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Student Field Trips

The NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center, located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia is one of NASA’s 13 Official Visitor Centers and can provide students with virtual and onsite field trip experiences! These STEM experiences are interactive and free to all participants! Check out our offerings below.

four children follow behind a woman in tan pants and a gray polo shirt outside a concrete building with a bright blue NASA feather flag in the background

Virtual Field Trips

Explore different NASA missions and NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility through one of our virtual experiences!

Virtual field trips are taught live by an informal education specialist at the Wallops Visitor Center and are approximately 30-60 minutes in length. These programs include an interactive presentation, a question-and-answer session, and a hands-on activity using commonly available supplies often found at home and school.

Schedule your Virtual Field Trips

Please review the comprehensive Virtual Field Trip planning guide for more information on eligibility and scheduling a program. The Visitor Center’s virtual field trips can be scheduled at least seven days in advance and as far as 90 days in advance. Virtual field trips are conducted live by a Visitor Center informal educator. Groups must have a minimum of 15 student participants, and educators in the same school or district are encouraged to combine classes virtually, to allow for increased participation. Virtual field trip participants may not be charged a fee to attend the program. Groups interested in scheduling a virtual field trip with the Wallops Visitor Center should review the Virtual Field Trip Planning Guide and follow the scheduling instructions contained in that document.

K-2nd Grade

Our Neighbor the Moon (30 minutes)

What is something up in the sky visible during the day and at night? Something that may be dim or shine bright? What might have a different shape when we look at it on different days? It’s our neighbor, the Moon! Join us on a short 30-minute adventure about the Moon and NASA’s plans to go back and visit. We’ll learn more about our next-door neighbor, have a short Question and Answer session, and we’ll even share some suggestions that you can do in your classrooms!

More information
Astronaut Edwin Aldrin poses for photograph beside deployed U.S. flag
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during an Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. The Lunar Module (LM) is on the left, and the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible in the soil of the moon.
NASA

Onsite Field Trips

Educators and their groups are welcome to explore in person during onsite field trips to the Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center in Wallops Island, Virginia. Admission to the Visitor Center is free of charge. To notify the Visitor Center of your intended field trip, email wff-nasa-visitor-center@mail.nasa.gov with information about the date of your visit, time of arrival, grade level(s), and number of guests (adults and youth) in your group. Review the Field Trip Guide for more information and self-guided field trip recommendations. 

Photos of exhibits at Wallops Visitors Center taken March 7, 2023.
NASA/ WFF/ Brian Bonsteel

Onsite Self-Guided Field Trip

Explore the exhibits on your own, included in all field trips. Educators and their groups are welcome to explore the engaging exhibits during a self-guided field trip. Current Visitor Center exhibits may include:

  • The NOAA Science On a Sphere interactive theater
  • Exploring Engineering Design Process with Sounding Rockets
  • NISE Network’s Sun Earth Universe Exhibit
  • Lunar Surface Exploration Exhibit
  • Outdoor Rocket Garden and Observation Deck

Groups may request one Visitor Center educator guided program in advance. Larger groups up to 100 participants may choose from two interactive assembly shows, and smaller groups up to 30 participants may choose from a variety of hands-on programs. Limit one add-on program (assembly show or hands-on activity) per group. See the onsite program options for more information.

A educator stands in front of a group of students who are raising their hands to answer a question
An Informal Educator conducting an onsite assembly show for a student field trip. Assembly shows include demonstrations and student participation.
NASA WFF/ Patrick Black

Onsite Assembly Shows

Assembly shows are 60 minutes for up to 100 participants. Adapted to the specified grade level of program participants.

Request to add a guided assembly show to your self-guided field trip. Choose from one of the topics below.
1. Explore Solar System & Beyond: Participants explore the origin, components, forces, and scientific exploration of our local solar system “neighborhood” in space.
2. Inquiring Minds: Use your thinking cap to predict what happens in our intriguing science demonstrations and to explain and outcome!

Onsite Hands-On Programs, K-2nd Grade

Select one 60 minute program for up to 30 participants.

Smaller groups can request to add a Visitor Center educator guided hands-on program to your self-guided field trip. Choose from one of the topics below.

1. Stomp Rocket Rumble (forces, motion, technology): Some rockets carry science tools- not scientists- into space! In this program, your budding rocket scientists will explore sounding rockets and basic forces as they build and launch a stomp rocket.

2. Imagination Playground (creativity, motor skills, communication): If your students like to tinker, build and create, they’ll love Imagination Playground! Using oversized dense foam blocks, gears, chutes, and hinges, they’ll work together to explore simple machines and build cosmic creations.

Request a Field Trip