2nd Grade Earth Science Field Trips
Field Trips for 2nd Grade Earth Science
Processes that Shape the Earth
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| Provider Name | Resource Link | Provider Location | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcatraz Island | Field Trips to Alcatraz | San Francisco | Alcatraz Cruises is the official National Park Concessionaire for Alcatraz. School groups include grades Kindergarten through Grade 12. If you would like to bring a school group of 15 students or more to Alcatraz Island, you must request permission in advance. The link for the request form is https://www.alcatrazcruises.com/groups/grouptrip.aspx |
| American River Water Education Center | Education Center Tour | Folsom | The history and headwaters of the American River Watershed are explored through interactive exhibits which focus on this integral part of California’s waterworks. Find out where the American River actually starts. Discover just how much water is needed to make a pair of jeans or grow a tomato. Water management and conservation are critical issues today and are stressed with fun ‘hands on’ demonstration areas and displays. A section on Folsom Dam explains why it was built, it’s dynamic history over the past 50+ years and the dam’s many uses. |
| Bay Area Discovery Museum | Discover-It-Yourself Visits | Sausalito | Exhibitions are research-backed and provide STEM-focused, inquiry-driven experiences that help children develop creativity and creative problem solving skills. Bay Hall Mud Kitchen How Things Work Gumnut Grove Try It Studio Art Studios Lookout Cove BADM Beach and a changing exhibit hall |
| Bay Model Visitor Center | Guided Ranger Tour | Sausalito | The Bay Model Visitor Center provides public information and educational programs focusing on the environmental, historical and cultural elements of the San Francisco Bay region. These educational programs focus on concepts such as geography, geology, tide cycle, water cycle, the food chain and map scale. Pre-scheduled programs can be arranged for groups of 10 or more, and are approximately 1-½ hours in length. This tour will provide valuable knowledge about the history of the hydraulic model of our estuary in San Francisco Bay and Delta and can be tailored to specific interests of your group. |
| Big Break Regional Shoreline | Creatures of the Wetland | Oakley | Discover why many different animals live at Big Break. From mammals and birds to fish and insects, students will learn how various creatures can survive and thrive in a wetland habitat. |
| Big Break Regional Shoreline | Delta Variety | Oakley | We’ll set up a variety of stations with a variety of opportunities to explore the unending variety of the Delta. Plants, animals, crafts, games, and other activities all guaranteed to make Delta experts out of your large groups. |
| Big Break Regional Shoreline | Delta Wetlands Inquiry | Oakley | Explore the science of the Delta and its powerful impact on everyday lives. Your class will create and test a hypothesis about the Delta ecosystem. Field work may include sampling water chemistry, cataloging wetland plants, investigating invertebrates, or more. |
| Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve | Black Diamond Geology | Antioch | A hike along the trails at Black Diamond to learn how millions of years of geologic activity have influenced the cultural and natural history of this Preserve. This program no longer includes an underground visit to the Greathouse Visitor Center. The program is 2 hours long. |
| Chabot Space and Science Center | Sun, Earth, and Moon K-5 | Oakland | What are the sun, moon and Earth? How were they formed? How do they interact, and impact our lives? Through this workshop, students will be introduced to the two astronomical objects that are most significant in our lives, the sun and the moon. They will also gain a deeper understanding of our own planet and how all three act together. By the end of this workshop, students will have a greater understanding of the astronomical forces impacting the Earth, as well as how these objects were formed and their importance in the solar system. |
| Crab Cove Visitor Center and Aquarium | Nature Walks in the Regional Parks | Alameda | Use the parklands as your classroom! Programs are available at the following East Bay Regional Parks: Redwood, Roberts, Lake Chabot, Anthony Chabot, Huckleberry Botanic Preserve, Sibley Volcanic Preserve, Temescal, Arrowhead Marsh at MLK Jr. Shoreline, and Oyster Bay. Lake Chabot boat tours aboard the “Chabot Queen” may be available; separate fee applies for boat rental. |
| East Bay Municipal Utility District | Outdoor Education | Orinda | Hands-on learning provides children experiences that help them to better understand what it takes to protect the environment, how natural systems function and how our drinking water supply relates to those systems. EBMUD rangers work with school age children to enhance habitats, stabilize soils, and restore natural conditions for creeks and disturbed areas in the East Bay. Registration is first come first serve starting in August every year |
| Environmental Discovery Center of Sonoma County | Only Rain Down the Drain | Santa Rosa | Introduction to watersheds. Activities reinforce grade-specific science standards that include the water cycle, seasons, weathering, erosion deposition, the Sonoma County watershed, non-point source pollution, and the effects of water pollution. |
| Exploratorium | Outdoor Gallery: Open your senses to this place by the Bay. | San Francisco | Investigate forces shaping the City, Bay, and region. Watch shifting winds and tides, reveal hidden life, shake a bridge, observe human behavior, and find new ways to notice the places we inhabit. |
| Exploratorium | Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6: Observing Landscapes | San Francisco | Explore the local environment. Natural and human forces interact to create the dynamic landscape surrounding us. Learn to uncover the stories embedded in a place by directly observing the geography, history, and ecology of the San Francisco Bay region. |
