FIELD TRIPS AND TOURS
The mission of Belle Isle Aquarium’s Education and Visitor Engagement Team is to inspire a lifetime of curiosity, passion, and stewardship for aquatic ecosystems in people of all ages. We strive to foster aquatic ecosystem resiliency and vitality for future generations through rich educational experiences for people of all ages.
We invite you to explore our Field Trip & Tour offerings, free resources for at-home learning or to share with your classrooms, and the partnerships we foster to extend the reach of our impact on students and teachers.
Sir Ringo Woodward, Giant Pacific Octopus, Belle Isle Aquarium
Take a Private Tour of the
Nation's Oldest Original Aquarium!
From general public tours to school groups, we have experiences anyone can enjoy.
Click the button below to learn more about what we offer.
RESOURCES
Visit the Belle Isle Aquarium from Virtually Anywhere
Experience a virtual visit with our Education Team!
Join our Education Team as they guide you through a field trip at the Belle Isle Aquarium. You will discover the food chains that lie in our tanks and the role of decomposers in the Belle Isle ecosystem. Make sure you download the worksheet so you can follow along!
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PARTNERSHIPS
Belle Isle Aquarium (BIA) and the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory (ASWC) are proud participants of DPSCD’s Cultural Passport Program. The Cultural Passport Program gives students the opportunity to experience nature, history, and fine arts education that increases each students' communication, visual thinking, observational, problem-solving, and analytical skills. ASWC hosts every 2nd-grade class and BIA hosts every 5th grade class in DPSCD, serving almost 7,000 students over the academic year. Participation in the Cultural Passport experience provides access to students who may not otherwise visit these venues.
In 2021, the Belle Isle Aquarium (BIA) started a partnership with UPrep High School and their “Zoology & Aquarium Studies Pathway”. Students come to the BIA and explore aquarium and aquatic studies and take a deep dive into various aquatic science careers.
BIC’s Education Team has partnered with CESE since 2019 to bring Project-Based and Place-Based Learning (PBL2) to life throughout Michigan. Through summer professional learning institutes on Belle Isle and year-long fellowships, teachers develop and implement a PBL2 unit with their students and share those unit plans with their PBL2 cohort.