On-site classes for November and December 2025 are ready to book! See below for day/time availability.
Classes to take place in 2026 will be announced later. Please keep checking this page for updates.
Book a class
We are excited to welcome preschool through 12th grade students for classes at the Seattle Aquarium!
Our educators will guide you and up to 32 of your students at a time through lessons that support Next Generation Science Standards while giving your students agency to influence the class based on their prior knowledge and interests.
On-site classes are reserved for student/teacher groups with a minimum of 10 students and are not available for homeschool groups. Homeschools are always welcome to schedule self-guided visits or to attend specially tailored programming on Homeschool Days.
This fall, classes will be available between 10am and 12:30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from November 4 to December 11, 2025. Requests must be made at least two weeks before your desired date. Please click the link below to see our live calendar of availability and registration request form.
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About our on-site classes
On-site classes take place in our classrooms here at the Seattle Aquarium as part of a field trip. All programs are 60 minutes long (except Tide Pool Friends for preschoolers, which is 30 minutes). Admission to the full Seattle Aquarium campus—including our new Ocean Pavilion—is included.
The schedule is designed to ensure everyone’s experience is as pleasant as possible and to minimize overcrowding. Groups are expected to arrive at their designated entry time. Late arrivals may not be accommodated due to the tight scheduling of groups. Teachers are responsible for relaying exact arrival details to their bus drivers and are expected to account for travel when selecting their entry time.
Our classrooms are located on the second floor of Pier 59. Groups arriving less than an hour before their program start time are required to enter Pier 59 first and will NOT be permitted to visit the Ocean Pavilion before their class. This policy is intended to make sure groups are in the right place and ready to begin their programs on time.
After booking your program, you will receive more information to help your students prepare for a visit to the Aquarium and their exciting class. Please read all correspondence from registration@seattleaquarium.org carefully as we try to cover everything you need to know about what to expect from your field trip. Still have questions? Please visit our school group FAQ.
2025–26 capacity changes
This fall, classes will be available between 10am and 12:30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from November 4 to December 11, 2025. We are NOT able to offer two concurrent classroom programs this fall. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.
If you’re considering booking an on-site class as part of a 2025 field trip to the Aquarium, please prepare at least one additional backup date in case your first choice isn’t available. This includes potentially waiting until 2026 bookings open or attending a self-guided visit instead due to our limited availability.
We understand that school groups usually have a finite amount of time to spend at the Aquarium. If your priority is seeing the Ocean Pavilion or you are traveling more than 45 minutes from your school to the Aquarium, please consider booking a self-guided visit instead of an on-site class so your entire field trip can be dedicated to exploring the Aquarium. We are unable to offer distance learning classes at this time.
We don’t yet have information about capacity for the 2026 calendar year, including which programs will be offered or when registration will open. Please don’t reach out to our Registration team to ask about a booking for your specific group; the volume of incoming messages is too high to respond to individual booking requests.
Information about 2026 bookings will be published on our website as soon as it’s available. You can receive updates about registration and other news for educators by signing up for our Seattle Aquarium mailing list (specifically by checking the “educator news” box).
Thank you for supporting our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment by bringing your students to the Seattle Aquarium. We hope to “sea” you and your class in the future!
Before you book...
We understand that educators undertake a lot of preparation when planning field trips. Here is our suggested checklist of information to have ready BEFORE you view our calendar and submit your visit request:
At least two preferred dates and entry times for your group (in case your first choice isn’t available). Please note that program start times are separate from entry times. Plan to arrive at the Aquarium no later than 15 minutes before your program start time!
The highest possible student attendance your group may reach. (Please note we have a capacity of 32 students and 10 chaperones per class program.)
We require a ratio of one adult for every five students (1:5) for preschool through eighth grade, and one chaperone per 10 students (1:10) for grades 9–12. Groups without sufficient adult supervision may not be admitted, so please plan to confirm a minimum number of chaperones that meets our ratio requirement.
Does your group have any students with special needs or additional accessibility considerations? Seattle Aquarium may be able to provide some support. Let us know in the “accommodations” section of the form.
Are you the day-of-visit teacher or contact who will be attending this field trip to Seattle Aquarium? If you are booking on behalf of someone else or don’t know for sure whether you’ll be joining, please prepare a secondary contact who WILL be attending the field trip so we can make sure they also receive important details like parking and lunch areas.
