The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History offers a variety of education programs for schools and youth groups. Programs can be on a variety of subjects and the programs include field trips to the Museum, classroom visits, and Museum outreach kits. We also offer students the opportunity to participate in two citizen science research programs. Please look below for more information on all of our education programs.
If you have any questions, contact our Community Outreach Program Coordinator via e-mail or phone (831) 648-5716 ext. 20.
Field Trips and Classroom Visits
Bring your class to the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History for a fun, hands-on learning experience. Programs can be on a variety of subjects, including: geology, adaptations, Native Americans, life cycles, and more.
In addition to the Museum’s standard field trip program, this year the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History is happy to announce its partnership with the Monterey Museum of Art for a new and unique experience for students. This cross-curricular field trip program has classes visit both museums to learn about one central theme. If you are interested in booking a field trip with this program, please contact our Community Outreach Program Manager.
View the field trip lesson plan for the PG Museum side of this cooperative program here.
If a field trip is not an option for your school, the museum also offers outreach visits to classrooms. One of our educators will bring items from our collection for students to touch, look, and feel. As with the Field trips, we can cater these visits to correspond with subjects currently being taught in your classroom.
If you are interested in scheduling a field trip or a classroom visit, please fill out the Program Request form.
Program Request Form
Forms may be e-mailed to our Community Outreach Program Manager or sent directly to the Museum at:
Attn: Community Outreach Program Manager
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History
165 Forest Ave.
Pacific Grove, Ca 93950
Outreach Kits
Use items from the Museum’s collection in your classroom! Outreach kits are designed to fit any classroom’s need. Take learning to a new level and let your students hold items like quartz crystals, model skulls, whale baleen, and furs. We can create kits for almost any subject. If you would like to create an outreach kit to use in your classroom, please contact our Community Outreach Program Manager via e-mail or at (831) 648-5716 Ext. 20.
LiMPETS
LiMPETS (Long-term Monitoring Program and Experiential Training for Students) is an environmental monitoring and education program for students, educators, and volunteer groups. This hands-on program was developed to monitor the ocean and coastal ecosystems of California's National Marine Sanctuaries to increase awareness and stewardship of these important areas.
Two distinct monitoring programs make up the core of the LiMPETS network: the Rocky Intertidal Monitoring Program and the Sandy Beach Monitoring Program. Both programs are designed to provide students with the opportunity to experience the scientific process firsthand. Through research-based monitoring and standardized protocols, students develop their problem solving skills, gain experience using tools and methods employed by field scientists, and learn to analyze data. The online data entry system on the LiMPETS website allows our participants to archive their data electronically and to view and analyze their results over time. The LiMPETS network provides authentic, hands-on coastal monitoring experiences that empower teachers, students and the community to conduct real science and serve as ocean stewards.
For more information on the LiMPETS Program please visit http://limpetsmonitoring.org/
If you are interested in scheduling a LiMPETS program, please contact Ann Wasser, LiMPETS Program Coordinator, at (831) 648-5716 ext 14 or limpets@pgmuseum.org.
Bus scholarships are available to bring students out to the monitoring sites. Please complete and return the scholarship application form below to Ann Wasser after you have scheduled your monitoring date(s).
Bus Scholarship Form
Monarch Monitoring
Bring your students out to the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary to learn about and Monarch butterflies and collect data to help scientists learn about their overwintering habits. Students will count the number of butterflies, take weather data and look at the monarchs tree preference all based on the Xerces Society Thanksgiving Count protocols.
This program is geared for middle school and high school students. If you are interested in booking a Monarch Monitoring program or for monarch programming for elementary school students, please contact our Community Outreach Programs Manager at (831) 648-5716 ext 20 or outreach@pgmuseum.org.
Summer Camp

Summer Camps for 2013:
Art & Nature
June 24th-June28th
9:00am-1:00pm
Touch, taste, see, smell, and hear all that nature has to offer. This year we’re using our five senses to explore our world. Touch fish scales and create fish prints, eat like a bird, dye a bandana using only flowers, and feel what it’s like to have blubber. It will be a fun week playing games and creating art all inspired by nature and our senses.
For campers ages 4-6, $200
Buggin' Out
July 8th-12th
9:00am-1:00pm
Spiders, ants, dragonflies, and bees! Have fun with everything creepy and crawly as we discover all that’s fun about insects and arachnids. Campers will get to hold and take care of live bugs, create their own wasp nest, chirp like crickets, and play fun bug-themed games.
For campers ages 4-6, $200
Jr. Naturalist
June17th-21st
9:00am-3:00pm
We’ll provide the binoculars and magnifying glasses, all you need to bring is an adventurous spirit. Campers will dissect squid, paint with minerals, handle live snakes, and more! Explore many of the plants and animals that the Monterey Peninsula call home.
For campers ages 7-9, $240
Science Da Vinci Style!
July 22nd-26th
9:00am-3:00pm
It's a week of ingenious inventions as we dive into the marvelous world of Leonardo Da Vinci. Campers will learn how to write in “mirror writing”, design, build and test parachutes, and recreate many more of Da Vinci’s clever contraptions. Come and discover how Leonardo would have lived in his Renaissance world!
For campers ages 9-11, $240
To register for camp, fill out this registration form and turn in into Community Outreach Program Manager, Allison Watson. If you have any questions about summer camp programs, please contact Allison Watson at (831) 648-5716 Ext. 20 or outreach@pgmuseum.org.
Registration Form
Science Saturdays
Science Saturdays are family friendly events that have a variety of hands-on science activities for guests of all ages to participate in. These events are FREE! Drop in any time between 11 am and 3 pm on the last Saturday of every month except May and December.
Upcoming Topics:
April 27th - Wild for Flowers
No Science Saturday in May
June 29th - Endangered Monterey
July 20th - Chalk Fest (Part of Feast of Lanterns)
July 27th - Identification Day
August 31st - Gems & Minerals