Outdoor Education at County Parks

What can we learn by closely observing birds? How do their body parts, especially their beaks, help them live? Through games, hiking,and hands-on experience, students will learn how to use binoculars and begin to identify local birds by color, size and shape. Students will also play a game where they become birds with different bird beaks to discover how varying bird body parts help birds eat and live.
NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• LSl.A: Structure and Function
• LSl.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
• ESS3.A: Natural Resources

What can we learn about an ecosystem through observation? Students will go on an ecosystem hike, using picture cards as clues to search for various plants and animals found in specific ecosystems. Students will also closely study the pond ecosystem, using nets and cups to collect and examine pond invertebrates. Through hands-on exploration and experience, students will discover the complexity and biodiversity all around us.
NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• 3-LS4.C: Adaptation
• 3-LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans

How do animals and plants depend on one another? During one activity rotation, students will focus on finding seeds on a short hike. Using their observational drawing skills, they will use words, pictures, and numbers to document a seed they find, and come up with explanations on how the seed possibly arrived there. On another activity rotation, students will record any evidence of birds, mammals, insects, and reptiles/ amphibians the group encounters on a separate hike. Coming back together the group will make connections between plants, animals, and humans.
NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
• LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans

All organisms have "superpowers" which are the structures (body parts) and functions (things that they do) that help them survive.Through singing a song, hiking on a trail for a nature scavenger hunt, and learning how to Nature Journal by closely observing different plant parts and various taxidermized mammals, students will begin to see how plants and animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• LSl.A: Structure and Function
• LS3.B: Variation of Traits

What effects of weathering and erosion can we find in this place? What is the rock cycle and how does it work? During one activity rotation, students will go on a hike to identify evidence that this location was at the bottom of the ocean millions of years ago. Using observations and hands-on exploration, students will also discover and discuss the effects of weathering and different types of erosion. In another activity rotation,students play a game where they will become a tiny grain of sand and travel through the various stages of the rock cycle, recording their journey with words and pictures.
NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas:

• 4-ESSl-1: Earth's Place in the Universe
• 4-ESS2-1: Earth's systems

Students will learn how to use binoculars through games and hands-on experience. Then on a short hike students will observe and attempt to identify birds using size, shape, patterns, colors, behavior, and the bird's location as clues to identification. Migration and human impact may also be discussed.

Through close observations of the structure and function of taxidermized animals, students will discover the adaptations animals have to live and protect themselves. They will use tracks and scat identification guides on a short hike to observe and record evidence of animals in that habitat.

On a clear night, students will view the stars and constellations above, learning the basics of astronomy. They will hear Indigenous creation stories or constellation stories, with the opportunity of creating their own in writing or art forms.

Through games and exploration, students will learn how energy and nutrients flow through ecosystems, with energy starting from the Sun and both energy and nutrients cycling through plants, animals, and decomposers. They will make connections between living and non-living things and discover how plants and animals depend on each other.

Students will learn how natural forces wear away rocks, soil, and land over time. Through visuals, hands-on models and outdoor exploration, they will observe how erosion shapes the Earth's surface, how human activities can speed up erosion, and how plants help prevent it.

Through observations of the czu fire from August of 2020, students will learn about the role of fire in natural ecosystems. Students will discuss and explore the benefits of fire, succession, fire safety, and how people can work to prevent harmful fires while using fire as a tool for ecosystem management.

Through scientific practices, students will compare two or three different habitats or ecosystems, specifically observing and recording the type and amount of water present, measuring air temperature, soil type, and recording what plants and animals (or evidence of animals) are found in general.

Students will learn about the life cycles, adaptations, and migration patterns of the marine mammals that live here in Monterey Bay: Elephant Seals, Harbor Seals, Sea Lions, Gray or Humpback whales. Students will also have the opportunity to play a game where they become an elephant seal using a unique call to find their mother/baby on the beach!

Through engaging activities, outdoor observations, tide charts or creating models, students will learn how the Moon's position is related to the Earth and Sun which then creates the Moon's phases. Students will also discover how the Moon's phases and gravitational pull affect Earth's oceans and tidal patterns, causing high and low tides. This will help them understand the relationship between celestial movements and Earth's natural systems.

Nature journaling requires slowing down and paying attention to the details which builds curiosity, wonder, and attention to the natural world. This also develops students' creativity and critical thinking skills through authentic science practices and supports interdisciplinary learning of
writing, art, and science through using a combination of words, pictures, and numbers.

Students will observe and record the type and amount of water present, measure air temperature, soil type, and record what plants and animals (or evidence of animals) are found in a specific habitat during a specific season spring, summer, fall, or winter. Then on a different field trip visiting the same location during a different season, they will record the same data then analyze and discuss the similarities and differences found.

Every field trip will have at least one game or activity with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) components, and many opportunities to practice teamwork, positive communication and listening skills. Upon request, we can add more of these to your half day or full day field trip. These activities can include:

• Nature themed games
• Team challenges
• Individual challenges of doing activities that test and expand their personal comfort zone. (Examples: a partner walk with cards they follow on a trail, a solo walk with cards they follow on a trail, a solo sit spot during the day or night, a night hike, spending the night away from home for the first time.)

Using identification guides and close observations of patterns and shapes, students begin to learn basic plant identification and discover the adaptations plants have to live and protect themselves. Students explore how native peoples of the Santa Cruz region utilized native plants to make tools, and gain insight to Indigenous ways of life.

Students will learn to identify various animals and plants that live in the tidepools at Greyhound Rock, and explore how these creatures adapt to the constantly changing conditions of the intertidal zone.