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Field Trips & Group Tours

Visit the Penobscot Marine Museum — In Person or Remote
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In-Person Field Trips

Penobscot Marine Museum is happy to welcome in-person field trips with student groups of 10 or more. Submit a field trip request here. If you are a homeschool family, consider scheduling a family field trip.

PMM field trips are self-guided. We will give everyone a brief welcome, then you will divide into smaller groups with at least one chaperone in each group. To ensure all students get to enjoy a PMM staff-led Set Sail demonstration and/or Fowler-True-Ross House Tour about the sea captains and their families, we may organize a schedule for your visit.

Exhibits to explore include the orientation exhibit and temporary art exhibit in our Main Street Gallery, the Kosti Ruohomaa photography exhibit in Old Vestry, a tour of the Fowler-True-Ross House, the Crew’s Life hands-on exhibit in the Fowler-True-Ross House, 4 boat barns featuring small craft (Wabanaki birch bark canoes, Maine peapods, a lobster boat, etc.), the Working the Bay exhibit in the Merithew House, the Gone Fishing exhibit in Old Town Hall, and the hands-on seacoast life in the late 1800s exhibit in Savage Education Center. Please see our campus map for more information.

A visit to PMM involves walking between buildings and some exhibits in unheated spaces. Please dress for the weather.

Ready to book a field trip? Submit a field trip request here.

Field Trip Fees

Standard Field Trip: FREE*

One teacher/chaperone per 8 students and one-on-one aids are free, additional adults are $5/person

Field Trip outside of regular museum hours** are $5/person

*Friends of the Penobscot Marine Museum have generously supported a limited number of field trips for this school year. Their contributions have subsidized the regular fee of $5/student.

**During scheduled events and outside regular museum hours (including times outside the hours listed above and when PMM is closed to the public), child groups must pay the $5 group fee and schedule at least 2 weeks in advance, subject to availability.

Remote Field Trips

PMM staff are happy to work with you to create a fantastic remote field trip for your students! Remote field trips are free.

PMM staff can also provide a pre-recorded video on YouTube or Google Drive. Check out our videos on Youtube for inspiration! For young learners, we have puppet shows and Jr. Adventurers. Older learners will enjoy Peek into Paintings.

Remote Trip Options

Programs listed below include a 20-30 minute program and a suggested activity.

Working the Bay

Students will explore how Penobscot Bay’s natural resources contributed to a vibrant and diverse local economy. Students will discover the tools used in the 19th-century timber, stone, and ice industries and conduct an ice experiment.

Lobsters!

Using clips from exhibit visits and historical photos, students will discover the history of lobstering in Maine. This program also touches on lobster biology, conservation, and lobstering today.

Life at Sea

In the second half of the 1800s, many Searsport and Maine residents went to sea! Students will hear stories about children at sea, zoom in on intriguing photographs, and find out about what a sailor’s life was like.

Life at Sea — for early learners

Mr. Ropes, a puppet character based on an actual cat who sailed on board the MABEL I. MEYERS from Boston to Buenos Aires, will talk about what life was like at sea. The program will also include photographs. Recommended for pre-K to 1st grade.

Town Meeting

Students use local primary sources such as petitions, letters, and receipts to discover what problems townspeople were working to solve around 1870. After talking about Town Meeting, students play out a real life scenario of a town meeting from around 1870, creating a budget for the town and trying to solve four issues that town members have brought up.

Port Paintings

Just like we take pictures of our adventures today, 19th-century sea captains commissioned paintings of their ships in foreign ports. Students will see examples of port paintings in a program that combines art, history, and a little geography!

Artifact Close-up

Do we have an artifact in the PMM collection that relates to what you’re teaching in class? Let’s examine it up close! (No suggested activity)

Group Tours

Groups of all sizes are welcome to visit the museum! Group tours usually start with an orientation by museum staff followed by time to visit the rest of the museum at your own pace. Interpretive staff are available in several locations to share information and answer questions. 

Group tours are available during our regular season, Memorial Day weekend through the third weekend in October. During the rest of the year or during hours outside of regular museum hours, access to some museum buildings may be limited. Off-season visits will usually be entirely staff-guided.

Group visits outside of regular museum hours or off-season should be scheduled at least two weeks in advance, subject to availability.

Group Admission Rates

For groups of 10 or more adults: $10/per person. 

Cash, credit, or check is accepted. A combined single payment from your group is preferred.