Grades: 6-8
California State Parks partnered with the California Institute for Biodiversity to produce the Coast Alive! coastal and marine middle school teachers guide and field trip activities. The Coast Alive! Teacher Guide can help your students explore the magnificent California coast. It contains over 200 pages of activities, lesson plans, and background information that fall into seven categories: Land, Sea, Marine Food Webs, Biodiversity, Watershed, Marine Ecosystems and Humans, and Stewardship. The guide meets California Science and Language Arts content standards.
The curriculum isn’t specific to estuaries, but Reserve education staff use the field trip lessons in our programming. Similar to the high school program, the field trip activities focus on biological monitoring. Teachers who wish to participate in this program must attend either the High School Teacher Training or schedule an orientation.
Field trips should be booked at least 2 weeks in advance. No fee for this program.
To schedule an orientation, training, or field trip:
Marya Ahmad, marya.ahmad(at)parks.ca.gov
619-575-3613 ext.306
Transportation Grants
Limited transportation reimbursements are currently available for schools who currently cannot attend the Reserve’s free, high quality environmental education programs due to lack of transportation funds and teachers who have attended an orientation and/or training at the Reserve. Please complete the request form and contact Anne Marie Tipton for details if you are interested, annemarie.tipton(at)parks.ca.gov or (619) 575-3613, ext. 304.