Ocean Star Offshore Oil Rig Museum Field Trip

We recently had a chance to visit the Houston Texas area.  As always I scour and look for unique and low cost places to visit and get to know an area.  We found a very cool adventure at Galveston Island!

Ocean Star Offshore Oil Rig Museum 

This was an actual offshore oil rig.  Here is a picture of it when in use.  

Learning what products have petroleum in them.

 Model of an oil rig.

 The kids were given a scavenger hunt booklet to fill out.  Brayden had his iPad.  That is all he cared about that day.

Learning about fossils and why they are important to the petroleum process.  They had fossil plates for the kids to create rubbings.

 This is the way you get off and on a rig if the only access is boat.  The person sits in the middle and is then pulled up onto the rig.

 Caty copied everything that day.

 This tool is used to send sonic waves to check the layers of the earth.

 A ship model of a boat that would be searching for oil deposits.

 A drill bit.

 A set of industrial "Pliers".

 Looking at several sizes of drill bits.

 An exploration diver to help look at the ocean floor and equipment.

 Not all pipes stay horizontal

 This is a link from a chain that locks the rig to the ocean floor!

 Another model

Oil transportation tube.

 Drillers Hall of Fame!!!!

 Sitting in the directors chair or "captain's" chair.  The person who sits here has control over the whole rig.

 Sleeping quarters

 The view up was unbelievable!!

 Hyperbaric chamber

This museum was definitely one that we would not get to visit where we live.  The kids enjoyed knowing how they get oil that we use.  They were surprised how many products that actually use it, even their crayons and clothes.  This led to discussions about how we can do better to conserve what we have and why new forms of energy need to be found.

There was a small movie that all the kids enjoyed and we was able to give my visual kiddos (and myself) a great overview of how they go about finding oil deposits.  It takes a few years before an oil deposit can be drilled for.  I love when they have movies at museums like this.  The kids are not patient enough to read every sign they post and this movie helped keep their attention.

When we were leaving we saw a fishing boat being attacked by gulls. The kids thought it was funny to watch.

We also saw construction of ships and more oil platforms going on.

I highly recommend visiting this very unique find in Galveston, Texas.  The cost of inexpensive.  

• Open Daily
  10 AM to 5 PM*
• Summer Hours
  10 AM to 6 PM*
• Admission Rates
  Adults - $8.00
  Seniors (55 and older) - $5.00
  Students (7-18) - $5.00
  Children (6 & under) - FREE 
• Military families also receive a discount

You can do a virtual tour of all levels.  Follow the prompts.  So if you are not able to get to Galveston, you can still check out this great educational opportunity.