See booking form for details of visit types, groups numbers and costs.
If you are interested in an outreach visit to your school please get in touch via the email or phone number below.
Bookings for summer term 2022 open after October half term 2021.
Please email education@botanic.cam.ac.uk to check availability or call us on 01223 331875 to leave a message.
Please use the appropriate booking form below for your organisation:
Early Years
Resources for Early Years pupils to aid exploration of the natural world
Key Stage 1
Resources suitable for pupils in Year 1 and Year 2
School Visits
On Wednesdays, the Polar Museum although closed to the general public, will be open for pre-booked school group visits (one morning/one afternoon). Priority will be given to school groups who are visiting as part of a polar project. This arrangement will last until the end of 2021. You will lead your group around the museum accompanied by a member of our education team. We are happy to lend you clipboards and pencils. There is a suggested donation of £1 per child for a class group visit to the Polar Museum.
Home school challenges
Rituals and Beliefs focuses on the scene from a plaster cast taken of a stone lintel from the doorway of a temple in the city of Yaxchilan, now in modern day Mexico, and dating from 709AD.
The images depict a blood-letting ritual being performed by Lady K'ab'al Xook and her husnabd King Shield Jaguar. Lady K'ab'al Xook can be seen pulling a rope of thorns through her tongue in order to collect blood in a bowl filled with bark paper. Both figures are wearing jade and obsidian jewellery and dressed in resplendent costumes made fo fur and elaborate fabrics.
How did the ancient Maya express their identity? What objects did they use to show their power? What can archaeology tell us about Maya life? These are some of the questions we will discuss while students learn how to read a Maya monument and handle objects from Central and South America.
Dragons do not only populate the myths and legends of the past, but also the world around us.
Zoology PhD student Tom Jameson takes us on a journey of discovery with the world's largest reptiles.
Normally found in the krill-rich waters of the Arctic and Antarctic, the humpback whale swims up to 25,000 km per year, including to warmer waters to breed and give birth.
The seasonally-changing songs of male humpbacks echo through the ocean waters. Measuring up to 16m in length and weighing 25-30 tonnes, these large mammals eat krill, which they filter out of the water through hair-like bristles in their mouth called baleen. They are incredibly agile, often swimming near the surface, where they fluke and breach.
It’s estimated that there are about 20 million penguins in Antarctica. When it’s really cold they huddle together to keep warm. The most extreme huddle ever recorded was 19 Emperor penguins within a square metre!
Have a go at making your own penguin. All you need is some paper, and a pen for drawing on the eyes.
What does Frank need on his polar adventure? What will he eat? How will he stay warm? How will he stay cheerful?
Download our activity sheet to give him a helping hand.