If you are interested in applying for our free admission and bus reimbursement scholarships, please read our pricing and scholarship information for details about qualifying criteria.
Preview our Field Trip Code of Conduct and School Group FAQ so you’re aware of details such as where buses can unload, where to eat lunch and behavioral expectations for both students and chaperones.
Pricing and scholarships
Please note: As of January 2025, our on-site class ticket rates have increased. Student tickets are now $20 per student and chaperone tickets are $15 per adult.
Washington state schools with 40% or more free/reduced lunch participants, ESL/ELL students, special education classes and/or ECEAPs can apply for our field trip scholarships. Approved scholarship groups receive paid Aquarium admission and programming and may also apply for a transportation reimbursement (as available) of up to $500 per bus rented to bring your students on their field trip. Transportation reimbursements are not guaranteed to scholarship groups and are awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis.
The admission scholarship application and bus reimbursement form will be emailed to the address you provide. A school/office administrator's signature will also be required to confirm eligibility. This form will arrive via a separate email through the third-party service DocuSign. It should automatically be sent to your office administrator after you complete and sign your sections.
As available, we will reimburse up to $500 per bus with no cap on the number of buses used (within reason). Bus reimbursement scholarships are available on a limited basis through the end of 2025. All schools who apply for free admission may apply for bus reimbursement as well, but please be aware this is a separate scholarship award and is not guaranteed. Schools who indicate an interest in this scholarship will be contacted by our Registration team for more details about receiving the award. If approved to apply, this form will arrive via a separate email through DocuSign after your visit.
Aides required and accompanied by students with disabilities can enter the Aquarium free of charge even if the rest of the group doesn’t qualify for a scholarship. If applicable, please let the Registration team know in your visit request form how many 1:1 aides you are requesting comp tickets for.
2025 fall class descriptions
Pre–K
Tide Pool Friends
Meet different Puget Sound seashore animals during this interactive pre-K class. Through discussion, movement and song, students will learn fun facts about the animals and their habitat while reviewing colors and numbers. Explore even more during the free-choice activity time that includes a live animal station, magnet board and puppet play, a reading and puzzle corner, and a letter-matching activity. This introductory marine science program is perfect for preschools, Head Start classes, day care centers and other groups of young children.
K–Grade 2
Explore Pacific Northwest Tide Pools
Get up close with live tide pool animals. Through the use of puppets, live animals and observation, students will learn how these animals survive in their ever-changing habitat and how simple actions can help protect them. Learn about invertebrates like hermit crabs, sea urchins and snails, and discover how they have adapted to survive in the intertidal zone.
K–Grade 2
The Great Salmon Journey
Learn about the life cycle of one of our region’s most iconic animals: the salmon! With the use of interactive storyboards and learner-driven activities, students will explore salmon from egg to adult and discuss the many different factors that affect these amazing fish. Students will become invested in the journey of the salmon through role-playing and discover just how difficult it is to make the great salmon journey.
Grades 3–5
Puget Sound Plankton Lab
Discover the most abundant organisms in Puget Sound: plankton! Students will learn about the role plankton plays in providing food for all animals as the base of the marine food web. Students will be guided through a plankton exploration, learning about phytoplankton and zooplankton through living examples that they collect themselves from the water beneath the Seattle Aquarium’s pier. By the end of the class, students will have the opportunity to explore a plankton sample of their own using a real microscope.
*Students should dress for the elements since portions of this program are outside on the Aquarium pier. Plankton samples differ with changing water temperatures and the time of year of the visit.
Grades 3–5
Orca Discovery
What do you have in common with an orca? Discover the connections we share by comparing the life cycle and physical structure of orcas to humans while building a life-size whale skeleton. Instructors will lead students in a discussion of how our actions can both negatively and positively affect these amazing animals.
Grades 6–12
Sea Otter Conservation Research
Find out what it takes to conduct research on wild sea otter populations. Students will learn how to collect data, ask research questions, and plan and carry out investigative work. The conservation work undertaken on the outer coast of Washington state by Seattle Aquarium Senior Conservation Manager Dr. Shawn Larson and her team will serve as an example.
Contact us
Questions can be directed to our Registration office at registration@seattleaquarium.org or (206) 693-6196. Please note that we continue to experience a high volume of incoming inquiries, so it may take at least five business days for you to receive a response to any emails/voicemails. Our office hours are 8am–5pm Pacific, Monday–Friday.
Thank you!
