PAST FIELD TRIP OFFERINGS
ALCATRAZ
A ferry ride connected us to the island where our students explored the mysteries of one of the most famous prisons in the United States. After our tour, we played in the waves at Ocean Beach while observing a bit of sea life. In the evening, we stayed at a well sought after environmental campground near the base of The Golden Gate Bridge and fell asleep to a million dollar view of the city. The following morning, we packed up and played and explored at the nearby Bay Area Discovery Museum for several hours before our journey home.
CALIFORNIA RAILROAD MUSEUM
Hop on board to experience what it was like to build the nation’s first Transcontinental Railroad more than 150 years ago. Your conductor will escort you while you discover how The Transcontinental Railroad changed life in America forever! After the tour, climb aboard the Museum's Sacramento Southern Pacific Railroad and enjoy a relaxing 50 minute ride along the Sacramento River while experiencing the sights, smells and sounds of a historic stream or diesel locomotive as it pulls vintage passenger coaches and converted freight cars.
INDIAN GRINDING ROCK STATE PARK
After a captivating, in-depth, hands-on tour of the museum, it's exhibits, artifacts and surrounding grounds, our group stayed overnight in the indigenous bark houses. We took a night walk to the nearby grinding rock to see the petroglyphs and fell asleep under the stars, where we got to see a meteor shower taking place. In the morning after breakfast, our group took a short hike and completed their Junior Ranger program.
PIONEER VILLAGE
This interactive and interpretive area includes gold panning and a working blacksmith forge. Here, you can also explore a 19th century miner's cabin, a genuine Southern Pacific Railroad caboose, and walk through the historic Ashland Station. Our permanent exhibit provides an overview of Folsom’s history from its beginning as the home of the Nisenan to the 1960s. It explores how Folsom as we know it today was formed by providing the history of its founding, the Gold Rush, railroad, its pioneers, agriculture and important businesses. Children are led on a guided tour with hands-on activities scheduled that include gold panning, rope making, doll making, pioneer dances and games.
LONG DREAM FARM
In the wee hours of the morning, our group toured a nonprofit farm run by a homeschool family. We got to milk the cows, bottle feed the calves, and feed and pet many of the other farm animals including emu’s, pigs, horses and chickens. Our group learned about how dairy farms are run and how this farm’s goal in dairy and egg production is to constitute a true long-term partnership between humans and farm animals that adheres to the highest ethical principles and places the rights, lifestyle and happiness of the animals above commercial priorities.
AEROSPACE MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA
From the earliest piston engines to rocket engines, the Aerospace Museum of California is one of the few museums that allows you to get up close and personal with our engine artifacts. Touch and interact with these magnificent pieces of aviation and aerospace history. Our tour was led by several staff members with knowledgeable experience. They offered us in-depth explanations about the world’s largest rigid wing kite on display at the Museum! The Makani M600 energy kite is the last one in existence. The students were given a very interactive STEM building activity and afterward we were treated to a tour of the inside of several airplanes in the museum’s airpark.
PLACER NATURE CENTER
Food Chains – Who’s Eating Whom? All creatures have an important place in the food chain, whether producers, herbivores, omnivores, carnivores or decomposers. Our students created a food web using foothill plants and animals. They explored the flow of energy from the sun to plants and animals through the food chain. This was a mixed ages group and the instructor did a marvelous job at explaining these concepts in age specific ways while offering more in depth explanations to the older students. This was such a great class!
LEATHERBY’S
Our group visited the Leatherby’s parlor for an in-depth tour of their ice cream room and deep freezers, where the kids got to see first hand how ice cream is made and the process involved in making ice cream directly on site in such vast quantities. We got a lesson on the history of ice cream and the Leatherby’s franchise.
SACRAMENTO STATE PLANETARIUM
This 60 minute interactive session was led by the planetarium educator, who guided our students on a tour of the Universe. He began with objects that could be viewed in our local night sky, and then headed to the Sun, objects in our solar system, and beyond out through the Universe.