LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Cape Fear Serpentarium

Find some of the world's rarest reptiles at this museum located in downtown Wilmington.

Preview your trip on the web: Cape Fear Serpentarium

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  • Lesson plan: Web of life Students will apply their knowledge of the different categories of species that live on Earth. Students will then use a variety of thinking maps to display their information.
  • Lesson plan: Feathers, fin, fur, scales, and skin Using observation, students will identify animal groups by their appearance. The students will move through animal centers looking for similarities and differences of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.
  • NatureServe Explorer An authoritative source for information on more than 60,000 plants, animals, and ecosystems of the United States and Canada. Includes particularly in-depth coverage for rare and endangered species.
  • eNature.com Includes a field guide with over 5,000 species, a habitat gallery of places for wildlife near you, migration information, an ask-the-expert area, and more. You can also listen to an audio clip of the bird of the day!
  • Lesson plan: Classify that! In this lesson from Science NetLinks, students will get acquainted with diverse forms of life by using modern biological classification systems to group animals that are related. Students will learn about basic scientific groupings like genus, species, mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, and reptiles.

Related pages

  • Camp Don Lee: Check out the programs available to classroom students at this beautiful camp located near Arapahoe, North Carolina.
  • Natural Science Center of Greensboro: Features hands-on exhibits, a zoo, and a planetarium as well as a dinosaur exhibit and a Gem and Mineral Gallery.
  • Hanging Rock State Park: Students will learn about the Sauratown Mountains and the Saura Indians for which the mountains were named at Hanging Rock State Park. Ranger led programs are available for class field trips which correlate to the North Carolina curriculum for 5th through 8th grades.

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This popular reptile museum is recognized as having “one of the world’s foremost reptile collections.” There are over 100 species of reptiles there, some of which are very rare. “Meet ‘D.T. Croc,’ the ‘Downtown Crocodile’; ‘Sheena’ a 23 foot long python weighing 250 lbs, ‘Baron Samedi’, a king cobra 15 feet long; and ‘Komodo’, a dragon-sized monitor lizard. See black mambas, spitting cobras, Gaboon vipers, Tropical rattlers, giant Fer-de-lance snakes and the world’s largest collection of the rare and deadly Bushmaster.”

The Cape Fear Serpentarium website has teacher resources They include herpetology related resources, lesson plans, craft ideas, and much more.

Located in historic downtown Wilmington where Orange Street meets the Cape Fear River, the Serpentarium is open from 11AM to 5PM on weekdays, 11AM to 6PM Saturdays and Sundays. Please call (910) 762-1669 to schedule a group visit and to find out about group rates.

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