Field Trip Experiences
The Military Aviation Museum displays and owns one of the largest flying collection of WWI and WWII aircraft in the U.S.A. Our STEM Exploration Tours encompass the science and history of flight through SOL aligned, hands-on experiences that bring science and history to life.
All field trips are differentiated to provide a valuable learning experience for students of all ages.
We are happy to work with you to customize a field trip to meet your group’s needs. If your group is unable to come out to the museum, please let us know and we can bring the museum experience right to your classroom!
Program options and registration is below.
Guided Tours Cost Breakdown:
Teachers: Free
Students: $5.00 per student
Adult Chaperones: $13.00 per person
Grades Kindergarten – 12
Follow the story of aviation and the pilots who dared to fly as told by our experienced docents. See the biplanes and triplanes that captivated the world in the early 1900s in the WW1 Hangar, visit the Fighter Factory where the repair, upkeep, and restoration of these magnificent warbirds takes place, and take a step back in time to the 1900s in Germany to explore German planes that flew during WW2 in the Cottbus Hangar (brought to the US from Germany) and England to see the original Goxhill Control Tower filled with historic artifacts.
This program is not SOL aligned.
These SOL aligned tours integrate science and history through a variety of hands-on experiences and thematic stories. Each tour includes different Historical Investigations, from cranking an air-raid siren to trying on clothing that pilot’s would have worn.
Middle School and High School STEM Exploration Tours include the above and an SOL aligned, hour long Historical Investigation where students use a variety of primary sources from our museum library collection to answer an essential question related to the tour.
STEM Exploration Tours Cost Breakdown:
Teachers: Free
Students: $8.00 per student
Adult Chaperones: $13.00 per person
Learning Lab add-ons are available at $5.00 extra per student. See Learning Labs tab for more details.
Untold Stories in Aviation
Grades K-12
Discover some of the men and women who shaped the course of history during World War II through their contributions to life on the front and at home. Learn about the challenges that minorities and women faced on the home front, and hear the stories of how they overcame them. Explore the P-51 Mustang that the all-black Tuskegee Airmen flew, learn about Rosie the Riveter and see the planes that American women helped to build and fly, and hear the story of the daring female Russian pilots who became known as the Night Witches on the Eastern Front.
Historical Investigation:
Innovation and Transformation
Grades K-12
This STEM focused tour weaves history and science together as students trace the innovation and key design changes throughout early aviation. From the Wright Brothers’ flyer to the biplanes that dominated the skies in the early 1900s to the fighters that transformed World War II, students will explore the use of simple machines and learn the principles of flight as they follow the evolution of flight.
Historical Investigation:
Victory Through Flight
Grades 6-12
Discover the role that aviation played in transforming warfare in World War II. Learn how aviation led to Allied victories at the Battle of Britain, the Battle of Midway, and D-Day in the shadows of the planes that flew in each battle. This tour explores the impact of aviation on military strategy as well as the impact on the home fronts.
Historical Investigation:
Learning Labs Cost Breakdown:
Learning Labs can be added on to STEM Exploration Tours at an extra fee of $5.00 per student.
Will It Fly?
Grades: K-5
Length: 1.5 Hours
Explore the four principles of flight (lift, drag, thrust, and gravity) through a series of hands-on experiments. Students will then have an opportunity to apply those principles as they design and construct their very own flying machine.
Drone Ace Pilot
Grades: 2-12
Length: 1.5 Hours
Learn the basics of drone piloting and block coding to program and fly a drone! Students will work to complete a variety of challenges that require critical and mathematical thinking to successfully program and fly their drone to complete their mission.
Parachute Palooza
Grades: K-8
Length: 1 Hour
Explore the impact of weight, gravity, and drag as students race to design a parachute to safely help a paratrooper land on the ground. Students will work through the Engineering Design Process to create and test a successful parachute prototype.
Flight School
Grades: 3-12
Length: 1 Hour
Do your students have what it takes to pilot a plane? Find out on our flight simulators! Students will work together to plan their flight path and then learn the basics of piloting as they take the controls on a simulated flight over the Hampton Roads area.
Aeronautical Engineering
Grades: 3-12
Length: 1 Hour
Does wing shape and size impact flight? What about wing material? Students will become aeronautical engineers as they work through the engineering design process to answer these questions. The challenge: design a new wing for a balsa wood glider. All students will go home with their own small, balsa wood glider.
For any questions, please contact Education Coordinator Abby Fulton
at education@aviationmuseum.usor by calling 757-721-7767