A teacher led tour allows your group to explore the aquarium at your own pace. Groups are scheduled to avoid overcrowding and to make sure your visit is a memorable one.

A teacher led tour allows your group to explore the aquarium at your own pace. Groups are scheduled to avoid overcrowding and to make sure your visit is a memorable one.

Live animal: snake, freshwater turtles and box, frogs and toads, no bones (use jellyfish song and millipede/tarantula)

Movies: Saving a Species (Manatees/Wolves), Shape of Life-Sea Stars, Life in the Freezer-Bountiful Sea

Nature Games:
• Predator and Play – Learn about predator and prey relationships through a live animal encounter, games, nature art and songs outside on our Lost Woods Nature Play area.
• Dirt Made My Lunch – Explore characteristics of soil and learn about the importance of decomposers through a live animal encounter and outdoor observation and investigation in this program that takes place outside on our Lost Woods Nature Play area.

Live Animal: Alligator, Sea turtle, noxious nature

Programs: Guide to the solar system, cuttlefish and octopus (not available until April 17,2016), AAS, BION, Weather or Not

Movies: Sharks: Stewards of the Reef, Saving a Species (sea turtles), Shape of Life: Jellies, Life in the Freezer (any of the them), Baby sea turtles of OBX

Nature Games:
• Predator and Play – Learn about predator and prey relationships through a live animal encounter, games, nature art and songs outside on our Lost Woods Nature Play area.

• Dirt Made My Lunch – Explore characteristics of soil and learn about the importance of decomposers through a live animal encounter and outdoor observation and investigation in this program that takes place outside on our Lost Woods Nature Play area.

Nature Games (5th Grade only):
• Geology Rocks – Investigate the characteristics of soil and learn about the rock cycle through hands on activities outside on our Lost Woods Nature Play area.

•All About Adaptation – Investigate how plants and animals adapt to their environment through a live animal presentation followed by interactive activities outside on our Lost Woods Nature Play area.

Live animal:
• Snake, Amphibians or Sea turtle

Programs:
• OJ, Oceans 101, Marine Mammals, Jellies or Creating Change

Movies:
• Saving a Species (Whales and dolphins), Shape of Life-Survival Game, Life in the Freezer: Race to Breed or Back from the Brink-the redfish story

Nature Games (Grades 6th & 7th):
• Geology Rocks – Investigate the characteristics of soil and learn about the rock cycle through hands on activities outside on our Lost Woods Nature Play area.

• All About Adaptation – Investigate how plants and animals adapt to their environment through a live animal presentation followed by interactive activities outside on our Lost Woods Nature Play area.

Live Animal:
• Snake, freshwater turtles and box, frogs and toads, no bones (use jellyfish song and millipede/tarantula), Alligator, Sea turtle, noxious nature, Snake, Amphibians or Sea turtle

Programs:
• Guide to the solar system, Cuttlefish and Octopus (not available until April 17,2016), AAS, BION, Weather or Not, OJ, Oceans 101, Marine Mammals, Jellies, Creating Change, Tail Spin, Ends of the Earth or  On the Move

Movies:
• Lethal Seas, Saving a Species (polar bears), Life in the Freezer—Footsteps in the Snow, Ocean Frontiers—Boston Harbor and Whale interactions

 

Private Tour. Accompany an Aquarium educator to sneak a peek behind the scenes of different areas in the Aquarium. Visitors will see the exhibits and all the systems that keep them working, from a side normally viewed by staff only.
Closed toe shoes are required.

Ages: 8 and up - Children 12 and under must be accompanied by a paying adult.

$15.30 for non-members

Take a short visit behind the 285,000-gallon Graveyard of the Atlantic Exhibit.  Peek into the dive locker, learn about an out-of-site holding tank, and get an overhead view of the largest exhibit in the Aquarium.

Closed toe shoes are required.

Ages: 8 and up

$5 per Person

Students will accompany aquarium staff for a hands-on, get wet learning experience on the shore. This program takes place at Coquina Beach in south Nags Head, and groups can meet aquarium staff on site. Students will collect animals in the surf zone (temperatures permitting), participate in a marine debris clean up, and focus on the physical and ecological characteristics of the beach. Topics may include waves, tides, sea turtles, sand dunes, beach vegetation, erosion, and others on request. All collected animals will be identified and released.
Closed toe water shoes are required.

Grades: 3rd and up.

$8 per Person

Join aquarium staff for a fun-filled learning experience in this catch and release program in a nearby salt marsh. We will travel to Oregon Inlet with nets and buckets to search for and collect some of the many animals that inhabit the marsh! Learn about an estuary, the sound, tides, and about the dynamic ecosystem at the marsh. All collected animals will be identified and released back into the sound.
This program must be scheduled around low tide.

Closed toe water shoes are required.

Grades: 3rd and up.

$8 per Person

Meet inside the pavilion at the Nags Head Woods Nature Preserve to talk about nocturnal animals or aspects of astronomy for the first portion of the class. Common themes are the moon, bats, owls, moths and spiders. After the inside portion, we will go outside to hike some of the trails of Nags Head Woods at night.

For all grades.
Children 16 and under must be accompanied by a paying adult.

$7 per Person

Students will investigate the external and internal anatomy of a squid in this introductory dissection. Taxonomy, mollusks, and by-catch will be additional topics discussed. A minimum of 10 students is needed to hold a class.

For grades 4 and up.

$10 per Student
No Charge for Teachers

Students take an up-close look at a dogfish shark to investigate external and internal shark anatomy. An introduction includes the use of video, biofacts, and other mediums. Students will work in groups of four to dissect a shark specimen. Additional specimens can be provided at an additional cost. A minimum of 10 students is needed to hold a class.

For grades 6 and up.

$15 per Student
No Charge for Teachers

To schedule a Shark Dissection Program for your group, please contact the Special Activities Coordinator at 252-475-2327.

Students become detectives in this hands-on activity, as they examine animals such as sea stars, horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs, and whelks up close. Moving from one workstation to another, students work in groups to investigate live animal specimens in search of telltale clues that provide answers to a quiz. A minimum of 10 students is required.

For grades 3 and up.

$10 per Student
No Charge for Teachers

Venture behind the scenes of some of the exhibits at the aquarium to observe food prep areas, program animals, and filtration systems in action. Students will also have the opportunity to take part in water quality testing of at least two tanks in the aquarium. Water chemistry may include testing for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, pH, temperature, and salinity.
Limited to 12 participants.
Closed toe shoes are required.

Grades: 9 and up

$20 per Person

Children and teachers are encouraged to take advantage of some toddler time in the Aquarium. Designed for ages 2-5, these exciting interactive sessions will encourage hands on learning through free play, stories, crafts, and open time in the Aquarium. We will look at a different animal topic or ocean theme during each class and incorporate shapes, colors, numbers and sounds.

Ages: 2-5

$7.00 per Child
$4 for Parents
No charge for School Staff