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Our museum is growing, and our website is growing with it.
We’re making updates one page at a time to better share the River Discovery Center experience.
FIELD TRIP PROGRAMS
Many of our field trips are designed around specific age groups while others may be customized for your age group. Please see below for more information.
Meet STEAM requirements
Collect experiences
Make learning fun
Added value
Download the Field Trip Registration Form below. Please complete and email to the Education Department. For questions or more information, please email education@riverdiscoverycenter.org or see our Teacher FAQs.
Skippers
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Skippers puts students at the helm. In this free program, sponsored by Ingram Barge Company, students take a turn in our navigation simulator, learn a hands-on skill from a working mariner, and explore the River Discovery Center’s exhibits. A classroom session ties it together, with a special focus on the towing industry and how barges move goods like grain, fuel, and building materials along our rivers.
Designed for grades 3 and 4 and aligned with STEAM and core content standards. Standards can be found at the link below.
Skippers is a complimentary school program thanks to the sponsorship from Ingram Barge Company.
Animal Encounters
Animal Encounters brings students face to face with live animals that make their homes in and along our river. In partnership with the Nature Station at Land Between the Lakes, students explore how animals depend on their habitats and how features like fur, feathers, and feet help them survive. The program includes an animal habitat activity, an animal adaptation activity, and a close-up experience with live animals guided by trained staff.
Designed for grades K-3 and aligned with Core Content standards for science. Standards can be found at the link below.
Please email education@riverdiscoverycenter.org for more information and pricing.
Dig It!
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Dig It! turns students into archaeologists. Through a series of activities, students learn about the Indigenous peoples of our region while exploring archaeology, math, science, and history.
The program includes a touch table of artifacts and replicas, a math lesson that teaches a practical measuring skill, and an archaeological investigation using real tools and scientific dig methods. Students work in dig boxes to uncover and examine clues from the past, then learn how archaeologists interpret what they find.
Dig It! can be offered at the River Discovery Center or brought to your school or classroom with our portable dig boxes.
Please email education@riverdiscoverycenter.org for more information and pricing.
Dig It! was awarded a 2015 Kentucky History Award
Mammals
Our mammals program introduces students to the animals that live in or near our river. Students discover how these animals sleep, eat, and interact, including which live alone and which live in groups. They’ll also touch real fur from a variety of mammals found in our region and compare how each coat helps its owner survive. The program wraps up with a guided tour of our river and wildlife exhibits.
Please email education@riverdiscoverycenter.org for more information and pricing.
Insects
Insects are the most diverse group of animals on Earth, and some of the most surprising. In this program, students examine real specimens up close, from the rainbow sheen of a beetle’s shell to the stages of a Monarch’s life cycle. They’ll build their own life-cycle model in a hands-on activity, then take a guided tour of the museum’s exhibits.
Please email education@riverdiscoverycenter.org for more information and pricing.
Under the River
It’s easy to see a river’s surface, but what’s happening underneath? In this lesson, students explore how animals, plants, sediment, and water levels work together to shape a river. They’ll build and test their own river model, then see the same forces in action on our new AR Sand Table, where changing the landscape changes the flow in real time.
Please email education@riverdiscoverycenter.org for more information and pricing.
River Exploration
Meet the brave, determined people who explored and mapped the nation’s waterways, and discover what drove them into the unknown. Students will also learn how navigators found their way in the past, then test their knowledge of the modern technology used on boats today. The program includes a hands-on activity and a guided museum tour.
Please email education@riverdiscoverycenter.org for more information and pricing.
