Houston Field Trips

In most of our Houston field trips, we head out to parks, landmarks and museums… but in this post, we’re learning from home. Here are some ideas for virtual field trips in Houston!

Virtual Field Trips in Houston:

• Asia Society of Texas
  • Take At-Home Adventures through Asia!
  • Take virtual trips through Japan, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Korea and China.
  • Build a foundation for global learning and foster cultural empathy by sparking learner curiosity, contextualizing information, and sharing different perspectives.
  • Free materials are available (including notes for parents to guide each trip).
• Children’s Museum of Houston
  • The Children’s Museum has been all virtual since September.
  • There are so many resources and workshops available. Learn CAD, tour the museum, listen to stories, engage in projects and so much more.
  • The museum also has virtual field trips, you can guide yourself through the Museum, stopping as you choose. Each tour option is themed either by age or by topic.
• Generation Serve Houston
  • Volunteer as a family!
  • Find the calendar of virtual events HERE.
• Houston Museum of Natural Science
  • Free and paid resources are available to take you on a Virtual Dinosaur Adventure, Wildlife Safari, World of Energy and Journey Through Ancient Egypt.
  • The HMNS website points you to resources on YouTube (and also Prime, Netflix, etc). Paid add-ons are available as well.
• Houston Zoo
  • Take a virtual tour of the zoo.
  • There are programs to bring the animals to your classroom… including your home classroom.
  • For the at-home programs, you connect through Zoom to learn about animal adaptations, habitats, and more! Meet an animal visitor up-close, compete in a family quiz, and become experts in saving wildlife.
• Museum of Fine Arts Houston
  • Access the art collections and selected exhibitions, film screenings, art-making activities, recorded lectures, artist’s talks on Google Arts & Culture.
  • Also, look for virtual family activities HERE.

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In this Houston Field Trip, history and science of the energy industry to life at the Wiess Energy Hall at the Houston Museum of Natural Science!

Below find resources to read before your trip, details on each stop and parking/driving instructions.

Wiess Energy Hall Resources:

The Houston Museum of Natural Science has a series of online courses on energy topics. It starts with an overview of energy and goes through hydrocarbons, drilling basics and energy sources. Go here for the Online Courses from Wiess Energy Hall.

Explore Wiess Energy Hall:

Wiess Energy Hall – Houston Museum of Natural Science

On the top floor of the Houston Museum of Natural Science is the amazing Wiess Energy Hall.

At 30,000 square feet, the exhibit is roughly the size of a football field. And it brings the history and science of the energy industry to life through interactive displays.

Now, I first wrote this post as I was planning our trip. We had been to the museum recently but not the top floor. We went back as we were learning about energy, and the pandemic has made Wiess Energy Hall a little less cool.

The Geovator and the Eagle Ford Shale Experience are closed and the interactive displays are turned off. You can still see Energy City, the Formation video and other parts of the exhibit. Learn all about the Energy Hall HERE.

With general admission you can see the Energy Hall and the other permanent exhibits. (So, the Energy Hall is not as awesome as it was pre-pandemic, but you can still see some cool stuff here and in the rest of the museum.)

Since we are learning about energy, the trip was still worth our time… and now we’re looking forward to a trip to Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum in Galveston.

(And pssst… check out the bathrooms up by the Energy Hall. They are pretty slick.)

Drive/Park:

The museum has a paid parking garage but there is free parking in Hermann Park. I would park in Lot C and walk over. (Also, stop by the Centennial Garden on your way back to the car!)

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In this Houston field trip, get up close with cellular biology at the DeBakey Cell Lab at the Health Museum of Houston!

Look below for resources to read before your trip, details on each stop and parking/driving instructions.

Resources:

• Human Body Activity Book for Kids (Workbook for K-3)
• Biology Workbook (Workbook for 6-12)
• Science Explorers: Teaching Kids About Cells (Website)

(Do you have a Cellular Biology curriculum? Send it to us!)

Explore the DeBakey Cell Lab:

DeBakey Cell Lab – The Health Museum of Houston – 1515 Hermann Dr, Houston, TX 77004

Head to the DeBakey Cell Lab at the Houston Health Museum. Here you can put on a lab coat, gloves and goggles and visit experiment stations.

