Interact with living or preserved specimens from the Nature Museum's collections in your classroom! An experienced Nature Museum educator will lead your class through an exciting encounter with local nature and ecological specimens. This hands-on, two-part experience is designed to serve as enrichment to current subject areas being taught and as an introduction to the Nature Museum, the natural history of the Chicago region, and the collections of the Chicago Academy of Sciences.

All Nature on the Go! programs include a one time program in your classroom and the classroom teacher's choice of: a $100 bus reimbursement for a field trip to the Nature Museum between August and March or a behind the scenes tour of the Museum's collections plus one guest (CPDUs available).*

Complete a Nature on the Go request form. For additional information please contact us at 773-755-5111, ext. 8 or email natureonthego@naturemuseum.org.

All lessons align with state and national science education standards and are available for Pre-K through 12th grade students. A maximum of 32 students per program is allowed. One program is $250, each additional program on the same day at the same school is $200. 

*One tour date per quarter will be offered for participating teachers. Registration for Collections Tours is required; registration information will be located on your Nature on the Go! confirmation form. Space is limited and on a first come, first served basis.

Current Programs

Nature on the Go Workshops
Pre-K through 2nd Grade

Each 45 minute, hands-on, inquiry-based lesson focuses on relevant local nature and ecology topics and is led by an experienced Nature Museum educator in your classroom.

Pre-K and K
Bugs Alive ILS: 12A, 12B

Observe live insects from the Nature Museum’s collections! Students will learn more about the ways that these animals move, eat, and protect themselves from danger. Each student will have the opportunity to compare and contrast several different live insects.

Grades 1 and 2
Animals Up Close ILS: 12A, 12B

Meet two live animals from the Nature Museum's collections! Students will observe the animals' features and movements and use critical thinking skills to compare and contrast the animals' bodies, behaviors, and habitats.

Nature on the Go Workshops
Grades 3 through 12

Each one hour encounter includes specimens from the Nature Museum's collections and is led by an experienced Museum educator. Students will interpret what the specimens tell us about the plants and animals we live among and about the natural history of Chicago region. At the time of registration, teachers may select up to three of the topics below that align with their current classroom content to inform their Nature on the Go! program.

Organisms: structure and function
Growth: life cycles and development
Ecosystems: interdependence and interactions within an environment
Behaviors: social interactions and group behavior
Biodiversity: diversity of life and the city
Conservation: humans and the natural world