Local Partner Resource Guide
New & Revised Offerings from Trusted Partners
Here's the latest information about virtual and in-person field trips, in-school programs, and professional development.
Updated deadlines and new opportunities will be shared out in the weekly email newsblast as they become available.
Wondering what new exhibits are coming to the museums and science centers around the Bay Area? Find out on our New and Temporary Science Exhibit page.
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - Virtual
CRS teacher members are elligible to receive inviations to host scienists from our BASIS (Bay Area Scientists Inspiring Students) in their virtual classrooms.
In-School Programs
CRS teacher members are elligible to receive inviations to host scienists from our BASIS (Bay Area Scientists Inspiring Students) in-person in their school classrooms.
Professional Development
CRS offers customized professional development for schools and disticts.
Find about new workshops and all the resources and links from past Building Environmental & Climate Literacy series of workshops.
Updated Fall 2023
Professional Development
Online workshops and courses offered on a variety of topics related to environmental and outdoor education. Certification for environmental educators offered annually (program runs August-June; applications open in May).
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In Person
Three-hour, docent-led nature hike cultivates environmental literacy, connects what happens in your classroom to what happens on the trails of the preserves, and supports learning with a set of standards-based resources. The experience is designed for children in 3rd–5th grades.
For more information, visit the Audubon Canyon Ranch's School Programs page.
Professional Development
Join their teacher mailings lists to hear about any professional development opportunities with Audubon Canyon Ranch. Email mgpschoolprogram@egret.org or Jacqueline.levy@egret.org to join.
Updated Fall 2023
Professional Development
We offer several modalities of teacher PD throughout the year. Join the BABEC teacher community and meet your peers from around the Bay!
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In Person
Bay Area Discovery Museum's (BADM) Discover-It-Yourself field trips and STEAM Workshops at the Museum offer a variety of fun, STEAM-focused experiences for PreK - 5th graders.
While at the museum, check out BADM's exhibitions, which are research-backed playful learning experiences that inspire a passion for discovery in every child.
In-School Programs
Bring a bit of the museum to your classroom or site with BADM's STEAM Workshops or Try It Truck! Their programs provide hands-on, multi-sensory explorations of STEAM concepts while encouraging risk-taking, collaborative problem-solving, and creative thinking.
Scholarships are available for all of BADM's programming offerings and are applied upon booking for qualifying sites.
Professional Development
The Bay Area Discovery Museum provides professional development for a variety of audiences, including preschool teachers, librarians, and more! Their staff brings expertise from diverse fields to provide practical guidance for those seeking to apply current research to their work with young children.
Updated Spring 2024
Field Trips - In Person
Field trips to the California Academy of Sciences are a hit with all grade levels, from preschool to high school. Dates for the 2023-2024 school year are now open! Visit the aquarium, planetarium, and rainforest - all under one living roof.
Field Trips - Virtual
Free Distance Learning programs are open to all K-8 students wherever they are set up to engage in learning during the school day. Each livestream is a lesson taught by professional educators. Events feature hands-on activities or kinesthetic movement that students can do while tuning in.
Designed for middle school youth in out-of-school time (OST), Science Action Club (SAC) features kit, curriculum, and training. The English/panich bilingual SAC kits feature games, projects, and hands-on investigations that inspire wonder for the natural world and contribute to authentic science. Each kit includes 12 activity plans, tools and supplies for 20 youth, and access to online training.
Professional Development
In-person and virtual teacher workshops are highly interactive and engage participants in small-group discussion and individual exploration. Educators participate in activities as learners, and reflect with colleagues about how to apply ideas to their own teaching.
Updated Fall 2023
In-School Programs
The Schoolyard Cleanup Program guides schools or smaller groups in using a litter cleanup to engage in science investigation using all the NGSS SEPs.
Professional Development
The Commission offers professional development opportunities relating to their curricular resources, at conferences, as stand-alone trainings, or for in-service, as available. Sign up for our Educator Announcements email list.
Updated Fall 2023
Registration Opens Sept. 1 for PORTS program
Field Trips - In-Person
This guide provides basic information about educational programs in the state parks. The parks are sorted by county and each has a contact phone number listed. The guide details which parks provide the following types of programs: Natural History field trips, Cultural Heritage field trips, Environmental Studies (day events), Environmental Living (overnight events), Junior Rangers, Litter-Getters, and Junior Lifeguards.
Virtual Programs
PORTS (Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students) Program is a FREE distance learning program with California State Parks. PORTS uses the power of videoconferencing to support K-12 educators in designing deep and meaningful learning experiences for their students. They offer on-demand and live virtual programs from parks across the state.