There are seven lab stations that get you up close with cellular biology, including cheek cells, DNA extraction, testing anti-microbial agents, enzymes in saliva, examining blood, giant chromosomes and mystery microbes.

You can access to up to three of the seven lab stations per visit. It is required that all guests must be ages seven and above in order to participate in Cell Lab.

The Cell Lab is $3 for current members and an additional $5 per person for non-members with the purchase of general admission to The Health Museum. Learn all about it HERE.

Drive/Park at DeBakey Cell Lab:

The museum has a paid parking lot but there is free parking in Hermann Park. I would park in Lot C and walk over. (Also, stop by the Centennial Garden on your way back to the car!)

 

 

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In this field trip, visit the butterfly-filled rainforest at the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Then plant your own garden!

Look below for resources to read before your trip, details on each stop and parking/driving instructions.

Resources:

• Life Cycles of Butterflies (Book)
• Butterflies of Houston and Southeast Texas (Pamphlet)
• Butterflies of Houston and Southeast Texas (Book)
• Monarch Watch (Website)
• Insect Lore Butterfly Garden (Butterfly Habitat for Kids)
• Butterfly Garden Plant List (List from past HMNS Plant Sale)
• How to Make a Butterfly Garden (Website)
• Greater Houston Texas Garden Guide (Website)

At Home:

Plant a Butterfly Garden

As part of your lessons, plant your own butterfly garden! You will need host plants, where adult butterflies lay their eggs, and nectar plants for the butterflies survive.

Learn about what you need HERE and look for plants at local nurseries, like Buchanan’s Native Plants. (The local nurseries often have a better selection than the big box stores.) The Houston Museum of Natural Science gift store often has plants as well.

Explore the Cockrell Butterfly Center:

Houston Museum of Natural Science, 5555 Hermann Park Drive, Houston,Texas 77030

Visit the Cockrell Butterfly Center and Brown Hall of Entomology! Walk through the three-story living butterfly habitat and see some of the world’s largest and weirdest arthropods. See the Butterfly Center’s residents here!

I usually direct you to outdoor spaces or small museums so you can avoid the crowds. Even though the Houston Museum of Natural Science is a popular museum, we did not find many people at the Butterfly Center on our recent trip.

Strollers are not allowed in the Butterfly Center, but there is stroller parking available in the hallway.

An admission fee is required for museum members and non-members.

Drive/Park:

The museum has a paid parking garage but there is free parking in Hermann Park. I would park in Lot C and walk through the beautiful Centennial Garden to the museum.

 

 

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In this Houston field trip, go see hundreds of thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats emerge at sunset… right in the middle of Houston! Go to the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony at Buffalo Bayou Park.

Below find resources to read before your trip, details on each stop and parking/driving instructions.

Resources:

• Bat Conservation International (Website)
• Mexican Free-Tailed Bats with Director of Bracken Cave Preserve, Fran Hutchins (Video)
• The Link Between Bats and Coronavirus (Video)
• Bat House Builder Handbook (PDF)

Explore the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony:

Waugh Bridge at Allen Parkway

Each evening along Buffalo Bayou, where Waugh Drive crosses the water, hundreds of thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats emerge!

Unlike many other Texas bat colonies that migrate south during the winter months, the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony remains in Houston all year.

Visitors can view the bats from the banks of the bayou, from the Waugh Bridge and from the viewing platform (on the south side of the bayou).

Watching the bats emerge is free, just be sure to follow THESE guidelines to keep them safe.

Also, a second bat colony lives beneath the Watonga Drive Bridge in northwest Houston. (I haven’t been to this one, so if you have, tell me about it!)

Drive/Park:

Find the map below.

Parking is available along Buffalo Bayou, but it can be a little tricky. Make sure you allow plenty of time to circle and find a spot.

There are some spots along Allen Parkway. There is also parking available at Spotts Park. You can view the bats from either the north bank or south bank of Buffalo Bayou (but the south side has the platform).

(Some parking spots are free and some are metered, so look for signs before you park your car!)

In this Houston field trip, go to the spot where Texas won its independence. Go to the San Jacinto Battleground, the spot where Santa Anna was captured, the San Jacinto Monument and the San Jacinto Museum!

Look below for resources to read before your trip, details on each stop and parking/driving instructions.

