Guidelines for All Museum Visits
The Card/Riley Conservation & Wildlife Education Center is pleased to offer free visits
to all public schools. Discover the museum through programs created with your curriculum
and students’ developmental needs in mind. Museum docents engage students in active
discussions about habitats, ecosystems, wildlife, and conservation.
What will we see?
In everyday life we develop the habit of looking quickly, gaining the most basic information
and then moving on. But through critical observation we can determine information
provided by nature and wildlife from an immersive experience within our museum. Museum
lessons are focused on a limited number of carefully selected areas and specimen rather
than visiting every object in the Museum. After the visit program we encourage teachers
and chaperones to spend extra time with students in the space to apply the lessons
to other areas and specimen within the museum.
FAQs
Master the Museum
Please review these guidelines with your students and chaperones prior to your visit.
- Experience with your eyes and minds, not your hands. Touching the specimen is not
allowed.
- Please avoid getting too close to habitats and specimen.
- Be curious! Ask lots of questions. While we love stories, we have a limited amount
of time. Questions start with Who/What/Why/When/Where/How
- Chaperones must remain with students at all times.
- Please note the Museum has no indoor lunch facilities, however the quad across the
street from the Museum is an excellent space for lunch.
What do we do when we arrive at the Museum?
- Please arrive 15 minutes before scheduled start of program (allow time for traffic
and parking). Parking passes must be obtained from Department of Public Safety for
each vehicle.
- Discover the Museum through programs created with your curriculum and students’ developmental
needs in mind.
- Museum Educators engage students in active discussions about nature and wildlife using
strategies to develop students’ visual thinking.
- Guided tours are approximately 45 minutes.
What do we expect from teachers and chaperones?
- Teachers and chaperones must remain with the group during the entire program and accept
responsibility for monitoring the group’s behavior.
- We need your help! Teachers and chaperones need to lead the group and assist with
student behavior and control.
After Your Visit
- Students have more meaningful field trips when they discuss their experiences before
and after the visit.
- Our 20 minute post-visit reflection activity, “I Went to the Card/Riley Conservation
Center and…” helps you continue the conversation that we started in the museum.
- We love feedback about what went well and what we can improve upon. Please take a
few minutes to fill out the post-visit survey provided by the museum.