Professional Development
From day trips to environmental living overnights to in-school programs, California's state parks offer opportunities for students to learn about our natural and cultural history through hands-on experiences and interaction with trained staff and volunteers. Encompassing a mind-boggling array of natural and cultural resources. Find more.
Updated Fall 2023
Virtual Programs
Central Sans offers a variety of virtual programs to explore what goes down the drain. "Toilet Paper or Non-Toilet Paper" and "What Goes Down Our Kitchen Sink" are favorites. Or take a Virtual Tourof the waste water treatment plant.
In-School Programs
The goal of every Central San lesson is to help students think more critically about “what happens to our dirty water after it goes down the drain?” They can come to your classroom or playground.
For more information, visit the Learn with Central San page, or fill out this form to schedule a lesson.
Updated Fall 2023
Registration for programming is open for the 2023-24 school year.
Field Trips - In-Person
Sign up now to book your spot for the 2023/24 school year!
Chabot offers two different packages for field trips.
1. Standard Visit (Exhibits + Planetarium Show + Live Science Show)
2. Workshop Package (Exhibits + Planetarium Show + Live Science Show + 60 min Workshop).
Their planetarium shows are also offered in Spanish and are available to field trip groups upon request.
Chabot is excited to announce the groundbreaking installation of an Astra Rocket to the Center!
Field Trips - Virtual
Don't forget that the Center always has free virtual resources in their Learning Launchpad.
Get ready to explore and learn more about the Universe and Planet Earth with new activities, videos, and more. They are bringing science to life with content created by their very own education team!
Grants & Scholarships
They are happy to still offer their 20% discount to all Title 1 schools! Simply indicate your school's status in the request form and they will automatically apply the discount.
Updated Fall 2023
Registration for programs starts August 2023
Field Trips - Virtual
Online educational resource collection & support for educators on climate & energy education
Spanish Resources
CLEAN has educator support pages in Spanish about strategies for teaching climate & energy.
Professional Development
CLEAN professional development webinars (to be scheduled/organized in Aug)
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In-Person
Youth Field Trips- During a 90-minute self-guided tour, youth witness demonstrations by artists and industry experts in areas including Glass Flameworking, Glass Blowing, Welding, Blacksmithing, Jewelry, Foundry and more! A Crucible field trip supports STEAM learning, putting math and science concepts into practice. Students witness firsthand how makers create the objects we use in day-to-day life using techniques, tools, materials, and applications of industrial arts.
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In-Person
Pick from a wide range of topics forfield trips. You can do a self-guided tour or participate in a hands-on science workshop or a wildlife experience.
In-School Programs
CuriOdyssey'smobile classroom can bring hands-on STEM lessons or wildlife experiences to your school
Updated Fall 2023
Registration Now Open
Field Trips - In-Person
East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) offers multiple nature and history-based field trips across our parks in Alameda and Contra Costa County. Most are free for public schools in these counties.
Field Trips - Virtual
Naturalist-led field trips are also offered in virtual formats. Visit the Educator Resources page for more information.
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In-Person
EBMUD's outdoor classrooms. Hands-on experiences help children understand what it takes to protect the environment, how natural ecosystems function, and how those ecosystems relate to our drinking water supply. EBMUD rangers work with students to enrich habitats, stabilize soils, and restore natural conditions for creeks and disturbed areas in the East Bay.
Take virtual tours of a water treatment plant or the waste water treatment plant or of fossils found on EBMUD properties.
Updated Fall 2023
Program is available year-round.
Field Trips - Virtual
Energy is Everything provides enrolled educators access to a library of over 200 quality standards-aligned, energy and sustainability-focused STEAM lessons (English/Spanish, formal/informal); lesson supplies; Lab days; My Future Energy Career presentations; and, Ongoing support from their team.
All of their student/family-facing materials are available in Spanish and English.
The program is offered to California educators at no-cost if they meet program requirements.
In-School Programs
Energy is Everything provides enrolled educators access to a library of over 200 quality standards-aligned, energy and sustainability-focused STEAM lessons (English/Spanish, formal/informal); lesson supplies; Lab days; My Future Energy Career presentations; and, Ongoing support from their team.
All of their student/family-facing materials are available in Spanish and English.
The program is offered to California educators at no-cost if they meet program requirements.
Professional Development
Energy is Everything provides educators with professional development opportunities to increase their confidence in teaching science, STEM, energy, and sustainability topics. The program offers ongoing staff support, co-teaching opportunities, and capacity-building opportunities.