(Thank you Heather for the ideas!)

San Jacinto Resources:

• Curriculum Guide for Teaching Texas History
• San Jacinto Online Museum (Website)
• The Texas Fight for Independence–from the Alamo to San Jacinto (Book)
• Causes and Effects of the Texas Revolution (Book)
• Twenty Texans: Historic Lives for Young Readers (Book)
• San Jacinto Battle: The Last Fight for Texas Independence (Daytripper Video)
• Handbook of Texas Online (Website)

Explore:

On April 21, 1836, during Texas’ war for independence from Mexico, the Texas militia under Sam Houston launched a surprise attack against the forces of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto.

In exchange for his freedom, Santa Anna signed a treaty recognizing Texas’ independence.

Here in Houston, we can go to the battleground, the spot where Santa Anna was captured, the monument and the museum!

San Jacinto Monument – 3523 Independence Pkwy, La Porte, TX 77571

The San Jacinto Monument was constructed as a memorial to all those who fought to win the independence of Texas. It is the tallest masonry column in the world.

The site is open with some restrictions.

San Jacinto Museum – 3523 Independence Pkwy, La Porte, TX 77571

The museum is at the base of the San Jacinto Monument. The Museum’ s collection spans more than four centuries of early Texas history, from the beginnings of European activity in the New World through Texas as a state in the United States.

San Jacinto Battleground – 3523 Independence Pkwy, La Porte, TX 77571

The Battle of San Jacinto was fought at this site on April 21, 1836. Learn all about the battle, and how it changed US history, HERE.

Capture Site of General Santa Anna – Highway 225 at Shaver Street

A short drive from the San Jacinto Monument is the spot where Santa Anna was captured on April 22, 1836.

Now there is a historical marker located next to the Pasadena Paper Mill front gate, facing the Houston Ship Channel.

There is not a lot to see here, but you can imagine Santa Anna being found hiding in the grass, dressed as a common foot soldier!

Vince’s Bridge – 505 N Richey St, Pasadena, TX 77506

Vince’s Bridge was a wooden bridge that was destroyed by Texas armed forces.

It was located on the most likely route of escape for Santa Anna and the Mexican army. The burning of Vince’s Bridge helped prevent his soldiers from reaching the safety of nearby reinforcements.

Today there is a historical marker on the side of the road. There is not a lot to see, but you can appreciate the significance of the spot!

Drive/Park:

Find the map of each location below.

The monument, museum and battlefield are all in the same spot. You can park for free in the lot.

The other spots are just historical markers along the side of the road.

For the Santa Anna capture spot, take the traffic circle on the south side of the Washburn Tunnel. Take the Pasadena Paper Mill entrance road on the right side of the Tunnel. The marker is on the right after the road turns to the left towards the entrance gate of the Mill.

While you are there, take the Washburn Tunnel. It’s a two-lane underwater roadway connecting Galena Park and Pasadena and it is the south’s largest and first toll-free vehicular tunnel.

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In this Houston field trip, study nature, geocache, bird watch, fish, hike or bike at Galveston Island State Park! Look below for resources to read before your trip, details on each stop and parking/driving instructions.

Resources:

• Gulf Coast Science – Sensational Seaweed Unit Study
• Gulf Coast Science – Essential Estuaries Unit Study
• Junior Ranger Activity Journal
• Guide to Galveston Island State Park
• History of Galveston Island
• Birds of Galveston Island
• State Park Map
• Galveston Island Fishing Guide

Explore Galveston Island State Park:

4901 FM 3005, Galveston, TX 77554

Study nature, geocache, bird watch, fish, hike or bike at Galveston Island State Park!

The beach side is closed until 2022, but the bay side is open with lots to see and do. (And if you still want to visit the beach side, go to West Beach down the street.)

Hike or bike four miles of trails through the park’s varied habitats. Stop at the observation platform and explore boardwalks, dunes and marshes. Also, at the state park, you can fish from shore (without a fishing license).

Daily admission is $5 for adults and free for kids. (Right now, you can only pay with card and not with cash.) Learn more HERE.

Drive and Park:

The State Park is right on Termini-San Luis Pass Road (which is Seawall Boulevard by the hotels/restaurants. There is free parking once you are inside the state park (and have paid admission).

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