PLAN A FIELD TRIP:

A visit to The National WWII Museum is an exciting, educational experience for students and teachers alike. We offer several ways to experience the Museum and look forward to helping you plan your visit. Please read through the following information carefully and then contact our Sales Office with any questions, or when you are ready to schedule your field trip.

The Education Department at The National WWII Museum is here to help you explore the history and lessons of WWII with your students. Utilizing an object-based learning experience, educational technology, and its world-class exhibits, the Museum uses its rich collection of artifacts, archives and oral histories to take history beyond the pages of textbooks and into the hands of curious students.

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To book a field trip please call 504-528-1944 x 222 or email group.sales@nationalww2museum.org.

TOURS:

The Museum includes exhibits covering America’s entry into the war, the Home Front, the European Theater of Operations including D-Day, the Pacific Theater of Operations, and the Louisiana Pavilion, featuring WWII airplanes, boats, vehicles, and weapons. Beyond All Boundaries, our 4-D film produced and narrated by Tom Hanks shown exclusively in our Solomon Victory Theater, is a spellbinding immersive journey through the war that changed the world. Our new US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center tells the story of our nation’s unprecedented industrial capability during the war years and explores what it was like to participate in World War II on land, at sea or in the air. Final Mission: The USS Tang Submarine Experience is an interactive submarine experience based on the last war patrol of the USS Tang in the Pacific Theater. Visitors man the positions and perform the battle actions of actual crewmembers as the sub engages the Japanese Imperial Naval Forces.

Docent-Guided Tours:

Trained volunteers will foster your students’ interactive exploration of the Museum’s exhibits. The students will discover Museum resources (artifacts, posters, oral histories, etc.) that illuminate the history and lessons of WWII. Students are issued WWII “ration books” in which to record interesting facts and jot down important vocabulary. There are a limited number of docent-led tours available each day. The maximum number of individuals (both students and chaperones) on any one docent led tour is 60 - to allow smooth, timely movement though our Exhibits. Please inquire about availability as you schedule your field trip. You may select either the European tour or the Pacific tour. Both tours include a tour of the Home Front exhibits.

Self-Guided Tours

If your group is larger than 60 or if you do not want a guided tour, students may explore the Museum on their own (along with adult chaperones), including the new US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center. Class sizes may be limited even for self-guided tours. To help your students explore the Museum in a thoughtful, thorough way, download a student activity worksheet and answer key for exploring the chronological WWII exhibits in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion.

If you will be visiting the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, have your students read these fact sheets about our airplanes and submarine experience before their visit:

Airplanes in the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center

Final Mission: The USS Tang Submarine Experience

Upon arrival at the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, your students may obtain a printed "Flight Log" scavenger hunt from the volunteer greeter near the entrance. You may view a copy here.

STEM Field Trip for Science & Math Students

In the spring of 2012, The National WWII Museum in New Orleans launched its latest STEM program—an on-site STEM field trip for middle- and high-school math and science students. Students tour the Museum using problem solving, collaboration, critical thinking, and some basic math to find innovative solutions to complex problems America faced during WWII. Armed with data sheets, calculators, and their own creativity, students improve WWII vehicles, calculate firing trajectories, crack a secret code, determine the rate of bacterial growth in an infected battlefield wound, and even figure out how much wool is needed to clothe an army of 16 million soldiers.

In the second part of the field trip, students enter a design competition where their skills in creativity, teamwork, and data evaluation, will be put to the test. Responding to an RFP, students compete for a contract to create a simple vehicle that can perform specified tasks. Winning designs will be “awarded” the contract. Perfect for introducing students in any science class to the design process!

Available for grades 7 – 12
Size limit—30 students
Length—2.5 hours
Real-world science & math just a bus ride away!

View photos and get more details on the STEM Field Trip itinerary!

Download a STEM Field Trip informational flyer!

Victory Garden Field Trip for Elementary Students

Young students begin their field trip in our Student Resource Center where they learn about the importance of teamwork during the war by piecing together and interpreting colorful propaganda poster puzzles. To introduce the subject of gardening, students race through the classroom to recreate the often misunderstood path of food from farm to family table. Before leaving the classroom, students watch the classic 1943 Barney the Bear’s Victory Garden film, which encouraged children to help the war effort by planting their own gardens. After a brief visit to the Museum’s Home Front exhibit, students trek out to our on-site Victory Garden where they learn all about seed crop and seed selection, composting, watering, weeding, and harvesting. As a special treat, each students gets to plant a seed in our special Student Garden and gets to fill their own Victory Garden seed packets to take home for planting. Combining history, civics, biology, and earth science, it’s a great hands-on field trip and a great introduction to the Museum.

Available for grades 2-5
Size limit—30 students
Length—90 minutes
Monday and Tuesday only

View photos and get more details on the Victory Garden Field Trip itinerary!

Download a Victory Garden Field Trip informational flyer!