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In-Person
Environmental Volunteers offers in-person, hands-on science programs for all grades K-6 in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. These programs consist of standards-based learning stations, focused on a specific subject area appropriate to your grade level. Each grade has at least one program available that directly supports NGSS, and each program can be adapted to best support your students wherever they may be with the topic. Off-site field trips and neighborhood nature walks are also available.
Field Trips - Virtual
We also continue to offer a limited selection of distance-learning programs available for grades K-5, both as a live/interactive program for synchronous learning, and either pre-recorded lessons or lesson packets for asynchronous learning. These are open to all teachers in any location, and teachers can select from both single/stand-alone programs or a full program series.
Field Trips - In-Person
Bring your students to a day at the Exploratorium to explore 600+ interactive exhibits! Field trips include introductory orientation, specialized drop-in activities/demonstrations, and the option to reach out in advance for specialized experiences. Click here for the Exploratorium's calendar of events.
Admission is free for Title I schools.
Spanish Resources
Los Bocadillos son experimentos científicos interactivos puestos a prueba por educadores que utilizan materiales comunes y baratos. Explora la colección en español.
Professional Development
The Exploratorium offers a variety of professional learning resources to support better teaching and better learning.
Get timely teacher resources, announcements, and perks delivered to your inbox with our Educator Newsletter.
Updated Fall 2023
Preregistration is open, proper registration starts soon! Come join the Forestry Challenge in the forest!
Field Trips - In-Person
The Forestry Challenge is an academic event for high school students in technical forestry and current forestry topics. Participants spend four days in the forest learning about the ecology and management of the forests that provide communities with water, wood, recreation, and wildlife habitat.
The events are free to attend! Substitute and transportation reimbursement is available. They also offer scholarships to program alumni pursuing a degree in forestry and natural resources.
Updated Fall 2023
Professional Development
Connect your students to an international network of students, teachers, and scientists to learn more about our shared environment. For a school to fully participate in The GLOBE Program, at least one teacher must be trained in GLOBE science measurement protocols and education activities by attending a GLOBE Teacher Workshop online or in person.
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In-Person
Programs provide an inquiry-based approach to understanding the process of science. They customize programs that vary in length from one class to one week. We conduct programs in your classroom, the field, virtually, or overnight field-based research trips.
Professional Development
Instead of talking with teachers about how they should theoretically teach students, they have teachers observe the student driven research protocol in practice with real students.
Updated Fall 2023
Registration Now Open
Field Trips - In-Person
Join KIDS for the BAY to explore creek, bay and ocean habitats and meet unique plants and animals that make these environments their home. Each Field Trip lasts 3.5 hours, is led by an experienced environmental science educator, and includes hands-on investigations, nature art, and a cleanup.
Some programs are fully funded and free to many teachers depending upon the program and city. Fee programs are offered at reduced rates with sliding scale pricing tiers dependent upon the low-income percentage of students at that specific school. See registration forms for each program for the pricing tiers, if applicable.
Field Trips - Virtual
The Blue Watershed Classrooms Program includes ready-to-teach Classroom Lessons focusing on our unique San Francisco Bay watershed and how we are all connected to this special environment. Lessons include a clean-up, Environmental Action Project, and everyday classroom changes to reduce waste.
In-School Programs
KIDS for the BAY School Programs provide hands-on science learning, connect students with nature, empower students to become active Environmentalists and provide professional development and ongoing support for partner classroom teachers. All programs are aligned with NGSS and Common Core.
Professional Development
Our Watershed Action Program and Storm Drain Rangers Program are both eligible for completing continuing education units through California State University, East Bay. By completing a series of assignments throughout the program, you will be eligible to earn two or three units.
Updated Fall 2023
Fields Trips - Virtual
KQED Learn is a free platform for middle and high school students to tackle big issues and build their media literacy and critical thinking skills in a supportive environment. Youth can participate in one of our Youth Media Challenges and publish their media to our online showcase.
In-School Programs
Youth Takeover is a unique year-long program that partners with high school classrooms from nine Bay Area counties to help students produce audio feature stories destined for KQED’s broadcast, podcast and online programming.
Professional Development
KQED Teach is an online platform for educators in K-12 will gain the skills and confidence to successfully incorporate media literacy and media production into your teaching. KQED offers 10 self-paced online courses and many live virtual courses throughout the year.
Updated Fall 2023
Registration opens October 1
Field Trips - In-Person
Bringing your students to UC Berkeley’s public science center guarantees an enriching experience filled with discovery, exploration, and fun! As a leader in science education for over 50 years, they know how to engage and enthrall students with fun and unique interactive learning experiences.
