Giving Opportunities

Interviews with Museum visitors have dramatically proven that visitors want an opportunity to interact with knowledgeable staff and volunteers. The Education Division has developed a slate of programs to satisfy and engage curious visitors.

Discovery Stations are mobile carts that contain “touchable” objects that help explain a particular artifact or concept with an interactive-hands-on approach. Staff can move these carts to appropriate areas or galleries within the Museum.

Family Days are day-long, museum-wide events that engage thousands of visitors in a variety of activities, such as meet-the-expert, story time, art, music, and demonstrations. Family Days can attract 10,000 to 50,000 visitors to the museum.

This annual publication highlights museum programs that are of special interest to families with school-age children.

Our Museum partners with numerous schools to foster and motivate student learning in science and technology as well as real-world problem-solving. We capture students’ interests with our aircraft and spacecraft and urge them to investigate the people and events behind the artifacts to better understand the history of our modern world.

Our Explainers are students trained to conduct programs and interact with visitors to “explain” or interpret the artifact collection. In addition to positive engagement with visitors it provides mentored, professional work experience for high school and college students.

This annual publication provides teachers with all the information they need to know in order to prepare plans in advance for a school fieldtrip to the Museum.

With colorful images on the front and lesson plans on the back, teaching posters can be useful resources for teachers to prepare their classes before a fieldtrip.

Current technology makes it possible to bring Museum resources to “virtual visitors” across the country on a regular basis. Virtual Visits – live, two-way videoconferences between museum staff or volunteers and students; E-Curators Choice – two-way videoconferences including museum curators; and Electronic Field Trips – satellite broadcasts with simultaneous web casts that consist of hour-long programs – all aid to interactively engage students and the public nationwide with the museum. Our Education Web Site, Lecture Broadcasts and Teacher E-Newsletter all contain numerous online activities used in conjunction with a museum virtual or physical visit to acquaint students with the Museum’s collection.

Daily docent-led tours of the Museum are available. They can be either a Museum highlights tour or a topical tour focusing on a specific interest, such as World War II.