Field Trips
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Durham Museum Field Trips are offered daily during regular museum hours. Groups must include 10 or more participants to receive the reduced rate. The Durham Museum recommends one teacher/chaperone to every 10 students. Teachers and staff will be admitted at no charge with each registered group. Additional chaperones/parents/guardians may attend at $5/chaperone. Museum members will not be charged the $5/chaperone fee. In order for us to provide you the best museum experience possible, we kindly ask that your field trip request be complete TWO WEEKS prior to anticipated field trip date. School Group Rate: $5 per student
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Field Trip Options By Age Group
Pre-K |
Elementary
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Junior High and
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Pre-K Options:
1. All Aboard
Trains are fascinating! Buy a ticket at Union Station’s ticket window and head on down to track #1 for a tour of the museum’s train cars, caboose, and steam engine. Learn about the kinds of cars on a train, the experiences children had while riding, and what the train signals and whistles mean. Our “O” scale model train adds to the railroading fun, allowing children to see how towns thrived from a railroad depot! All aboard!
2. Transportation Station
Have your tickets and tokens ready as you meet us at the station and explore modes of transportation from different time periods. Students will enjoy boarding a real train, learning about different train cars, “riding” a streetcar, and learning about how the covered wagon experience changed the Great Plains.
3. Games Galore
It’s time to play! Learn about trinkets, knickknacks, and pastimes from days gone by. Try your hand at different Native American games, pioneer fun, parlor games and much, much more!
Elementary (K-6) Options:
1. All Aboard
Trains are fascinating! Buy a ticket at Union Station’s ticket window and head on down to track #1 for a tour of the museum’s train cars, caboose, and steam engine. Learn about the kinds of cars on a train, the experiences children had while riding, and what the train signals and whistles mean. Our “O” scale model train adds to the railroading fun, allowing children to see how towns thrived from a railroad depot! All aboard!
2. Historic Schoolroom
Step back to the 1890’s and see how different it was to attend a one-room school! Explore daily life from this time period through artifacts, stories, and reciting real lessons students did in their classroom. Who will be the spelling bee champion or have the best penmanship? Students will also compare their visit to what they experience in classrooms today.
3. Neighborhood Store
Bring your shopping list along as we take a trip back to the time of streetcars and neighborhood grocery stores. Visit the museum’s Buffett Grocery Store exhibit and discover the fun of shopping for penny candy. Also learn how small grocery stories played an integral role in Omaha communities.
4. On the Trail with Lewis and Clark
Join the expedition! Learn about Meriwether Lewis & William Clark’s journey through the untamed Louisiana Purchase. Explore the Corps of Discovery’s three important goals as they experienced the land that is now Nebraska and beyond.
5. Pioneer Life
Visit our log cabin and experience the life of a Great Plains pioneer. Learn about the types of homes people lived in, how large families made do with small living quarters, and the chores that children were expected to perform. Play prairie games, see pioneer clothing, and take a turn at the butter churn!
6. Native American Life
Explore the life of the Plains Indians tribes. Enter the Durham Museum’s tipi and earth lodge to interact with Native American artifacts and meet Scout, our resident buffalo. Learn how the Native Americans used the resources around them throughout the centuries.
7. Union Station Great Hall
Explore the beauty and grandeur of Omaha’s Union Station, wonderfully preserved by The Durham Museum. Learn about the building’s history both as a train station and museum, plus experience our 60-foot ceilings and “talking” statues.
8. Omaha Faces and Places
Travel through time exploring everything from the Plains Indian tribes to Omaha’s connections to Warren Buffett, as the important faces of Omaha stand out along the way. Also experience a model of one of the most important “places” in Omaha history, the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition.
9. Omaha Homes and Families
Learn how people from all over the world lived as they came to Omaha to start a new life. From Omaha’s important immigration history to the homes they lived in, see how life changed for residents throughout Omaha’s past.
10. Transportation Station
Next stop, The Durham Museum! Students will enjoy “riding” a streetcar to catch their train and exploring the 1920s Cornhusker Club Car. After making new friends in the Lounge Car with fellow passengers, students will see their options of where to sleep for the night before discovering how people traveled before the railway!
11. Business Hall of Fame
Can you name how many millionaires are from Omaha? Learn about business leaders like Warren Buffett, Rose Blumkin, Peter Kiewit and Mildred Brown and see how they helped build Omaha into the city it is today. What other names and industries will you find in the Hall of Fame?
12. Early Omaha
Ever wonder how Omaha got its roots? Learn about William D. Brown, Native American life and the struggles families faced in the early years of the city. Explore what it took for families like the Creighton’s and Dodge’s to establish the city’s first fire department, police unit and a public-school system.
13. Traveling Exhibit
Give your class a great opportunity to explore some of the nation’s top exhibits. Resources for pre and post visit activities are available for all tours. To view a complete traveling exhibits schedule visit the Current Exhibits page and Upcoming Exhibits page.
Teachers may choose from any of the options above to customize their visit. A traditional Building our City Tour includes options 1, 8 and 9. A traditional Nebraska History Tour includes options 1, 4 and 6.
Junior High and High School (7-12) Options:
1. Guided Tour
This guided tour will lead students through hundreds of years of area history while exploring museum exhibitions. The tour includes information on the history of the building, and winds through restored train cars, into a Native American Earth Lodge and Tipi, through recreated early Omaha city homes, and to the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898.
2. Traveling Exhibit Tour
Give your class a great opportunity to explore some of the nation’s top exhibits. Resources for pre and post visit activities are available for all tours. To view a complete traveling exhibits schedule visit the Current Exhibits page and Upcoming Exhibits page.
3. Self-GuideD TOUR
The Durham Museum’s self-guided field trips are offered daily during regular museum hours.
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Supported Locally by |
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The Lozier Foundation | |
For more information on field trips, please contact the Education Department at 402-444-5027 or email education@DurhamMuseum.org.
