Digital tools to enhance your learning experience
Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve is excited to bring to students, parents, and teachers a variety of remote learning opportunities to learn more about the Tijuana Estuary and other coastal wetlands.
Apps to use at the Reserve
Adventure Lab
Explore the world around you with virtual geocaching
Grades 5 and up
Explore the world around you in a whole new way with [our] Geocaching Adventure Lab® outdoor scavenger hunt!” Take a short stroll through this native plant garden to learn about how coastal sage scrub plants have adapted to this very dry climate alongside the California Native Americans of this region, the Kumeyaay. Learn about how these plants were used traditionally by the Kumeyaay and other cultures who have resided here.
Border Field State Park: Divided Together
Uncover border stories
Grades 9 and up
The Divided Together podcast and associated Border Field State Park self-guided tour app, reveals topics that involve separation and unification related to the border featuring people with direct experience and knowledge. The 2021 series highlights the impacts the border has had on the Kumeyaay Native Americans and their land, how scientists and geographers have collaborated across the border, the various land use practices the Kumeyaay have used throughout time, and human rights along the border. The self-guided tour has excerpts of each episode and is geopositioned around the group picnic area of Border Field, with a beautiful view of the ocean and Mexico’s Coronado Islands.
Use the web app to view the app remotely.
Agents of Discovery
Discover Border Field State Park in a whole new way!
Mission name: Marine Debris at Border Field State Park
Agents of Discovery is an educational augmented reality mobile game that allows you to discover the outdoors in a new and exciting way. It is a free app available for download on any smart mobile device -- and the topics are endless! As an added bonus, this mission can be played from wherever you are.
Border Field State Park sits in the most southwestern corner of the United States. It is home to many species living in various habitats, but it is also heavily impacted by marine debris (litter that ends up in marine environments). Join Agent Geo Roadriguez to learn more about the biodiversity of Border Field State Park, how marine debris inhibits plant growth, degrades habitat for pollinators, and about the efforts we make to reduce its spread.
Agents of Discovery
Explore the secrets of the marsh!
Mission name: Salt Marsh Exploration at the Tijuana Estuary
Agents of Discovery is an educational augmented reality mobile game that allows you to discover the outdoors in a new and exciting way. It is a free app available for download on any smart mobile device -- and the topics are endless!
Salt marshes can be tough livin'. The Tijuana Estuary has around 235 acres of salt marsh habitat, and living within it are a number of species. Join Agent Mallard Duck as you walk the North McCoy trail and discover the secrets of those species and how they are able to survive. You will learn how plants have adapted to salty water, how to better identify birds and their prey types, but also how salt marshes benefit us humans.
PORTS Program
Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students
Sign up for a PORTS program at Tijuana Estuary Natural Preserve in Southern California to explore how the secrets of the salt marsh help to study and protect our changing climate. You can expect to join our interpreters Anne Marie or Empress to guide your students in building observation skills through nature journaling, discover salt marsh habitats and adaptations, or explore some of the real-time data to monitor the health of estuaries.
Programs to choose from:
- 3rd - 5th grades: Salt Marsh Secrets
- 6th - 8th grades: Can Salt Marshes Help Fight Climate Change?
- 9th - 12th grades: Detecting a Changing Climate at Tijuana Estuary
Activities for the classroom
Grades 4-6
Wetland Neighbors is a booklet designed to help students understand why wetlands of the Californias are so important for people, plants, and animals.
En Espanol
Grades 6-12
Watch an animation about how estuaries filter runoff from land.
Grade 9-12
Be a System-wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) data detective!
Grades 6-12
Find out how climate change impacts estuaries and how to help.