Marathon Oil Company is proud to sponsor Family Day at The Ocean Star. Family Day occurs on the second Saturday of each month from 10am to 3pm.

Each Family Day focuses on a different theme that relates to the offshore industry. The information is presented at student's level using a variety of activities such as word games, coloring, and crafts. We encourage parents to bring their children aboard and explore the various facets of the offshore industry. Our goal is to promote family learning and quality time at a reduced cost. Children 18 years of age and younger are admitted free of charge with a paying chaperone. This special discount is designed for individual ticket sales and cannot be combined with other discounts, group tours or other museum programs.

January 12: Drill Bits Take a Bite out of Rock
Keep turning to the right! Try your hand at making a model drill bit using only Styrofoam, cardboard, beads and sequins. Learn about the different kinds of drill bits used to dig a hole and how they reach miles into the earth.

February 9: Types of Rigs
Oil Rigs can be compared to vehicles: they come in lots of shapes and sizes! Come search the museum to learn more about these vehicles at sea. Create your very own piece of offshore artwork.

March 8: Bird Migration
Starting in March and lasting through May, thousands of birds pass through Galveston for their spring migration. Many of these birds will stop over at oil rigs in the Gulf for rest. Learn about the birds that make their home near the Ocean Star and create your very own bird to take home.

April 12: Islands of Life
Learn how platforms in the Gulf of Mexico provide habitats and protection for many various marine animals. Come try your luck at "fishing" around our mock platform for facts about these artificial habitats.

May 10: Playing with Petroleum
Oil is used for much more than just cars. In fact, you may be shocked to find what common household items are really made out of petroleum. See a special video presentation of "Fuel-less" and try your skill at creating tie-dye paper.

June 14: Rocks and Fossils
Discover how oil is formed through the remains of ocean plants and animals. Learn how certain rocks tell geologists where to look for oil. Create your own fossil rubbing to take home.

July 12: Rigs to Reefs
Learn how obsolete oil platforms are being converted into artificial reef habitats and why sea creatures make these structures home. Create a Porthole of Life - a unique view of an amazing underwater habitat.

August 9: Working Under Water
The people who make their living as rig divers have special equipment that allows them to work in the depths of the sea. Learn why this special gear is necessary and what happens when the human body is subjected to the harsh environment under the sea as well as finding out how ROV robotics are helping the offshore industry go to depths that a diver could not manage!

September 13: Life on a Rig
Step aboard the Ocean Star and find out about the different kinds of offshore structures, what they do, and who works on them. Learn what you would look like as an offshore oil worker. Try on safety gear, explore the control room and participate in a scavenger hunt during your visit.

October 11: Sources of Energy
Come learn about the 10 different energy sources and how each source is important to everyday life. Create your own "energy wheel" as you discover why renewable and non-renewable energy affects your life, and where petroleum fits in.

November 8: The History of Oil
Oil has been a useful tool for humans for centuries prior to the invention of the gasoline engine. Come learn about some of civilizations that discovered the early uses of petroleum, and why it became this now precious resource. Look for quiz answers to our "Timeline," which relates discoveries within the industry to other words events... you may be surprised at the results!

December 13: An Oilrig Christmas
The term "Christmas Tree" means something very different in the oil and gas industry. Come find out what it is! Visit the Ocean Star decorated for the holidays, try your creative hand by coloring a picture of an oil derrick to look like a Christmas tree, and find out the surprising role petroleum plays in the yuletide season.

About The Ocean Star...

Less than an hour from downtown Houston, the world's petroleum capital, the Offshore Energy Center (OEC) operates its state-of-the-art facility, the Ocean Star.

Visitors step on board, tour the completely refurbished jackup drilling rig, absorb the day-to-day excitement of offshore drilling and production, marine transportation, environmental protection, construction, pipelining - all experienced through three decks of videos, equipment exhibits and interactive displays. It's a museum, educational attraction and working drilling rig all rolled into one.

When you visit Houston or Galveston, be sure to include a tour to the Ocean Star, jacked up at Galveston's Pier 19.