Field trips to MOR benefit from over fifty years of teacher feedback and evaluations. Teachers have compiled these tips to help your students get the most out of their visit to Museum of the Rockies.
We no longer accept field trip requests for the 2022-2023 school season. We look forward to seeing you and your students at MOR during the 2023-2024 season.
Do you have a tip you want us to include? Please send us an email at visitMOR@montana.edu.
Please click on the below accordion list for MOR's Educator's Guide Informatio to plan your Field Trip.
Schools are welcome to submit field trip requests up to one year in advance.
Museum of the Rockies welcomes schools to visit during the following dates:
Based on your Field Trip Request Form, our team will prepare a detailed itinerary for you.
School groups from across the state of Montana are admitted free of charge to Museum of the Rockies (with an advanced reservation) thanks to generous donations from individuals and corporations. All programs (guided tours, planetarium shows, etc.) are free of charge for Montana schoolchildren.
One adult will be given free admission for every eight students.
Extra chaperones will be charged the discounted rate of $14. Please plan for this in advance.
Schools visiting from outside of Montana will be admitted at a discounted rate of 20% off of general admission.
Partial reimbursement for travel costs is available for Montana school groups arriving by bus.
Following your visit, please send a copy of the original invoice to: visitMOR@montana.edu
Guided tours (typically one hour in length) provide your students with the most comprehensive experience in one of the museum’s exhibits*.
Led by a MOR docent (volunteer educator), tours of the Siebel Dinosaur Complex exhibit and Paugh History Hall can be tailored to the themes or topics that your students are learning about in the classroom.
To be sure that your tour addresses specific standards or content, please provide detailed information on your Field Trip Request Form. Docents will do their best to craft a tour that includes your requests.
Docent-guided tours must be requested at least two weeks in advance.
Here’s what Montana teachers have to say about their experience:
Self-guided tours of Museum of the Rockies allow teachers to lead their own tours of MOR’s exhibits or create time for students to explore interactive exhibits independently or in small groups.
To make the most of your self-guided tour time, MOR offers resources for teachers to help keep students engaged during self-guided tours.
The Taylor Planetarium at Museum of the Rockies offers Digistar 4K digital projection on a 40-foot dome. Developed by Evans & Sutherland, this state-of-the-art projection system allows visitors to experience our universe and our world in vivid colors, dramatic motion, and brilliant displays of light.
School groups are invited to visit the Taylor Planetarium with advanced reservations and may request a show that fits their classroom content.
Available and suggested planetarium shows
Suggested shows for each grade level based on Montana Science Content Standards & Model Curriculum Guides as well as show production, vocabulary, and content.
More planetarium shows are available per request or subject.
The Little Star That Could (Kindergarten, 1, and 2nd grade)
Physical Science: Construct an explanation based on observations of the effect of sunlight on the earth's surface.
Voyager: A Never-Ending Journey (2 – 12th grade)
Earth & Space Science: Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted. Physical Science: Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify various materials by their observable properties.
Supervolcanoes (6 – 12th grade)
Earth & Space Science: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time scales and spatial scales, and develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.