storytelling, role-playing, and hands-on activities. Students may step into the roles of scientists, archaeologists, detectives, or curators as they engage with exhibits and learning experiences designed to support curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking.
Programs are aligned with Virginia’s Standards of Learning and are designed to reinforce classroom concepts while encouraging exploration and active participation.
For information on sponsored admission, please visit →Discovery Programs
Programs are designed to support state SOL preparation through active, hands-on learning through museum exploration.
Early Learning: Pre-K-1st grade
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Join us for rhyming fun in our Once Upon a Building exhibit! Students explore rhyming words and word families while working in a rock quarry, constructing buildings, and acting out construction-vehicle rhymes. SOL: Oral Language: K.1, K.2, K.3, K.4 · Reading: K.8, K.9
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Investigate math concepts and have a ROAR-ing good time! Students use non-standard measurements to compare the size of dinosaur footprints and graph their findings. Make tracks to join us! SOL: Block 1; Block 5; K.1; K.2; K.10; K.13; K.14; 1.9; 1.1; 1.15
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Pre-K and K students explore math concepts in our Big Red Barn exhibition. Students use ordinal numbers to act out a farmer’s daily chores and create patterns using their favorite farm animals. SOL: K.16; K.3; 1.17 · Blocks 1 and 6
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Come outside and discover what plants need to grow! Students investigate plant parts and adaptations, plant seeds to take home, and observe their growth. (In the event of inclement weather, this program will be moved indoors.) SOL: Block 5; K.6; K.7; 1.4
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Embark on an expedition to explore animal habitats! Through dramatic play and inquiry, students investigate ecosystems and the needs of living things. SOL: Block 5; K.6; K.7; 1.4; 1.5
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Students explore the cosmos in Amazement Square’s Planetarium! Pre-K through 1st-grade students act out the Earth and Moon’s revolution around the Sun before traveling through space to visit the eight planets in our solar system. SOL: Block 6; 1.6
Elementary Programs: 2nd-6th grade
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Join this exciting escape room adventure where students solve puzzles and challenges based on The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Students explore reading comprehension, sequencing, and perspective-taking in a fun, interactive environment. SOL: Reading: 3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.9
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Explore robotics and engineering while programming robots to complete tasks and respond to their environment—just like Perseverance completing its mission to Mars. SOL: Computer Science: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1
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Students explore the relative size and distances between planets while investigating the organization and interaction of the solar system and other celestial bodies. SOL: Block 6; 3.8; 4.7; 4.8; 6.8
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Meet Amazement Square’s newest monster friends as students help feed hungry creatures while learning about phases of matter and phase changes in this engaging, hands-on science lesson. SOL: 2.3
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Students journey through the water cycle as a water droplet, exploring cloud types, weather instruments, watersheds, and participating in a live water cycle experience in the On the James exhibition. SOL: 2.6; 2.7; 3.7
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Set in the Native American Gallery, students explore Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo villages to learn how the environment shaped culture through architecture, food, and daily life. SOL: 2.3; 2.7
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Students explore economic concepts including needs vs. wants, making choices, resources, and specialization while creating hamburgers with modeling dough in the Commerce Café. SOL: 1.7; 1.8; 1.9; 2.8; 2.10; 3.8
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Students use their understanding of plant structures and functions to design and build a plant model using repurposed materials. SOL: 1.4; 2.4
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Students investigate how the shape of a bird’s beak influences food-gathering abilities across different habitats through testing, observation, and inquiry. SOL: 2.5; 3.1; 3.4; 3.6; 4.1; 4.5
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Students step into an architectural design challenge, problem-solving and creating models for a special client in need of adaptive solutions. This hands-on STEAM experience is easily adjustable for a range of ages. SOL: 3.1; 3.4; 4.3; 4.5
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Students explore the geography, resources, and trade routes of ancient Mali through hands-on activities that demonstrate how civilizations meet their needs through trade and resource management. SOL: 3.4; 3.5; 3.6; 3.7; 3.9
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Students step into an archaeological dig to uncover how ancient Egyptian innovations continue to influence the modern world through interactive discovery. SOL: 3.2
