Thursday, March 27 8:00 AM–4:30 PM

T-1: Blue Hill Observatory and Trailside Museum

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Ticketed Event: $75 advance; $82 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Join us on an adventure to the Trailside Museum, trails, and the Blue Hill Observatory atop Great Blue Hill in Milton, Massachusetts! Come see the oldest continually operating weather research station in the U.S. The program starts with the very popular “Observing the Weather at Great Blue Hill.” This program is appropriate for grades 4 through college with minor modifications for different ages. You will learn what we can share with your students and what an official weather observatory considers the most important things for students to learn about weather study and knowledge. You will receive a special packet that duplicates both the student version and chaperone version. There will be time for questions about all the programs available at Blue Hill Observatory or at your school.

Learn how scientists at Blue Hill sent meteorographs and other instruments aloft to compare the air above to surface conditions. Build and fly your own kite while learning about the history of kites and the many ways to use kites to learn about wind, pressure, color in light and pigment, and more! We will show a variety of other kite kits in addition to the one you build and you will have time to ask questions about using the kites to teach math, history, art, and other subjects beyond science.

The Blue Hills Trailside Museum is the interpretive center for the state’s 7,000-acre Blue Hills Reservation and is managed by Mass Audubon. Indoor exhibits feature wildlife you may see while exploring the reservation’s 150 miles of trails. Outside the museum, stroll through exhibits featuring native wildlife such as wild turkeys, red-tailed hawks, and a snowy owl.

Participants will be divided into two groups: one group will start at the Trailside Museum and work their way up to the summit observatory after lunch. The other group will start at the observatory and hike down to lunch to the Trailside Museum and lunch. You can learn more about the observatory and prepare questions to bring by visiting www.bluehill.org. Link to the Trailside Museum website under the Weather/Science Links tab on www.bluehill.org. Dress in layers for the wide range of activities. All activities will be modified to suit the weather, trail conditions, and the needs of the group.

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 8:15–11:45 AM

T-2: Beaches and Bunkers: Exploring New England’s Rocky Coastline

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Ticketed Event: $38 advance; $45 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Visit Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center, the closest marine facility to downtown Boston. Located on the peninsula of Nahant, jutting into the ocean just five miles north by northeast of the entrance to Boston Harbor, this field location offers pristine New England rocky shores and breathtaking views.

Come explore a sheltered rocky intertidal beach where you can search for marine life, such as crabs, seastars, snails, and urchins (low tide permitting). Spend time at our touch tanks and tour the property, which includes a marine science research and education facility as well as a WWII bunker! Come prepared to get your feet wet exploring. www.marinescience.neu.edu

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 8:30 AM–1:30 PM

T-3: Thomas M. Maynard Ecology Center: A Cambridge Public School Resource

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Ticketed Event: $48 advance; $55 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Do you have access to a public park, local water reservoir, or nearby river? Learn how educators and schools can use available green space and collaborate with local institutions to create an environmental learning resource for students and teachers in an urban environment. On this visit to the Cambridge Public Schools Maynard Ecology Center, you’ll discover how environmental science can strengthen life science, earth science, literacy, and math curriculum.

The Maynard Ecology Center is located in the basement of Neville Place, an assisted living residence located near the Fresh Pond Reservation in Cambridge. This environmental science classroom is used by K–12 Cambridge students and teachers to support and strengthen existing curriculum. We will engage in a variety of active learning experiences and investigations with models and the habitats at this site.

Take home lessons and ideas to integrate with your curriculum for use in a schoolyard or community garden or at a river, meadow, pond, or vernal pool. In addition, we will explore strategies for building relationships with groups, businesses, and institutions that have an interest in environmental stewardship and supporting local education. A box lunch is included courtesy of the center.

