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Field Trip Add-ons
There’s a hands-on lab for nearly every subject and learner! Scroll through for full descriptions and supporting content. Hands-on lab programs are available Tuesday through Friday from Sept. 4, 2025, through June 5, 2026.
Hands-on Labs
These 60 minute lab programs are fee-based and take place in designated classroom spaces at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. Please see pricing options at the bottom of this page. Minimum of 20 students required to reserve a Science Lab.
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Advanced Down the Drain
Grades 7-12
Students will explore potential careers in the water industry by becoming civil engineers and environmental technicians. Working to protect our waterways they will design different types of storm drain grates to keep trash out of the Bay’s watershed.
Lab Guide
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Advanced Physics of Roller Coasters
Grades 9-12
Calculate the thrills and excitement of a roller coaster prototype! Use advanced physics concepts to create a scale model of a roller coaster and compare it to real world thrill rides.
Lab Guide
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Chemicals of Innovation
Grade 5
Investigate chemical properties and conservation of matter in this lab featuring the elements of life. Students experiment with chemical reactions to prove (or disprove!) their hypotheses.
Lab Guide
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Chemistry of Plastination
Grades 8-12
More than just anatomy, Body Worlds Decoded is also a display of advanced chemical processes. Students investigate and experiment with some of the chemistry behind the preservation process of Body Worlds.
Lab Guide
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DNA and Genetics
Grades 6-8
Investigate the wonders of DNA and genetics as students examine their own cells under a microscope, and then go on to extract their own DNA which they can see with the naked eye!
This lab was created in partnership with the Stanford Department of Genetics
Lab Guide
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Down the Drain
Grades 3-7
Students will discover how to use science and their own ideas to protect Earth’s natural resources in this environment focused lab. By designing and constructing different types of storm drain grates they will iterate to keep trash out of the Bay’s watershed from San Jose to the Pacific Ocean.
Lab Guide
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Engineering for Earthquakes
Grades 4-8
Construct seismically sound structures to survive “The Big One.” Students work as teams to practice structural design and the engineering process as they learn how to protect against one of California’s greatest natural threats: earthquakes.
Lab Guide
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Make it Matter
Grade 2 only
Play with the building blocks of the universe: matter! Students explore and experiment with the properties of matter using everyday chemicals and compounds.
Lab Guide
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Physics of Roller Coasters
Grades 2-8
Students from grades 2 to 8 will experience science and engineering through our hands-on Physics of Roller Coaster science labs. Click here to find out more details for each grade level.
Lab Guide
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Simplicity of Electricity
Grades 4-8
Students from grades 4 to 8 will tinker with circuits to learn about electricity. Click here to find out more details for specific grade levels.
Lab Guide
Educational IMAX Films
Some of the below titles will be available in 20-25 minute format, at 10:15 a.m., 11 a.m., and 11:45 a.m. Please see pricing options at the bottom of this page.
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“T. REX”
For over a hundred years dinosaurs have inspired and thrilled audiences, commanding blockbuster status in museums and at the box office. But among them towers a king — a tyrant lizard king. With leaps in CGI wizardry and revolutions in tyrannosaur paleontology over the past twenty-five years, the time has come to revisit rex in the world’s prestigious museum cinemas.
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“Cities of the Future”
Cities of the Future invites you to step into the future and discover the exciting innovations engineers are working on right now to help meet the challenges of a changing world.
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“Jane Goodall’s Reasons for Hope”
Drawing on decades of work by the world’s most famous living ethologist and environmentalist, Jane Goodall-Reasons for Hope, is an uplifting journey around the globe to highlight good news stories that will inspire people to make a difference in the world around them.
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“Deep Sky”
Where did we come from? How did the universe begin? Are we alone? 13 billion years in the making, Deep Sky reveals the universe as we have never seen it before; immersing audiences in the stunning pictures beamed back to earth by NASA’s new Webb telescope — and capturing their vast beauty at a scale that can only be experienced on the giant IMAX screen.
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“Fungi: The Web of Life”
Much of life on Earth is connected by a vast, hidden network that we are only just beginning to understand. Out of sight, between the world of plants and animals, another world exists — the kingdom of fungi.
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“Dinosaurs of Antarctica”
Journey to the south polar landscapes of Antarctica hundreds of millions of years ago. Join Antarctic scientists on a quest to understand the ice continent's profound transformation, and predict the future as humans drive dramatic change.
Pricing for Field Trip Add-ons
Title I Schools*
IMAX educational film: $10 per student, $6 per chaperone. Price includes admission.
Hands-on Lab + Admission Combo: $10 per student; minimum of 20 and maximum of 32 students required. Price includes admission. ** Back to School Special for September, October, and January labs! Admission is waived, labs are $6 per student
Hands-on Lab + IMAX + Admission combo: $15 per student; minimum of 20 and maximum of 32 students required. Price includes admission. ** Back to School Special for September, October, and January labs! Admission is waived, labs & IMAX combo is $10 per student
Non-Title I Schools
IMAX educational film: $17 per student, $6 per chaperone. Price includes admission.
Hands-on Lab + Admission Combo: $18 per student; minimum of 20 and maximum of 32 students required. Price includes admission. ** Back to School Special for September, October, and January labs! Admission is waived, labs are $10 per student
Hands-on Lab + IMAX + Admission Combo: $25 per student; minimum of 20 and maximum of 32 students required. Price includes admission. ** Back to School Special for September, October, and January labs! Admission is waived, labs & IMAX combo is $17 per student
Finished Planning Your Field Trip?
Hands-on Labs are offered at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. on school field trip operating days from Sept. 4, 2025 - June 5, 2026.
*If 40% or more of the students in your program meet the federal guidelines for free or reduced-price lunch, your program is eligible for this subsidy.
A $50 deposit is required per lab at the time of booking. This deposit will be applied toward your total cost of labs and/or admission.
Canceling a lab within three weeks of the scheduled date will result in forfeiture of your deposit, unless cancelation was due to a public health directive.
To reserve a lab program, please indicate your interest on our Request a Field Trip form. When a Group Reservations specialist calls to schedule your trip, they will guide you through the booking process.
Standards Connections
All of our labs support Next Generation Science Standards. Details on connections to grade-level standards:
What Lab for What Grade?
Second Grade Standards Connections
Third Grade Standards Connections
Fourth Grade Standards Connections
Fifth Grade Standards Connections
Middle School Standards Connections (Grades 6-8)
High School Standards Connections (Grades 9-12)