Discover the math and science of music, explore cutting-edge biotechnology research, and more in our standard field trip experience. Delve into their hands-on exhibits at your own pace and let your students’ curiosity be their guide!
In-School Programs
Can’t make it to The Lawrence with your students? Let them bring hands-on science to you with outreach programs from The Lawrence On-The-Go! Their science shows, festivals, and workshops deliver engaging, NGSS-aligned science fun to classrooms and even entire schools without leaving your site.
Professional Development
The Lawrence Hall of Science can provide custom professional learning experiences to support leaders and educators in increasing student engagement and providing equitable, high-quality STEM instruction and environmental literacy for pre-K through high school.
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In-Person
To check on the status of taking a field trip to The Marine Mammal Center, visit their School Field Trip Page.
From June through October, conservation experts from The Marine Mammal Center will be at two different PIER 39 locations to bring the stories of California sea lions to life as part of a brand-new educational experience for all ages.
Professional Development
The Ocean Ambassadors middle school program provides professional development and support throughout the academic year as well as curriculum and connected field experiences.
Updated Fall 2023
Registration for 2024-25 school year starts in May.
Field Trips - In-Person
The Marine Science Institute puts students in physical contact with the SF Bay and coast environments to help cultivate their sense of curiosity, enrich their understanding of science, and foster a responsibility to protect the environment. All programs can be tailored for your student's needs.
Field Trips - Virtual
Students learn about local marine environments and the organisms that live in them through a combination of virtual investigation and inquiry-based learning activities. MSI offers eight different program options focused on habitats or animals, which can be customized to fit each class’s needs.
In-School Programs
Students learn about local marine environments and the organisms that live in them through a combination of hands-on investigation and inquiry-based learning activities. MSI offer seven different program options focused on habitats or animals, which can be customized to fit each class’s needs.
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In-Person
Overnight and One Day environmental science programs take youth out of the classroom and into national parks.
Field Trips - Virtual
Learn and explore in a virtual classroom. Students will participate in interactive lessons that connect them to environmental science, national parks and the natural world in their own community.
Updated Fall 2023
Registration Now Open
Field Trips - In-Person
Watersheds & Me Guided Gallery Visit (Grades 3 - 6)
Explore how healthy watersheds support healthy communities and our role in protecting California’s regional habitats.
Into the Brightness (on view until Jan 21, 2024)
Explore themes of joy, community, and inspiration in artwork by disabled artists.
Por el Pueblo (Oct 6, 2023-Jun 30, 2024)
Explore the impact of Chicano artist, Malaquías Montoya, an inspiring artist, activist, and community leader.
Scholarships & Discounts
OMCA offers a 30% discount for Oakland Unified School District groups, and a 50% discount for Title I schools on all programs and self-guided visits.
A limited number of bus scholarships are available for onsite field trips, which can be requested during registration. Priority is given to OUSD and Title I schools.
Updated Fall 2023
Fields Trips - Virtual
Bees in Eduction Program teachers the importance of bees to our food systems and ecosystems as a pathway to conservation and STEM fields, cultivating the green leaders of tomorrow through the power of science and stewardship. Educators have access to professional development workshops, real-time virtual STEM lessons taught by our certified teachers, individual lesson videos, scripted lesson plans, differentiated supplemental material, and our Native Bee Citizen Science Projects. They can also invite local beekeepers to schools for classroom visits.
Updated Spring 2024
Scheduling now for Summer and Fall 2024
Field Trips - In-Person
RAFT School Field Trips help develop skills and knowledge in multiple content areas and grade bands. Interactive tours teach students to learn to identify materials based on their attributes and think of potential uses.
Fields Trips - Virtual
RAFT's free downloadable resources provide teachers with practical methods for effectively presenting engaging content.
In-School Programs
RAFT facilitates one-day Community Makerspace Builds. Over the course of one or multiple school days we engage and train students and volunteers to build makerspace furniture and storage solutions. We provide all the tools and experienced staff to facilitate a safe experience.
To inquire about available grants for the Maker Mobile Program, Makerspaces & STEAM Kits, email education@raft.net.
Updated Fall 2023
Registration is now open
Field Trips - In-Person
The Pampanito Science Program is a hands-on experience for upper elementary and middle school students set on a historic WWII submarine. Explore scientific concepts necessary for operating a submarine, such as buoyancy, light and sound waves, navigational techniques, and creating a chemical battery.
Scholarship awarded based on need to SFUSD Title 1 schools.