PREPARING FOR YOUR FIELD TRIP:

Teachers: Whether you requested a docent-led tour or a self-guided tour, pre- and post-visit activities will help your students gain the most from a field trip to The National WWII Museum.

We encourage self-guided tours (only) to use our student activity worksheet, which should not be given out to students taking docent-led tours.

Orientation Film

We highly recommend you show (on classroom computers or a whiteboard) the eight-minute film The Road to War before your visit. It provides the historical context of the years immediately prior to World War II. Self-guided tours (only) can see this film at the Museum. Docent-led tours will not have time.

View The Road to War.

Group Size:

Student groups must have a minimum of 15 people. While group size may fluctuate during the planning phase, the group must still consist of at least 15 people upon arrival to receive a student group discount. School group rates apply for Elementary, Middle, High School, and College student groups. JROTC and ROTC groups will be charged as student groups. Complimentary admission is provided to bus drivers for all groups.

Chaperones:

In the case of elementary, middle, and high school student groups, one chaperone per ten students is required regardless of grade. These required chaperones are admitted free. Additional chaperones will be charged per the chart below. Chaperones must accompany students at all times throughout the Museum, including all Museum Stores and restaurants.

Hours of Operation:

Seven days a week, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. Closed Mardi Gras Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Beyond All Boundaries:

The Solomon Victory Theater offers daily screenings of Beyond All Boundaries, the Museum’s signature cinematic experience, on the hour from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. This 48-minute multi-sensory film tells the tale of the Greatest Generation’s journey from Pearl Harbor to America’s final victory in the War That Changed the World. It is appropriate for children ages 10 and older. Due to the film's schedule, your group must arrive 30 minutes before the start of the show to ensure entry. Once the film begins, groups will not be allowed entry. Your group sale does not guarantee a private show. Tickets for Beyond All Boundaries must be purchased when booking your group visit.

Final Mission: The USS Tang Submarine Experience:

The new US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center includes an immersive submarine exhibit that places visitors aboard the most successful submarine in World War II for its fifth and final war patrol on 25 October 1944. This 20-minute experience is available daily beginning at 9:35 am until 4:55 pm — showing hourly at 15, 35 and 55 after the hour. Due to limited space in this exhibit, only the first three missions of the day are available for student groups. Tickets for Final Mission must be purchased when booking your group visit.

Download a Fact Sheet for Final Mission: The USS Tang Submarine Experience

Download "Plane Spotting in the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center"

Payment:

Advance payment is preferred. Payment is also accepted on the day of the visit. Payment can be in the form of organizational check, cash, or credit card. Checks should be made out to The National WWII Museum. There should be one person with responsibility for processing payment with Museum personnel at the ticket counter. The Museum does not provide direct billing or receive purchase orders for payment. Deposits are not necessary for school groups.

Students may wish to bring spending money to use in the Museum Store, the Soda Shop or to purchase a ticket for Final Mission (subject to availability).

Scheduling Your Group:

We will need to know the date and time you prefer and the size and grade level of your class. Tours and film screenings are subject to availability and it is necessary to schedule a group in advance to receive the group discount. A minimum of two weeks is requested. Group admissions are staggered throughout the day so please be prepared to provide several options. Peak months for school groups are March, April, and May. Please contact us as soon as possible to determine if the desired day and time is available. Groups can be scheduled by calling 504-528-1944 x 222 or emailing group.sales@nationalww2museum.org.

Cancellation Policy:

Please notify at least 72 hours prior to arrival to cancel or change an existing reservation. This will allow another group the opportunity to enjoy the Museum. Should the group not show up, the client is responsible for the cost of all tickets.

Parking:

The Museum provides an unloading/loading zone for busses alongside our building on Magazine St. Drivers should be prepared to move their vehicles from this position once students are unloaded and arrange a time to meet the group for pick up. Busses are not allowed to unload/load on Higgins St. Bus parking is available two blocks away (under the overpass). Cars and vans may park at nearby meters and area public parking lots.

Eating Lunch:

The American Sector restaurant at the Museum offers box lunches starting at $10 each that must be pre-ordered from Group Sales and pre-paid at the time of your field trip scheduling. A limited a la carte menu is also available for groups. Students will eat these lunches as a group either on the Museum’s Parade Grounds, or in other Museum locations depending on weather and availability. The Soda Shop is located on site, but is not ideal for student groups to dine together. Brown bag lunches can be eaten on the Parade Grounds if weather permits, or on your bus, but not inside the Museum.

Accessibility:

The Museum is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Please contact the Museum if you have students or adults with special needs.

Additional Information:

Backpacks and bag lunches must be left on busses. Videotaping is strictly prohibited. Photographs are allowed in the Museum without flash. There are no audio tours. Students are allowed in the Museum Store and the Soda Shop with adult supervision only. Early admission to the exhibits can be arranged.