Partners in Science

The Children's Museum, West Hartford, CT &
Roaring Brook Nature Center, Canton, CT

The Children's Museum in West Hartford offers students a planetarium show, exhibits and classroom workshops on virtually every subject area covered in the 2004 CT Core Science Curriculum Framework.  Permanent exhibits showcase, among other topics,  whales, Legos, bubbles, shadows, and pendulums. There is also a working weather station, a wildlife station with live animals, a walk-in kaleidoscope and a simulated space station. Every year, the Center hosts special exhibits on various themes such as dinosaurs. Please check the webpage for a schedule of upcoming special exhibits.

The Center also runs the Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton, CT. This is a wildlife preserve of more than 100 acres with 5 miles of trails. Students can participate in outdoor programming on life science topics such as adaptations for survival, food webs, seasonal variations, insects, plants, and earth science topics such as rocks and soils. Students in grades 4-8 can also learn orienteering and winter survival skills. A cross-curricular program concerning the survival skills of Native Americans is also offered to grades 3-6.

The staff is continually updating the Center’s programs and will also develop programs to fit the needs of individual schools. This list is not intended to be a complete listing. For complete descriptions and more information visit their website: www.thechildrensmuseumct.org

Teacher Preparation:

No specific teacher preparation is required but the staff can provide professional development for teachers with hands-on activities tailored to your school and staff needs.

To view aligned field trips at the Children's Museum, visit our Science Framework Resources Database