The River Dynamics Experience

This exciting new program includes a visit to the LSU Center for River Studies and same-day, hands-on classes and programs at the Museum. On their tour of the CRS, students will explore a 3-dimensional model of the lower 190 miles of the Mississippi River, one of the most technologically-advanced models in existence. At the Museum, students will collaboratively design solutions to real-world environmental challenges by engaging with a state-of-the-art stream table. Participants will also view a related large-screen educational movie at the Museum. Activities are aligned with the Louisiana Student Standards for Science.

Through this partnership with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, this learning opportunity is available free-of-charge to 4th-to-12th-grade students on a first-come, first-served basis. Please email reservations@lasm.org to register as soon as possible!

NEW for 2019-2020!

Click here for a flyer about The River Dynamics Experience!

Ancient Egypt & Its Art

Students tour the Ancient Egypt Gallery, learn an intricate, age-old metalworking technique, and then create an ancient Egyptian-inspired relief, which they can take home. Includes tour of the Ancient Egypt Gallery.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs (Planetarium Show) and Forensic Crime Lab (Class).

Beetles, Bugs, & Butterflies

This artful approach to science motivates students to explore the amazing world of insects while learning about adaptations, physiology, and the role insects play in their daily lives. Colorful, take-home art projects creatively reinforce scientific concepts.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with The Traveling Trunk Show (Interactive Educational Theater) and Flight of the Butterflies (Planetarium Show).

Bright Light

In this illuminating exploration of light and color, students make exciting discoveries as they experiment with lasers, diffraction glasses, and giant water prisms. Through real-life applications, the scientific concepts of refraction, diffraction, and reflection are illustrated with engaging educational activities related to spectrum analysis and the electromagnetic spectrum.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Harmonies in Color (Art Exhibition Guided Tour or Exploration), Seeing!, and Cosmic Colors: An Adventure Along the Spectrum (Planetarium Shows).

Circuit Circus

Students become energized as they form a human circuit, experiment with conductors and insulators, and construct various types of circuits. Scientific investigation, problem solving, and cooperative learning engage students in this electrifying educational experience!

Engineering Encounters

Through bridge-building activities, students gain a new appreciation for the relevance of civil engineering and design in their daily lives. Creative problem-solving strategies motivate aspiring engineers to explore concepts such as force, balance, and stability.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Dream Big: Engineering Our World (Planetarium Show), and Robot Design Challenge (Class).

Engineering: Simple Machines

As they cooperatively problem-solve in groups, young engineers will investigate the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of objects while building various machines. Exciting hands-on challenges will focus on Newton’s Laws of Motion and the Law of Conservation of Energy. Activities will illustrate the relevance of engineering in daily life as students design and build together.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Dream Big: Engineering Our World and Secrets of Gravity: In the Footsteps of Albert Einstein (Planetarium Shows).

Journaling: Learning to Look & Looking to Write

As students explore the art in the current exhibition, they are encouraged to look closely and reflect on what they see. Creative writing activities take place in the gallery, using the art on view for inspiration. These activities will sharpen observation skills as students respond to art through writing while exploring opportunities for collaboration and personal reflection. Includes tour of the art exhibition on view.

Little Art Explorers

Students learn how artists use shapes and colors to create art with inspiration from Henri Matisse and Jacob Lawrence. Young artists use their imaginations and creative skills to make their own original collages. Following a discussion of the color wheel, students get hands-on with fun color mixing activities.

Updated for 2019-2020!

Mystery Crime Lab

Junior Forensic Scientists investigate and analyze the evidence at a staged crime scene to solve a mystery. Students experiment with blood typing; chromatography; fingerprinting; and other interdisciplinary, hands-on activities. This class requires the participation of at least six chaperones willing to serve as “forensic assistants.”

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Ancient Egypt Gallery (Guided Tour or Exploration) and Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs (Planetarium Show).