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Students compare and contrast ancient Greece and Rome as they help prepare a museum exhibit, exploring government, architecture, trade, and daily life. SOL: 3.1; 3.3; 3.4; 3.7; 3.8
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Through exciting experiments, students investigate physical and chemical changes while building science process skills in a hands-on lab environment. SOL: 3.1; 3.3; 4.1; 5.1; 5.7
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Students use scientific tools to dissect a flower and examine the structures and functions of plant reproductive systems. SOL: 4.1; 4.2; 4.4
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Students apply their knowledge of plant structures by designing and building a flower model using repurposed materials and loose parts. SOL: 4.1; 4.2; 4.4
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Students explore electricity by building circuits, testing conductors and insulators, and participating in engaging electrical demonstrations. SOL: 5.4
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Students analyze weather data and conduct hands-on demonstrations to investigate severe weather, wind, temperature, and atmospheric pressure. SOL: 4.4; 6.7
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Students explore atoms, molecules, and phases of matter through interactive demonstrations that reveal how materials change and behave. SOL: 5.7; 6.5
Special Education Programs
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Experience the joy of a classic children’s story with a creative twist as students explore The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Students will code robots, build houses, and work together to free A. Wolf as part of an interactive escape room experience. This engaging blend of literacy and STEM brings storytelling to life while encouraging creative problem-solving and strengthening critical thinking skills. This program consists of three in-classroom/outreach sessions. VESOL: R-3.1, R-3.2, R-3.4, R-3.5, R-3.7
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Inspired by the works of Henri Matisse, students will explore creativity through color, shape, and pattern. Using hands-on techniques, students will create a paper collage while developing an understanding of mathematical concepts such as length, volume, and patterns. VESOL: M-3.9, M-3.14, M-3.15
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Students will examine the artwork of Vincent van Gogh as they create original pieces of art. Through visual storytelling, students will explore the use of color and shape while expressing special memories and personal experiences. VESOL: M-3.9, M-3.14, M-3.15
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Students will explore Mars and the night sky while learning about space exploration. Through hands-on activities, students will compare Earth and Mars and launch rockets as they investigate motion, force, and gravity. This program includes four in-classroom sessions, with a planetarium visit as the culminating experience. VESOL: S-5.5, S-5.6, S-5.10
Inside Out Preschool Program
Foster Fuels and the Fray Family Charitable Trust proudly support three Inside Out Early Learning programs serving Campbell County preschool families: Rhyming Right at the Construction Site, Our Earth is Beautiful, and Voyage through the Solar System, which help expand access to hands-on learning experiences rooted in early literacy and family engagement.
Amazement Square partners with Campbell County preschools to deliver enriching, hands-on programming that supports early literacy, science, and STEAM-based learning. These experiences are designed for to engage young learners and their families, fostering curiosity and a lifelong love of learning.
Rhyming Right at the Construction Site
This literacy-focused program allows families to practice rhyming skills through engaging, hands-on activities. Participants will match rhyming rocks, create word family buildings, and act out construction vehicle poems, reinforcing phonemic awareness in a fun and immersive environment.
Our Earth is Beautiful
A STEAM-based exploration of environmental science, this program provides children with the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning. Activities include investigating habitat sensory bins, sorting recyclable materials, creating games in our makerspace, and exploring land and sea animals. These experiences help foster a deeper understanding of the natural world and encourage problem-solving skills.
Voyage Through the Solar System
Utilizing a portable planetarium, this program offers students a 360-degree immersive view of the night sky. Participants will observe constellations, the moon’s surface, and planets while exploring the differences between daytime and nighttime skies. The program encourages students to become sky investigators, developing observational skills and a foundational understanding of astronomy.
To support early learning and family engagement, Amazement Square offers interactive preschool programs designed to meet children where they are and encourage learning through play.
Book Today!
All school visits require prior reservations and must be booked 4 weeks in advance. A non-refundable deposit of $100 is due two weeks prior to program date. Late bookings will be subject to a $25 service charge.
Amazement Square is available for school field trips Wednesday – Friday; special requests for Tuesday visits are assessed on a case-by-case basis and may be subject to additional fees.