Updated Fall 2023
Professional Developement
The San Francisco Microscopical Society is a community of people who use microscopes across both science and the arts.
Sign up as a member to access to our online community and events. These are friendly spaces where you can ask questions & meet people from a multitude of disciplines.
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In-Person
Bay Discovery- This in-person program brings students to the shoreline to gain a deeper understanding of San Francisco Bay and our rich relationship to it. Students also have an opportunity to complete a service learning project exhibiting the positive impact we can have on our environment.
Field Trips - Virtual
Join Save The Bay staff on the shoreline from home or from the classroom. Each session includes a short presentation, a live virtual tour of their nursery and the shoreline, and finishes with an activity encouraging students to share what they’ve learned.
Updated Spring 2024
Scheduling for 2024-25 School Year
Field Trips - In-Person
Visit the SaveNature.Org headquarters to check out their insect breeding facility! Meet the people and bugs behind all of the magic!
SaveNature.Org offers discounts on programs for schools and other institutions on a sliding scale.
Field Trips - Virtual
SaveNarture.Org provides a number of free classroom resources on their website for teachers to download and print.
In-Person Programs
Insect Discovery Lab: Explore the fantastic lives of beetles, millipedes, tarantulas, walking sticks, whip scorpions and more! Their presenters will introduce your group to the extraordinarily diverse world of insects and other arthropods, and teach you about their key role in the web of life.
The Insect Discovery Lab program is available in Spanish, but dates requested are subject to educator availability.
Updated Fall 2023
In-School Programs
Have a team of scientists visit your classroom once a month to do hands-on science and engineering lessons with your students
Professional Development
Science is Elementary’s Professional Development is customized to your school or site.They help teachers improve their classroom practice through a combination of group sessions and personalized coaching.
Updated Fall 2023
Professional Development
STEM4Real builds educator capacity by creating tools for equity-centered teaching and developing learning experiences that represent all students. They CONNECT with our students, CREATE culturally responsive instruction, and CULTIVATE anti-racist teaching that supports 3D student learning for all, #4Real.
Updated Fall 2023
Programs for Schools
Explore San Francisco Bay ecology, natural and cultural history, with a visit to Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in the Port of Oakland. Apply on-line for FREE Kindergarten - 12th grade theme-based programs. All OUSD schools are now eligible for bus funding
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In Person
4th Grade Transfer Station Field Trips are available again. Learn first-hand what happens to their recyclables, garbage and compostables at a working material recovery facility and transfer station.
Field Trips - Virtual
Facilitated Virtual 4th Grade Transfer Station Field Trips share the journey of waste with your students.
In-School Programs
StopWaste educators will work with you and your students to engage in project based learning at your school.
Updated Fall 2023
Registration now open
Field Trips - In-Person
The Tech Interactive offers dozens of hands-on, collaborative, problem-solving activities trips for students from elementary to high school. Watch as your learners reimagine a sustainable city, build a robot, break a cyber code, experiment with microbes, or construct electrical circuits.
The Solve for Earth exhibit creates a space where students & teachers can discuss as a community how to live sustainably and reduce the impacts of climate change.
If your school is designated as Title I, admission is free & subsidies are available to help with other costs.
Field Trips - Virtual
Virtual programs make the Tech Interactive accessible to everyone! Whether your learners build with the Tech Interactive in a science lab, hear from a working scientist, or take a virtual field trip through the exciting world of tech, they’ll be inspired to become the problem-solvers of the future.
Professional Development
The Tech's professional learning focuses on Design Challenge Learning methodology, which engages participants in design challenges and provides facilitation methods for problem-solving with your own students in ways that align with your program goals.
Updated Fall 2023
Professional Development
Understanding Global Change: Explore phenomena and processes that shape our changing world, including causes and solutions to climate and environmental change. Find tools for planning phenomena-based units and making Earth system models.
Understanding Science: How science really works, an inside look at principles, methods, and motivations of science plus a suite of teaching resources.
Understanding Evolution: Find essential science content about evolution and how it works along with a searchable database of classroom resources.
Updated Fall 2023
Field Trips - In-Person
The Watershed Project's (TWP) K-12 programs bring students to local parks or restoration sites, where K-8th grade students will explore nature and/or participate in watershed stewardship activities.
TWP's mission is to provide children access to the outdoors at no cost. TWP prioritizes Title 1 schools and students from disadvantaged communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
In-School Programs
TWP offers K-12 watershed education programs, prioritizing students in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. The K-8 grade programs focus on our connection to a local watershed, biodiversity and interdependence, and green infrastructure and resilience.