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Field Trips

Jump to: Southern California

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Aquatic Outreach Institute, Richmond
To register or for more information, call 510-231-5778.

California Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park, San Francsico
The California Academy of Sciences includes the Steinhart Aquarium, the Morrison Planetarium, and the Natural History Museum. Each offers exciting educational opportunities for students in all grade levels. For more information, visit www.calacademy.org

Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland
Permanent exhibits include "Our Place in the Universe," "Planetary Landscapes," "The Origin and Meaning of Meteorites," and "Planet Trek." "Shadow Dance: Make and Eclipse" gives students a hands-on opportunity to create different kinds of solar and lunar eclipses. They can activate sensors on the exhibit floor, discover the science behind an eclipse, and learn about eclipse myths, rituals, and celebrations found in many world cultures.
For more information, call 510-336-7300 or visit www.chabotspace.org

Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Education, San Mateo
For more information, call 650-342-7755 or go to www.coyoteptmuseum.org

Exploratorium, San Francisco
For more information go to www.exploratorium.edu

Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, San Mateo
Located in Moss Beach (about one hour south of San Francisco), this spectacular stretch of coastline includes a shallow marine shelf that is exposed during low tides. Many interesting marine animals and plants are visible in the pools for watching, photographing, and drawing. Come study and enjoy this rich and complex habitat!.
For more information, call 415-363-4020 or visit www.sfgate.com/getoutside/1996/jun/fitz.html

Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center
The Sanctuary Visitor Center provides unique and engaging programs that allow students to see their connection to ocean habitats and wildlife. Bring your class to the Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary Visitor Center at the Presidio and you will open up an exciting learning opportunity for your students. Programs are two hours long, interactive, grade specific and correlate to state standards. Students use hands-on exhibits inside the visitor center to discover how senses, life cycles, adaptations, and food webs function in the marine environment. Outside on the beach, students use observational skills to discover what makes this such a fragile world and actions they can take to help protect the ocean.

http://farallones.noaa.gov/education/visitorcenter.html

Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley
at UC Berkeley offers a wide range of homeschool and afterschool programs for individuals in astronomy, biology, physics, math, and chemistry. Also available are weekend workshops and family workshops. http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org

Oakland Museum of California
For more information, call 888-OAKMUSE or visit www.museumca.org
Walk Across California - Take a simulated journey through California's diverse ecosystems, observing plants and animals found from the Pacific coastline to the High Sierra and the inland desert. Exhibits contain approximately 2,500 natural specimens organized around the basic ecological principles highlighting relationships among plants, animals, geology and climate. The Aquatic California Gallery presents an overview of our aquatic environments, including the oceans, rivers, streams and estuaries. Permanent exhibition.

Sacramento Zoo
For more information, call 916-264-5166 or go to www.saczoo.com

Save the Bay
Environmental education field trips for grades 5 and up.
Canoes In Sloughs:
Canoes In Sloughs opens students’ eyes to a whole new world through an on-the-water learning experience that helps them gain knowledge about and respect for nature and the Bay. In 2001, the program was awarded U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer’s Excellence in Education Award.
Restoration Programs:
Hands-on stewardship projects, community-based restoration, that engage students in wetland restoration to restore the health and diversity of the Bay ecosystem.
Visit www.saveSFbay.org for more information.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium
offers marine biology and environmental education programs for K-12 students and their teachers. Field trips include informal educator presentations both inside the aquarium and on the beach just outside its doors.
Classes are based on the California science standards, are two hours in length, and are offered weekdays at 9:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. The fee is $150 for a maximum of 60 students; teachers are free. For reservations call 310-393-6149, ext. 105.

The Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA is a living museum comprised of over 5,000 species of plants from all over the world. The garden offers free docent-led school tours for grades 1-12 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 am to 2 pm, providing an exciting adjunct to science and social studies curriculum. As part of its written confirmation package, the garden sends teachers free pre-tour guides for grades 2-12 school groups to use in reparing students for their visit to the garden. Follow-up guides are given to the teadher at the conclusion of the tour.  See www.botgard.ucla.edu or call (310) 825-1260.

Natural History Museum of LA County
Formore information, call 213-763-3534 or go to www.nhm.org

The 310-acre UCLA Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve, an outdoor classroom and living laboratory for environmental education and research, lies in the Cold Creek watershed of the Santa Monica mountains. The reserve has forged a partnership with UCLA and K-12 education in the greater Los Angeles area and offers 3-hour school programs focusing on chaparral and fire ecology, geology, and early local Native American and homestead history. The 1.5 mile hike introduces students to Chumash village life, including acorn grinding, cave wall painting, playing of Chumash games, and demonstrations of tool making. The reserve is accessible by prior permission only. Teachers interested in booking docent-led tours should call the MRT office at (818) 591-1701, ext. 130. Free curriculum guides are available at http://nrs.ucop.edu/reserves/stunt.html.

Nanotechnology "Chip Camps" are available to small groups of motivated students and their teachers. A chip camp is an intensive hands-on, inquiry-based learning experience in nanotechnology. High school students spend either 1, 3, or 5 days in a teaching clean room facility, learning tricks of light and chemicals to make a tiny microresistor. Longer camps are available, and funding is available to cover expenses to the University of California, Santa Barbara. Contact Angela Berenstein at berenstein@ece.uscb.edu or call (805) 893-5999. For more information see http://www.nanotech.ucsb.edu/NanotechNew/education/CHIPCAMP.html

Discovery Science Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating young minds, assisting teachers and increasing public understanding of science, math, and technology through interactive exhibits and programs. 2500 N. Main St., Santa Ana, CA 92705; 714-542-2823. Visit their website at http://www.discoverycube.org/.