Mobile Museums

The Mobile Museum programs are free thanks to the generosity of the Max H. Gluck Foundation and the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation in Honor of Lisa D. Hanson.
 

 No, each Mobile Museum has an onboard generator that supplies power.

Yes, the Mobile Museum: Archaeology Experience, the  Mobile Museum: An Ocean Experience, and the La Brea Tar Pits Mobile Museum are equipped with a wheelchair ramp or lift. 

Due to the popularity of this program, it may take 6-8 weeks to process your request. We typically receive more requests than our capacity. You will receive an email on the status of your application.   

Please note that there is a two-year wait period between visits to each school site.

 

The Mobile Museums are large full sized semi-tractor trailers.  We require a level parking space that is 65 ft. x 20 ft. with a 14 ft. vertical clearance, and can sustain the weight (75,000 lbs) of the trailer.  Once your request is approved, the Mobile Museum drivers will conduct an in-person site check to confirm that your site is accessible for the Mobile Museum. We require a person who has authority to sign off on parking at your site to be present during the site check, such as the principal or school administrator. 

The Mobile Museum will be positioned to ensure maneuverability for the driver, easy access for the teachers/students, as well as limited disturbance to the school population. We make every effort to park the trailer in your preferred spot.
 

The mobile museum: an Archaeology Experience and Mobile Museum: an Ocean Experience require the use of an unused classroom space for the week(s) of our residency.  This room should be within reasonable walking distance to the Mobile Museum trailer and accessible for our carts (must have ramp or elevator).  We require twenty (20) chairs and six (6) tables (no single desks) to be available in the classroom and will likely rearrange the tables to fit the needs of our program. It is also helpful if the room has a whiteboard.  
 

The Mobile Museum will arrive early on the first day of our residency and pull off in the afternoon after the last class on the last day of our residency.

Please note: Our drivers carry keys to LAUSD gate locks; the mobiles are usually delivered between 4–5 am the morning of the first day of residency. If your school is not LAUSD, we will coordinate with your school administration so that school gates are open by 6 am for our arrival. 
 

Residencies are typically five days, Monday through Friday, pending class schedule. A two-week long residency can be scheduled to serve a larger student population in middle schools and high schools for the Mobile Museum: An Ocean Experience.

The number of students we serve is dependent upon your school schedule, class size, and NHM staff availability.  

The Mobile Museum: An Archaeology Experience can serve a maximum of 36 students per program, and we typically facilitate 8–10 programs per week. 

The Mobile Museum: An Ocean Experience can serve a maximum of 40 students per program, and we typically facilitate 8–10 programs per week. 

The La Brea Tar Pits Mobile Museum: Ice Age Discoveries can serve a maximum of 25 students per program and we typically facilitate 9–12 programs per week.

 

The Mobile Museum: An Archaeology Experience is a two-hour block program; students spend 60-minutes inside of the trailer (field) and 60-minutes inside of the classroom (museum lab). Two NHM Educators will meet the teacher in his/her classroom at the scheduled time of the program. Following a brief introduction, one-half of the class will go to the Mobile Museum, while the other half will go to the "museum lab." The two groups will switch places after approximately 60 minutes.

The Mobile Museum: An Ocean Experience is a 100-minute program; students spend 50-minutes inside of the trailer (field) and 50-minutes inside of the classroom (museum lab). Teachers are required to accompany half of the class to the Mobile Museum and send the other half to the classroom. The 100-minute program for one class may be split into two days or conducted in one day, depending on your school schedule (regular or block periods). 

The La Brea Tar Pits Mobile Museum: Ice Age Discoveries is a 45 minute program for 1st and 2nd grade. A 1 hour time block is required for kindergarten; the class is split in half and one half of the class goes into the mobile museum at a time.
 

If your school schedule allows, the NHM Educators will open the Mobile Museum for one hour after school, usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday.  The Open House is an opportunity for the entire school community (families, students, staff, and afterschool programs) to walk through the trailer and view the exhibit. 

The Mobile Museum: An Archaeology Experience serves 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students. Special Day classes can be served with a modified program, or mainstreamed with other participating classes.  

The Mobile Museum: An Ocean Experience serves 6th–12th-grade students. Special Day classes can be served with a modified program, or mainstreamed with other participating classes.  

The La Brea Tar Pits Mobile Museum: Ice Age Discoveries serves K–2nd grade students. Special Day classes can be served with a modified program, or mainstreamed with other participating classes. 

 

Two weeks before our residency, teachers and administrators are required to attend a 45-minute virtual in-service orientation with NHM staff.  During the in-service teachers will:

Review the pre-Visit activities and other resources provided by NHM.

Review logistics such as scheduling of programs, classroom/mobile location, and preparing a Program Roster.

The NHM staff member leading the in-service will also meet with the school administrator and assigned Program Contact for 15-minutes to review logistical details of the residency.

 

It may take 2-3 weeks to process your request.  Our ability to attend community events is based on our school residency schedule, accessibility of your site, and the type of event/audience you intend to serve at your event.  We attend community events that are free of charge to participants and have an educational focus. 

If you would like an update on the status of your request, please email mobilemuseums@nhm.org.
 

The Mobile Museums are large full sized semi-tractor trailers.  We require a paved, level parking space that is 65 ft. x 25 ft. with a 14 ft. vertical clearance, and can sustain the weight of the trailer (75,000 lbs.).  Once your request is approved, the Mobile Museum drivers will conduct an in-person site check to confirm that your site is accessible for the Mobile Museum. We require a person who has authority to sign off on parking at your site to be present during the site check, such as the event site coordinator.  

Mobile Museum drivers will position the trailer to ensure easy access and maneuverability, as well as proximity to the event.  We make every effort to park the trailer in your preferred spot.

 

The mobile museums arrive typically 2–3 hours prior to the start of any event. This ensures our drivers have adequate time to park in the designated space and set up the ramp and/or stairs for each mobile.
 

The Mobile Museum: An Archaeology Experience simulates an archaeological field site in the Santa Monica Mountains. Visitors will have the opportunity to view various local, Southern California species of taxidermy mammals, birds and plants mounted inside of the trailer as part of the experience.  

The Mobile Museum: An Ocean Experience simulates a human-occupied submersible that travels to the bottom of the San Pedro Channel off the coast of Southern California. Visitors will view a variety of local sea life in the kelp forest, rocky reef, deep sea, and open ocean habitats, as well as specimens from NHM collections.      

The La Brea Tar Pits Mobile Museum: Ice Age Discoveries simulates the work of paleontologists at the La Brea Tar pits and provides viewers with a trip back in time to the Ice Age. Visitors will explore what Los Angeles looked like 50,000 years ago and surround themselves with sights and sounds of the Ice Age!