K-12 Field Trip Program
The School of Earth and Space Exploration continues to be a resource for science classes from kindergarten through high school. Our science and technology content has been structured for either an in-person experience at the ASU Tempe campus or a virtual visit to classrooms offering online, in-class, or hybrid models.
We can deliver lecture format presentations to large groups (multiple classes) and/or focused interactive sessions with smaller groups. For example, we have provided a 45-minute presentation to fifth-grade classes in one session then organized follow-up with individual classes one week later. Between sessions, the students were provided with additional readings and asked to develop questions before the return visit.
Our program uses undergrad and graduate students in the School of Earth and Space Exploration as the presenters. These students are trained and rehearsed to work with a range of ages and interests. It is our intent to have K-12 students interact in a positive motivational experience with college students who have self-selected to further their own education in STEM fields.
Our K-12 field trip program is designed to:
- Provide an opportunity for your students to interact with our graduate and undergraduate students on a virtual platform
- Encourage a STEM education/career attitudinal shift
- Provide supplemental K-12 STEM education correlated to education standards
- Provide exposure to graduate and undergraduate students actively researching “real world” scientific exploration
How to schedule a virtual or in-person visit
Use this email SESE-Outreach@asu.edu to request a conversation with our Community Outreach coordinator. We look forward to working with you to plan your in-person tour or our virtual visit(s) and understand your content preferences.
Check out additional activities on our Events Page and educational resources from throughout ASU at ASU for You.
Schedule a Tour of our Facilities
More than 30,000 people visit us each year. In addition to field trip opportunities, we welcome families and individuals of all ages to tour our buildings. In the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV (ISTB4), check out our planetarium shows and free lectures, and visit the Meteorite Gallery. Tour our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Science Operations Center and the Mars Space Flight Facility.
Gallery exhibits on the first two floors of ISTB4 are open to the public to explore on their own. Some exhibits may be staffed by student docents. The Gallery houses interactive exhibits that engage visitors in the history of scientific exploration and invite them to contemplate future voyages of discovery. View a replica of the NASA Perseverance Rover, observe inside the 100K and 10K cleanroom facilities that assemble and test instruments and spacecraft for missions beyond Earth, and discover other planets in our solar systems from the hands-on Magic Planet. The space is outfitted with kiosk-style exhibits and large-format, high-definition monitors that display video from earth-observing satellites and robotic probes of other worlds. For general questions related to the Gallery, call 480-965-6891.
Visit the LROC facility and take a walk through space exploration history and observe scientists working on lunar data in the Science Operations Center (SOC). The hallway gallery is available normal business hours; guided group tours of displays and the SOC are available by request Mondays thru Fridays. Please limit groups to 25. For questions about tours, contact lroctours@asu.edu.
At ASU's Mars Space Flight Facility, scientists and researchers are using instruments on spacecraft at Mars to explore the geology and mineralogy of the Red Planet. Displays in the entry-way are available to the public during normal business hours. Please contact us for guided group tours and limit the group size to 25. To learn more about Mars exploration at ASU, visit http://christensen.asu.edu/ and https://mastcamz.asu.edu/.
The Ronald Greeley Center for Planetary Studies is ASU’s NASA-supported planetary data center. A former NASA Regional Planetary Image Facility, the Greeley Center houses photographic and digital data returned from NASA’s planetary missions for use by the scientific and educational communities. It houses images and maps from all major US planetary missions, along with an extensive library of mission documentation, scientific journals, and Earth and planetary publications. Aerial photographs of the Earth, airborne radar, and cartographic products are also part of the facility’s collection. Please see our digital holdings available to the public at: https://rgcps.asu.edu/. The Center also hosts a planetary GIS (Geographic Information Systems) laboratory to support students and faculty in conduction geological research on most rocky and icy bodies in the Solar System, and offers periodic training seminars in the use of ArcGIS™ software each semester or by appointment. Guided tours with groups of not more than 15 people are available by reservation only. For more information, please call 480-965-6891.