Keeping It Living Field Trips

All field trips include this activity, adapted to be grade-appropriate: a guided walk led by a local naturalist through multiple habitats — from upland forest to estuary — where students compare and contrast ecosystems and explore their importance to various species, with a particular focus on salmon.

Students will either plant native species, mulch those already planted or be engaged in invasive species removal.  The ecological needs of the plants and function in the ecosystem will be explained during the activity. Students to pair up and be assisted by volunteers. List of plants to be planted to be included and sent to teacher prior to field trip.

Only at Kus-kus-sum. A game of tag where most students are salmon and a few are seals. The game is played on a blue tarp to indicate a river and hoola hoops are used as habitat. The game is to be played in two parts – first with the hoola hoops to illustrate fish going through or by Holly Hock Marsh and after with no hoola hoops to illustrate the steel wall in front of Kus-kus-sum.

Students will assist in picking up garbage which may be used in the Watershed Demonstration. They will be give garbage gabbers and instructed on which tyoes of garbage to pick up and which to leave for an adult to deal with. 

Students will help create a watershed out of flowerpots and a tarp, which will drain into a bucket illustrating an estuary. They will help spread trash on the tarp. They will then participate in making it rain using watering cans and see what happens to the trash.