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 8:30 AM–2:45 PM

T-4: Behind the Scenes at the Museum of Science, Boston

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Ticketed Event: $16 advance; $23 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Come meet a Museum of Science teacher educator, who will guide us behind the scenes through the museum collections, living and nonliving. Then explore on your own some of the exhibits, witness field trips in action, and purchase lunch in the museum café. Finally, we’ll gather to visit the Butterfly Garden and meet the staff who keep this indoor environment up and running.

We will be taking the “T” train to/from the museum. Lunch is on your own. Wear comfortable shoes and bring your camera. Click here to preview the museum’s offerings.

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 8:30 AM–4:00 PM

T-5: Turbines to Textiles: Science, Technology, and Engineering of the American Industrial Revolution

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Ticketed Event: $55 advance; $62 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

The Merrimack River north of Boston provided the water power to create an industrial revolution on a large scale in this country. Visit the city of Lowell and see where it all began. At Lowell National Historical Park we’ll see the 5 1/2-mile canal system, mill buildings, and exhibits—a working water turbine, giant flywheel, and power train that operates a loom. Experience the noise and vibration of a working weave room in the Boott Cotton Mill museum. Imagine the young Yankee farm women who worked here 12 hours a day then trudged back to the boardinghouse, which we will also visit.

Participate in two of the interactive workshops provided by the Tsongas Industrial History Center, which is visited by 60,000 students each year. Build canals, test water wheels, do the math to quantify your power. Then learn about the environmental impacts of industrialization and urbanization in a lab program using groundwater simulation tanks, affirming that advances in technology often come with a price.

A box lunch is included courtesy of the history center. Dress in comfortable shoes and seasonal clothing; some outdoor walking is required. Bring your camera! www.uml/edu/tsongas

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 8:30 AM–4:30 PM

T-6: Marine Science in Woods Hole

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Ticketed Event: $26 advance; $33 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is world renowned as a center of marine science. On this trip, participants will ride a bus to scenic Cape Cod and out to the seaside village of Woods Hole, where three major science institutions will open their doors for special tours. At Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution participants will visit the labs and docks where research vessels set out across the world to study every aspect of the oceans.

At the Marine Biological Laboratory, an international center for research, education, and training in biology, biomedicine, and ecology, the group will learn how a wide variety of marine organisms are used for research.

At the National Marine Fisheries Service Science Aquarium, participants can immerse themselves in the history of fishing and recent discoveries in fisheries research and meet live local fish on a face-to-fin basis. Plan to enjoy lunch on your own at a local café and be sure to stop by the Oceanographic Institution’s visitor center. Comfortable shoes and warm jackets are recommended, as participants will walk 5 to 10 minutes between institutions. All participants must have a photo ID for entry to the fisheries aquarium. www.whoi.edu

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 9:00 AM–12:00 PM

T-7: Community Outreach Supporting Health: Harvard Medical School

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Ticketed Event: $13 advance; $20 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Sheila Nutt, Director of Educational Outreach at Harvard Medical School (HMS), will describe the science enrichment programs the HMS Office for Diversity and Community Partnership provides in collaboration with the Boston Public Schools Science Department. After-school and summer programs are offered to bright, underrepresented minority and disadvantaged students from Boston and Cambridge that expose them to the possibility of a career in the biomedical sciences.

We will also visit the Gilbert Program in Medical Simulation, an innovative program created in 2001 that is used to train medical students in patient care. Finally, we will visit The Warren Medical Museum in the Countway Medical Library at HMS. Here we’ll see the actual tools used by medical doctors as far back as the Civil War period, precursors to the tools of the 21st century.

We will be taking the “T” train to/from the medical school. www.hms.harvard.edu/dcp

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 9:30 AM–5:30 PM

T-8: Marine Science in Woods Hole

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Ticketed Event: $26 advance; $33 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is world renowned as a center of marine science. On this trip, participants will ride a bus to scenic Cape Cod and out to the seaside village of Woods Hole, where three major science institutions will open their doors for special tours. At Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution participants will visit the labs and docks where research vessels set out across the world to study every aspect of the oceans.

