Student Group Tours

Grades: Pre-K–12 | 100 students/chaperones max
CBMM welcomes self-guided student groups throughout the year to explore our 18-acre campus and 12 exhibition buildings. Maps and supplemental activities such as CBMM’s Campus Challenge are available upon request.

Grades: K–12  |  Duration: 1.5 hours  | 60 students/chaperones max
In this guided program focused on science and history, participants learn what it means to “follow the water” in every season on the Chesapeake. Students will view the Bay through the eyes of a waterman as they pull crab pots, tong for oysters, climb into an oysterman’s bunk on a skipjack, and hear stories of the techniques and tools used by commercial hunters at the turn of the 19^th century.

Grades: K–5  |  Duration: 1.5 hours  |  60 students/chaperones max
Students learn about Chesapeake geography, biology, and economics by following the blue crab on its journey from the brackish Bay to our picnic tables. The program focuses on the people who earn their livelihood from the crabbing industry. Students will walk in their shoes by working a trotline activity, culling their catch, picking model crabs at a packing house, and ordering from a restaurant on a migrant worker’s wages.

Grades: Pre-K–2  |  Duration: 1–1.5 hours  | 60 students/chaperones max
Students will learn about the Chesapeake Bay through immersive environments, discussion, and hands-on play. They will imagine themselves as lighthouse keepers as they explore the historic Hooper Strait Lighthouse and assume the roles of captain and crew aboard the tugboat Thor. Customize your program to include one or more of the following: an exploration of the critters that live on an oyster reef; a crab picking role-play activity; climbing aboard a skipjack to learn about the oyster industry; sitting in a dugout canoe to learn about Indigenous American cultures of the Chesapeake.

Grades: K–12  |  Duration: 1.5 hours  |  60 students/chaperones max
In this hands-on program, students will explore the history of the greatest oyster factory on Earth—the Chesapeake Bay—and how the oyster has shaped the culture, industry, and environment of the Bay and its people. Through maps, activities, and giant oyster shells, they will learn about a time when oysters were thick as stones. Tales told aboard a skipjack will delve into the Oyster Wars and an oyster gold rush. Students will also take an up-close look at an oyster nursery’s crabs, fish, and baby mollusks.

Grades: 2–12  |  Duration:  1.5 hours  |  60 students/chaperones max
In this STEM-focused program, students will explore how changing technology has impacted people of the Chesapeake for generations. Using tools, touch baskets, and hands-on demonstrations, they will consider the scientific principles behind some great innovations in Chesapeake boatbuilding, navigation, and engineering. Tour stops include CBMM’s working Shipyard and the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse.

Grades: 2–12  |  Duration: 1.5 hours  |  60 students/chaperones max
This ecology-based program teaches students about the animals, plants, and environment of the Chesapeake through hands-on activity on land and aboard the 1920 buyboat Winnie Estelle. Students will explore the Bay watershed from large to small by exploring a Chesapeake Bay food web, testing water quality, and examining the many organisms that call the Bay ecosystem home. Stations include oyster nursery exploration, shoreline observation, water quality testing, and plankton/Chesapeake Bay food web.

Maximum 30 participants on each program boat cruise. Flat rate per cruise plus group rate per person. Cruises are dependent upon seasonal availability and weather.

Grades: Pre-K–12  |  Duration: 45 minutes  | 20 students/chaperones max
Add to your land-based experience by enjoying a scenic Miles River cruise aboard the authentic 1920 Chesapeake buyboat Winnie Estelle. The cruise is a great opportunity to get students on the water to observe the natural surroundings of the Bay’s tributaries. Flat rate per cruise plus group rate per person. Cruises are dependent upon seasonal availability and weather.

Suggested ages: 9 and up  |  Duration: 2 hours plus drying time  |  Group size: minimum 2, maximum 10, $150 per group
Under the guidance of a CBMM educator, your group will work as a team to build two wooden projects.

Available group projects:

• Bat Boxes: Talk about helpful neighbors! Did you know that bats pollinate local plants AND eat insects like mosquitos? Build a bat box to help support our declining local bat populations.
• Oyster Cages: Build and take home oyster cages to provide temporary homes for the Chesapeake Bay’s best critters for water quality.

Requests for custom projects may be considered (additional fee may apply).

Suggested ages: 12 and up  | Duration: 2 hours plus drying time  |  Group size: 2 minimum, 10 maximum, $20 per person
Under the guidance of a CBMM educator, students will use tools to build their own version of a wooden project.

Available individual projects:

• Bat Boxes: Talk about helpful neighbors! Did you know that bats pollinate local plants AND eat insects like mosquitos? Build a bat box to help support our declining local bat populations.
• Speaker Boxes: Create your own wooden speaker box to amplify the sound from your phone. Perfect for your next dance party!

Requests for custom projects may be considered (additional fee may apply).

Duration: 45 minutes, $100 per cruise
Add to your land-based experience by enjoying a scenic Miles River cruise aboard the authentic 1920 Chesapeake buyboat Winnie Estelle. The cruise is a great opportunity to get students on the water to observe the natural surroundings of the Bay’s tributaries. Cruises are dependent upon seasonal availability and weather.

Duration: 60–90 minutes  |  $50 per group, maximum 15 guests per group
Discover the Chesapeake Bay’s incredible history, heritage, and culture through CBMM’s interactive exhibitions and priceless collections. Add a guided tour for your entire group or for your non-participants while your students build. Tour can include the working Shipyard, 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse, Oystering on the Chesapeake, the floating fleet, Waterman’s Wharf, and more, depending on your interests and learning goals. (the highlighted items are all linked to their corresponding pages, just FYI).

• At least one adult chaperone must attend the workshop program inside the Workshop Annex. A maximum of four adult chaperones are allowed inside the Workshop Annex during the program.

• Non-participating children are not allowed in the Workshop Annex during the workshop program.

• Workshop “participants” include all students using materials in the Workshop Annex. The workshop program fee includes admission to CBMM on the day of your program.
• A deposit of 50% is required in advance to confirm your program date.
• Non-participating adults and children may attend your workshop visit at group rate pricing according to the policies below. Non-participants in your group also receive daily CBMM admission and are encouraged to explore the exhibitions, the grounds, and the town of St. Michaels.
• One adult chaperone for every 10 students is free
• Additional adult chaperones: $8 per person
• Non-participating children ages 6–17: $6 per person
• Non-participating children ages 5 and younger: free

Grades: 2–12  |  30 students max per CBMM educator
Students track the people and jobs that bring the Chesapeake’s blue crab from Bay to table. They’ll explore different jobs in the industry, what people need to do their work, and how everyone depends on one another. Focus: culture, economy, interconnectivity of industries, science and culture.

Grades: 2–12  |  30 students max per CBMM educator
In this investigation-based program, students will explore a virtual version of the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse in search of evidence about the lighthouse keeper’s disappearance. Along the way, they’ll use evidence to learn how lighthouses work and what life was like for a Chesapeake lighthouse keeper. Focus: history, technology, group mystery solving.

Grades: 2–12  |  30 students max per CBMM educator
What is life like on one of the most diverse habitats in the Chesapeake Bay—the oyster reef? Through observation and discussion, students will investigate the many fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other critters that thrive within this habitat and explore the oyster’s significance to the Chesapeake ecosystem. Focus: ecology, biology, scientific classification systems.

Grades: 2–12  |  30 students max per CBMM educator
Create your own artistic version of one of the Bay’s many habitats. Learn about the plants and animals that live in your habitat, then figure out which are designed to survive in it. Combine your habitats into a big group ecosystem! Focus: biology, ecosystems, art.