Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki Field Trip FAQs

We are now accepting bookings for field trips that occur in October 2025 through April 2026. 

No. AZMNH and Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki are not within walking distance of each other. You are responsible for providing transportation between the two facilities.

Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki

1000 N. Date

Mesa, AZ 85201

Arizona Museum of Natural History

53 N. Macdonald

Mesa, AZ 85201

Any students in 3rd grade and older. This program is tied to current Arizona State Academic Standards and is an excellent addition for meeting 3rd and 4th grade Social Studies Standards.

We work with every teacher to the best of our ability to accommodate their needs with their bus schedules. We can be flexible with the length of stations, but we cannot generally start trips before 10 am. If you have a smaller group, we try to cut down on the number of buses you need.

Your schedule may look like this:

1 group 30 minutes

2 groups 30 minutes

3 groups 30 minutes

If you have a group of 76+ students, then they are split so that one half starts at AZMNH and the other half starts at Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki. Everyone has lunch at Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki and then the groups switch their locations.

It looks roughly like this:

6 groups 30 minutes

How do we group the students?

We generally contact you the week before the trip with your official schedule. The number of groups is based on the number of students you have as well as the availability of our volunteers. We ask that you follow the grouping we give you and that each group has roughly equal numbers.

We recommend 1 chaperone for every 5 students and require 1 chaperone for every 10 students. There are station leaders at Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki, but they are NOT responsible for student behavior and should not be expected to keep control of your groups. Our station leaders are there to educate. (AZMNH visits are entirely self-guided, and it is doubly important for students to be chaperoned there.)

It is required that students participating in a joint AZMNH/Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki field trip have a lunch break. The schedule is designed with this in mind. We have picnic tables at Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki to be used for your lunch break.

At Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki there are drinking fountains at the front of the Visitor Center and students are encouraged to carry water bottles. Food is only allowed at lunch and all wrappers, containers, etc. must be disposed of in our trash and recycle bins. At AZMNH water bottles are allowed inside the galleries but no other food or drinks. There are drinking fountains throughout the museum.

Sce:dagĭ Mu:val Va’aki is an outdoor facility. Students will be participating in activities that are archaeological in nature. Please make sure they are dressed in stable and closed toed shoes, sunscreen, hat, and warm or cool clothing that is appropriate to the weather.