At the Marine Biological Laboratory, an international center for research, education, and training in biology, biomedicine, and ecology, the group will learn how a wide variety of marine organisms are used for research.

At the National Marine Fisheries Service Science Aquarium, participants can immerse themselves in the history of fishing and recent discoveries in fisheries research and meet live local fish on a face-to-fin basis. Plan to enjoy lunch on your own at a local café and be sure to stop by the Oceanographic Institution’s visitor center. Comfortable shoes and warm jackets are recommended, as participants will walk 5 to 10 minutes between institutions. All participants must have a photo ID for entry to the fisheries aquarium. www.whoi.edu

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 12:15–4:15 PM

T-9: Harvard Museum of Natural History

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Ticketed Event: $21 advance; $28 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Come visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History, which features 30,000 square feet of public galleries, the exhibitions drawn from Harvard’s research collections of some 21 million specimens. Highlights include the world-famous Blaschka exhibit “Sea Creatures in Glass”; the mineral, meteorite, and gemstone collections:and the ever-popular paleontological and zoological galleries. New exhibitions include “Climate Change: Our Global Experiment,” “Looking at Animals: Photographs by Henry Horenstein,” and the first exhibition of Harvard’s collection of Blaschka “Glass Animals.”

Director of Exhibitions Janis Sacco will give gallery talks on “Arthropods: Creatures That Rule,” a new permanent exhibition on these diverse and amazingly successful invertebrates that include insects, spiders, crabs, and their kin.

Before the visit, you can lunch on your own at the Harvard Science Center’s Greenhouse Café, where you can also visit Harvard’s Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments.

We will be taking the “T” train to/from the museum. www.hmnh.harvard.edu

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 12:30–5:30 PM

T-10: Explorations @MIT

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Ticketed Event: $35 advance; available by preregistration only

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Have you always wanted to go to MIT? Now you can! The MIT K-12 outreach programs have set up 18 different workshop sessions on campus. These sessions take advantage of the MIT teaching facilities. For example, you can choose to participate in an experiment at the research reactor, join a group creating with crickets at the Media Lab, or learn about 3-D protein folding in the computer lab. Some sessions will disseminate classroom materials and practical tips, while other sessions will expand your own science and engineering background.

Participants may choose two short workshops (each 1 hour, 15 minutes) or one long workshop (2 hours, 45 minutes). To select workshops and purchase a ticket, please follow these steps:

1. Go to the MIT website for titles and descriptions of available workshops. Make your selection(s) and complete the required contact information.

2. After you have made your selections, the MIT website will redirect you to the NSTA Registration page to complete registration and/or purchase your ticket.

Note: Participants must select which workshop(s) they wish to attend on the MIT website before they purchase their tickets from NSTA.

FORMAT: Field trip

Thursday, March 27 1:00–5:15 PM

T-11: Twenty Years of Universal Design at the Museum of Science, Boston

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Ticketed Event: $39 advance; $46 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

The Museum of Science, Boston, has been working for over 20 years to create museum exhibitions and programs that reflect the needs of persons with disabilities. During this field trip, staff members from the Museum of Science will take us on a tour of the museum’s exhibitions and discuss strategies employed by the museum to make science and technology education accessible to learners of a broad range of abilities and disabilities. Strategies include a focus on multi-modal, multi-sensory learning opportunities; fostering social and collaborative learning; and involving persons with disabilities in the exhibition development process. Following the exhibition tours, you’ll have the opportunity to explore the museum on your own.

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 8:00 AM–4:00 PM

F-2: Join the Technology-enhanced Revolution with The Concord Consortium

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Ticketed Event: $117 advance; $124 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Spend the day in Concord, where the American Revolution began, and be part of the next revolution—in technology-enhanced science learning. This workshop will be a briefing for curriculum developers and policy planners who are interested in collaborating with The Concord Consortium (www.concord.org), a nonprofit educational technology think tank, to radically improve science education for large numbers of students.