| Monterey Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center | Kelp Forest Investigators | Santa Cruz | Just off our coast, rich kelp forests span from the sea floor to the surface, creating a habitat for many animals just offshore. We can see clues that there is a kelp forest from land, by looking at kelp wrack left on the beach by waves. Students will participate in a scavenger hunt for as many different types of seaweed as possible and discuss how it serves as a habitat and helps keep our bay healthy. |
| Monterey Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center | Guided Tours | Santa Cruz | Experience the Exploration Center with your own personal tour guide. Your group will be split into smaller groups of 8-12 to explore our exhibits with a trained docent who will provide an orientation, focused discussions and observations. 75 minutes Group Size: Maximum of 35 participants *Not including Chaperones *Chaperones are free |
| Monterey Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center | Self-Guided Tours | Santa Cruz | You determine the focus and set the pace. Docents will welcome your group to the Center and be available to assist while you explore the exhibits and answer any questions you may have. |
| Oakland Museum of California | Self-Guided Tours | Oakland | Create your own experience for students at OMCA. Explore California art, history, and natural sciences in the core galleries and special exhibitions with your students and chaperones. Self-guided school groups have access to all galleries and exhibitions. |
| Pegasus Voyages | Pegasus Project Sailing Voyage | Albany | Classes will experience the magic of Pegasus under sail, with students able to move around the vessel. Time allowing, students will have the opportunity to steer the vessel, along with a tour below decks upon conclusion of the sail. The purpose of these voyages is to provide a marine educational experience that kids will remember for a lifetime! |
| Point Bonita YMCA | Introduction to the Marin Headlands | Sausalito | Explore the natural and cultural history of the Marin Headlands on an engaging hike along the trails and batteries near Point Bonita YMCA's campus. Learn about the plants, animals, minerals and people that have inhabited this national park. Depending on Park availability, a tour of the historic Point Bonita Lighthouse can be requested as part of this program. |
| Point Reyes National Seashore | Earthquake Trail | Point Reyes Station | A short, informative trail with exhibits about the 1906 earthquake and the San Andreas Fault zone. Allow 35 minutes to walk this trail. Park in the gravel parking lot east of the Bear Valley Visitor Center. The trailhead is next to the picnic area restrooms. 0.6-mile loop wheelchair accessible. |
| Point Reyes National Seashore | Woodpecker Trail | Point Reyes Station | A rustic trail through fields and trees with exhibits highlighting the flora and fauna of the area. Allow 45 minutes to walk this trail. Park at the south end of the Bear Valley Visitor Center parking lot. The Woodpecker Trail starts at the Bear Valley Trailhead. 1-mile loop. Trail is steep in places. |
| Portola Redwoods State Park | Redwood Hikes - Portola Redwoods | La Honda | The road leading to the park's 2,800 acres drops from a ridgetop into a deeply shaded redwood forest, offering a hushed getaway from the suburban bustle of nearby Silicon Valley and the South Bay Area. The visitor center, with its couches and fireplace, feels like a wilderness lodge. Eighteen miles of trails follow meandering creeks, where moisture-loving coast redwoods stand tall among ferns and huckleberries. Waterfalls on Fall and Pescadero creeks tumble down mossy banks over rocks and woody debris. The park has a 55-site family campground, 4 group campsites, and a trail camp for backpackers. It also protects some of the most remote and scenic redwoods in the region, the Peter’s Creek Grove. |
| Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve | Volcanic Tour | Oakland | Folding and erosion have exposed a cross section of a great volcano, right down to its roots, providing an unsurpassed outdoor laboratory for the study of volcanism in the Central Coast Ranges. An unstaffed visitor center next to the staging area at the park entrance has displays illustrating the park's geology, and a supply of park brochures containing a map with a self-guided volcanic tour. Sibley Volcanic Preserve's main entrance is on Skyline Boulevard just east of the intersection with Grizzly Peak Boulevard in the Oakland hills. You can make a reservation wtih the naturalists at Crab Cove to have a guided hike/program. |
| Stepping Out Stepping In | Bay Discovery! | Oakland | Pre-Trip Visit: Your program will start with a Presentation in your classroom via Zoom! A naturalist will arrive vitually to your classroom and provide an interactive live slide presentation for your students so they will be well prepared for their in-person field trip to Middle Harbor Shoreline Park. They will learn key vocabulary such as habitat, mud flat, estuary and begin to understand the ecologiccal connections of the many creatures that make the SF Bay their home. Field Trip to Middle Harbor Shoreline Park: Discover the wild animals and plants who call the San Francisco Bay Estuary home. Students will engage in hands on activities, such as collecting mud, holding a baby crab and exploration along the shoreline, while learning how this habitat is connected to their lives. |
| The Lawrence | Self-Guided Visit | Berkeley | Take your students to the Lawrence Hall of Science to enjoy the exhibits. Outdoor Nature Lab Animal Explorations Well Played Young Explorers Area Planetarium Hands-on Biotech Forces that Shape the Bay |
| The Tech Interactive | IMAX Film: Educational Film Libary | San Jose | If you are the first school to request the 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. time slot for that day, you can reserve a film of your choosing from our library (see below). Showtimes and IMAX films are based upon availability. |
| Tilden Nature Area-Tilden Regional Park | Tailored Naturalist Program: Habitats | Berkeley | the Tilden Naturalists can adapt their programs to meet the specific needs of your science unit. Sign up for a fieldtrip via the lottery system and give them a call once you are selected. |