Field trips
Florida Oceanographic Society offers a variety of standards-based field trip and virtual field trip options for your students. These fun, interactive field trips make use of the Coastal Center property and our “Conservation Ambassador” animals to teach children from pre-K through grade 12 about marine biology and the environment. All K-5 field trips are designed to address Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Science.
If you are looking to book a Coastal Center visit for your summer camp or summer school group, please visit our Group Visits webpage.
Field trips are offered Wednesday through Friday during the school year only. All field trip programs begin at 9:00 a.m.
To request information about field trip availability, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page, or contact Director of Education & Exhibits, Dr. Zack Jud at (772)225-0505 ext. 113 or zjud@floridaocean.org.
Preschool & Kindergarten Programs
- 90-minute program (9:00-10:30 a.m., Wed.-Fri.)
- Guided field trip includes: grade-specific interactive lessons at various Coastal Center exhibits (group size will dictate which exhibits are visited).
- Student limit: 15 min./ 30 max.
- Program fee: $15.00 per student
One teacher per 15 students is admitted free of charge (limit 2 per trip). Additional teachers and all adult chaperones pay the designated program fee. Please limit total adult chaperone count to no more than 6 per trip.
Title I Schools
If you teach at a Title I school, please email us about discounts and scholarship opportunities.
Kindergarten Field Trip Information Sheet
Elementary (1-5th) Level Programs
- 90-minute program (9:00-10:30 a.m., Wed.-Fri.)
- Guided field trip includes: grade-specific interactive lessons at various Coastal Center exhibits (group size will dictate which exhibits are visited).
- Student limit: 15 min./ 35 max.
- Program fee: $15.00 per student
One teacher per 15 students is admitted free of charge (limit 2 per trip). Additional teachers and all adult chaperones pay the designated program fee. Please limit total adult chaperone count to no more than 6 per trip.
Title I Schools
If you teach at a Title I school, please email us about discounts and scholarship opportunities.
1-5th Grade Field Trip Information Sheets
Secondary (6-12th) Level Programs
- 3-hour program
- Guided field trip includes: Lesson in the Florida Oceanographic Society classroom, followed by an interactive activity designed to further emphasize the lesson’s focus.
- Options include:
- Oyster Reefs as Habitat: Identify the organisms that use oyster reefs as a home.
- Mingling with Mangroves: Explore the mangrove swamp to dig deeper into food webs.
- Focusing on Fishes: Identify how the characteristics of fishes influence their life history.
- Student limit: 15 min./ 25 max.
- Program fee: $20.00 per student
Coastal Center Experience Secondary Level Field Trip
A guided educational tour through various exhibits and the nature trail at the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center.
- 90-minute program (9:00-10:30 a.m., Wed.-Fri.)
- Secondary level (6th-12th) program ;
- Student limit: 15 min./ 35 max.
- Price: $15.00 per student/adult
One teacher per 15 students is admitted free of charge (limit 2 per trip). Additional teachers and all adult chaperones pay the designated program fee. Please limit total adult chaperone count to no more than 6 per trip.
Title I Schools
If you teach at a Title I school, please email us about discounts and scholarship opportunities.
Seining Adventure
A classroom lesson about fish morphology and adaptations, followed by seine netting in the Indian River Lagoon (this is an in-water field trip).
- 3-hour water-based program
- Appropriate for 5-12th grade classes
- We do not hold seining field trips January through March as water temperatures are uncomfortably cold
- Requires a signed Seining Program Waiver from each student and chaperone (waiver link below)
- Student limit: 15 min./ 25 max.
- Program fee: $24.00 per student
One teacher per 15 students is admitted free of charge (limit 2 per trip). Additional teachers and all adult chaperones pay the designated program fee. Please limit total adult chaperone count to no more than 6 per trip.
Title I Schools
If you teach at a Title I school, please email us about discounts and scholarship opportunities.
Virtual Field Trip Program
Visit Florida Oceanographic without leaving your school. Stream a live, interactive lesson directly into your classroom using Zoom, Skype, or your school district's required platform.
For more information about our virtual field trips please visit our virtual field trip page.
Homeschool Groups
Florida Oceanographic Society does not offer specific field trip programming for homeschool families and groups. However, if you lead a single-grade homeschool group (i.e., all students in the group are at the same grade level) that meets the above requirements for group size, you can book a regular grade-specific field trip for your students. If your homeschool group consists of more than one grade level, please visit our Self-Guided Group page to book a self-guided visit for your students.
field trip details and policies
Please fill out the below form to initiate the field trip booking process. Field trip availability is not guaranteed. You will receive scheduling confirmation from Florida Oceanographic Society if a field trip is available on your requested date. If your group is larger than the size limits outlined above and you cannot split the field trip across multiple days, please make note below. We will try our best to accommodate your needs.