The Concord Consortium has a number of powerful free computational models, probes, probe kits, and tools that can be combined into interactive, computer-based curricula for any grade 3–14, as well as hundreds of learning activities based on these resources. They also have editing software that makes it easy to modify these activities and create new ones that can be tailored to the needs of students with different learning styles. Since it is all online, students can be monitored as they use the materials, providing teachers and researchers with detailed insights into student thinking. Help get these powerful resources, all developed with NSF funding, in wider use. Bring your wireless (Mac or Windows) for a hands-on experience.

Weather permitting we’ll enjoy a picnic lunch (provided courtesy of The Concord Consortium) at the famous bridge where the shot was fired that was heard ’round the world.

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 8:00 AM–12:30 PM

F-1: Outdoor Classrooms in the Schoolyard: Linking Science Instruction, Learning, Facilities Design, and Fun

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Ticketed Event: $45 advance; $52 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

For the past four years we have been piloting new designs in outdoor classrooms on Boston schoolyards, working with teachers, landscape designers, and artists. Come see some of the results in K–5 and K–8 schools across the city. The outdoor classrooms we will visit vary depending on the neighborhood, natural topography, and school culture. But underneath the differences are a few core design features that we have found are essential to the success of effective science teaching outdoors. We’ll look at the features of each site that promote effective inquiry teaching, speak with designers about the design criteria for successful outdoor classrooms, and look at plans for existing and new outdoor classrooms to be built this summer.

Hear from teachers about the impact on students of using the outdoors to develop and reinforce understanding of key science concepts and learn how you might use features of your own schoolyard to support science teaching. Sample materials linking the science curriculum to the outdoor classroom and a light snack, will be provided by the Boston Schoolyard Initiative. Dress for the weather…which could be anything in Boston in March! www.schoolyards.org

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 8:15 AM–12:45 PM

F-3: On the Frontier of Biotechnology: A Visit to Genzyme Corporation

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Ticketed Event: $51 advance; $58 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

One of the world’s foremost biotechnology companies, Genzyme Corporation is dedicated to making a major positive impact on the lives of people with serious diseases. Founded in Cambridge in 1981, Genzyme is a leader in the effort to develop and apply the most advanced technologies in the life sciences. On this visit to the Genzyme facilities, we’ll view the manufacturing phase of Genzyme research and staff will share their insights as they map out the progress that has been made in the field of biotechnology since NSTA convention attendees visited Boston in 1999.

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 8:30 AM–12:00 PM

F-4: Behind the Scenes with Design Squad: Learn How to Bring Engineering into Your Classroom

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Ticketed Event: $34 advance; $41 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Unleash your kids’ ingenuity and get them thinking like engineers using PBS’ Design Squad, a reality competition show that plugs eight high schoolers into the wild world of engineering. Learn how the concept was developed and about its educational underpinnings, meet the producers and hosts, go behind the scenes, and try some engineering challenges of your own.You’ll learn how you can help your kids build fast, think smart, and not totally freak out when their stuff falls apart.

We’ll also discuss what the latest research is telling us about how to talk to kids about engineering. And you’ll have a chance to tour the new WGBH studios, where Design Squad, Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman, NOVA, and many other programs are created. A light breakfast is included in the ticket price.

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 8:30 AM–12:30 PM

F-5: A Jewel in the Emerald Necklace: Exploring the Arnold Arboretum

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Ticketed Event: $12 advance; $19 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Take a walking tour of the world-renowned collections of trees and shrubs at Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum. After a special welcome from Nancy Sableski, Manager of Children’s Education, we’ll enjoy a guided tour of the grounds led by Arnold Arboretum docents, who will share information on Arboreum history, research, special collections, and topics of seasonal interest. After the guided tour, you’ll have some time to explore the grounds on your own.

We will be taking the “T” train to/from the arboretum. Dress appropriately for the weather.

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 8:30 AM–12:30 PM

F-6: A New Way to See the Planetarium Universe: Exploring the 21st Century at the Charles Hayden Planetarium

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Ticketed Event: $12 advance; $19 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Dramatic changes in planetarium technology in the last few years allow planetariums to present shows and scientific information in “full-dome” video—seamless video that covers the entire planetarium dome, creating a stunning, immersive experience like none other.

Come learn from the experts at the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science, Boston, how these new technologies can enhance your classroom work—in all scientific disciplines, not just astronomy. Programs in this new format can be created for biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science.

After the presentation in the planetarium, you will have an hour to explore the Museum of Science’s world-renowned exhibits. We will be taking the “T” train to/from the planetarium. www.mos.org

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 8:30 AM–1:00 PM

F-7: The Zoo Experience for the New Millennium

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Ticketed Event: $37 advance; $44 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

New England’s Franklin Park Zoo offers a wide variety of species from around the world in a grand setting in the heart of Franklin Park in Boston. Meet with zoo educators and explore this jewel as you go on guided tours both throughout the zoo and in a behind-the-scenes area. Visit the newly renovated, state-of-the-art gorilla exhibit and view other tropical animals in the one-acre Tropical Forest building. Wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather as the zoo has a number of outside areas.www.zoonewengland.org.

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 8:30 AM–1:15 PM

F-8: Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant

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Ticketed Event: $52 advance; $59 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Where does it go after you go? Visit Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, the second largest and most technologically advanced wastewater treatment plant in the country to find out. Approximately 360 million gallons of Metro Boston’s wastewater are treated every day at the plant.

Our tour begins in the historic pump station with an interactive presentation of the wastewater treatment process followed by a tour of the facility. We’ll follow the flow of wastewater as it enters the treatment facility (influent) through its final treatment process before the cleaned wastewater (effluent) is sent 420 feet below sea level and discharged 9.5 miles out into Massachusetts Bay through a tunnel 24 feet in diameter.

We will see how the solid matter (sludge), once the major cause of pollution to Boston Harbor, is recycled into Bay State Fertilizer. We will also learn the history of the island in addition to the science and technology involved in the process. Take home resource materials to help you introduce this topic into your classroom.A box lunch is included in the ticket price.

Security clearance is required for all participants in this field trip. Each participant will be sent a form once he or she has purchased a ticket. www.mwra.com

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 10:30 AM–4:15 PM

F-9: Charting a Course for the Boston Harbor Islands

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Ticketed Event: $33 advance; $40 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Experience the ecological diversity of the Boston Harbor Islands.We’ll visit several islands and focus on ways that current research is connecting urban students to the environment and their local National Park Area.

The Boston Harbor Islands are rich resources for interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Collectively, the 34 islands that make up the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area tell the story of the area’s unique geological past, its history, and the impact of people on the environment. Individually, the islands provide discrete laboratories where students can explore the geologic formations of drumlins and survey the rich diversity of plants and animals living in the intertidal zone. In addition, the Boston Harbor Islands are the subject of a number of Natural Resource Inventory and Monitoring studies. Recent scientific studies have focused on the intertidal zone, birds, flora and fauna, visitor capacity, invertebrates, and coastal erosion.

This field expedition will depart by boat from the Boston waterfront, taking us several islands to learn how we connect current scientific research to student learning. Specifically, we will explore Thompson Island’s tidal and upland zones to learn about an All-taxa Biodiversity Inventory being conducted by Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. We’ll also visit Spectacle Island to view exhibits about renewable energy and green technology and to learn about student involvement in island habitat restoration. Lunch is included in the ticket price.

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 12:30–4:30 PM

F-10: A New Way to See the Planetarium Universe: Exploring the 21st Century at the Charles Hayden Planetarium

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Ticketed Event: $12 advance; $19 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Dramatic changes in planetarium technology in the last few years allow planetariums to present shows and scientific information in “full-dome” video—seamless video that covers the entire planetarium dome, creating a stunning, immersive experience like none other.

Come learn from the experts at the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science, Boston, how these new technologies can enhance your classroom work—in all scientific disciplines, not just astronomy. Programs in this new format can be created for biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science.

After the presentation in the planetarium, you will have an hour to explore the Museum of Science’s world-renowned exhibits. We will be taking the “T” train to/from the planetarium. www.mos.org

FORMAT: Field trip

Friday, March 28 12:30–4:30 PM

F-11: Exploring the World of Water at the New England Aquarium

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Ticketed Event: $47 advance; $54 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Join New England Aquarium staff for a tour of the aquarium and a behind-the-scenes look at the aquarium’s exhibits and educational programming. Since 1969, New England Aquarium has delighted millions of people with close-up views of diverse animals and their habitats. Now you have a special opportunity to explore areas generally closed to the public and learn about the aquarium’s research and conservation efforts, such as animal rescue and rehabilitation.

We will also enjoy an IMAX film and a short workshop about scientific observations led by staff from the Teacher Resource Center. The Teacher Resource Center provides professional development, consultation, and curriculum materials to more than 3,000 teachers each year. Take ready-to-use materials back to your classroom!

We will be taking the “T” train to/from the aquarium. www.neaq.org

FORMAT: Field trip

Saturday, March 29 8:00–11:45 AM

S-1: Monitoring Climate Change: The Boston-Area Climate Experiment

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Ticketed Event: $24 advance; $31 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

On this visit to the University of Massachusetts Agricultural Station in Waltham, participants will learn about the Boston-Area Climate Experiment. We’ll learn how climate change works, how climate feedbacks may alter its rate, and how natural ecosystems will respond. The tour will include a lecture on the causes and effects of climate change from a UMass Boston researcher and guided tours of an educational exhibit and the experiment itself, which exposes a local ecosystem to future climates to study how plants and soils will respond.

Dress appropriately for spending time outdoors (walking shoes, warm clothes); we will spend approximately one hour outside. Cameras welcome.

FORMAT: Field trip

Saturday, March 29 8:30 AM–12:00 PM

S-2: Boston FIRST Robotic Challenge

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Ticketed Event: $13 advance; $20 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a one-of-a-kind program for middle and high school students founded by inventor Dean Kamen. Designed to encourage students to pursue science and engineering, FIRST works with mentors within business, education, and government to make science as cool as sports.

Running simultaneously with the NSTA Boston conference, FIRST is holding its flagship event—the FIRST Robotic Challenge—on the campus of Boston University. Supported by the major universities and corporations of this region, the FIRST Robotics Competition is a unique varsity sport of the mind designed to help high-school-aged young people discover how interesting and rewarding the life of engineers and researchers can be.

The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week time frame using a standard “kit of parts” and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in competitions designed by Dean Kamen, Dr. Woodie Flowers, and a committee of engineers and other professionals.

FIRST redefines winning for these students because they are rewarded for excellence in design, demonstrated team spirit, gracious professionalism and maturity, and the ability to overcome obstacles. Scoring the most points is a secondary goal. Winning means building partnerships that last. Come join the excitement with students and teachers from all over the world. www.bostonfirst.org

FORMAT: Field trip

Saturday, March 29 8:30 AM–12:30 PM

S-3: Exploring the World of Water at the New England Aquarium

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Ticketed Event: $47 advance; $54 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Boston Advance Registration Form.

Join New England Aquarium staff for a tour of the aquarium and a behind-the-scenes look at the aquarium’s exhibits and educational programming. Since 1969, New England Aquarium has delighted millions of people with close-up views of diverse animals and their habitats. Now you have a special opportunity to explore areas generally closed to the public and learn about the aquarium’s research and conservation efforts, such as animal rescue and rehabilitation.

We will also enjoy an IMAX film and a short workshop about scientific observations led by staff from the Teacher Resource Center. The Teacher Resource Center provides professional development, consultation, and curriculum materials to more than 3,000 teachers each year. Take ready-to-use materials back to your classroom!

We will be taking the “T” train to/from the aquarium. www.neaq.org

FORMAT: Field trip