Free School Programs from Pima County
Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation
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Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation’s K-12 field study trips and classroom programs are linked to Arizona Academic Standards.
Visit our website for lesson plans and teacher resources.
Reservations are required for all school programs.
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Interested in scheduling a Field Study program for your class? Complete our School Program Request form with the name of the program(s), preferred location, and a list of dates that would work for you. Include the grade level(s) and number of students, along with the teachers' names and contact information, school name, address, and phone number.
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Schedule a Nature Walk at our Parks
Bring your class to one of our Pima County Natural Resource Parks for a naturalist-guided Bird Walk or Desert Ecology Walk.
Grades: K-12
Group Size: up to 30 students
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Locations: Agua Caliente Park, Feliz Paseos Park, Brandi Fenton Park, Pima Prickly Park, Tucson Mountain Park – Desert Discovery Center, Historic Canoa Ranch, Desert Haven Park, other appropriate outdoor location
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Nature Journaling
Grades: 3-12, Curriculum varies by grade
Group Size: up to 30 students
Duration: 1.5-2.5 hours (depending on the age of group)
Locations: Any appropriate Pima County Park, Schoolyard
Good science depends upon keen observations. Nature journaling provides opportunities for authentic, inquiry-driven learning that incorporates multiple disciplines using verbal, nonverbal, analytic, logical, spatial, and synthetic skills. Using nature as a source of inspiration, participants will hone their powers of observation and reflection, then record their observations and thoughts in words, pictures, and numbers.
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Aquatic Ecosystems
Grades: K – 12, Curriculum varies by grade
Group Size: up to 30 students
Months Offered: October – November, and March – May
Duration: 2.5 hours
Location: Agua Caliente Park and Historic Canoa Ranch
The ponds at Agua Caliente Park and Historic Canoa Ranch are teeming with life. Use nets, skimmers, and buckets to collect water samples then watch the water come to life under viewers. Students sketch aquatic invertebrates to refine their observations and recording skills. Data collected is used to update species checklists and establish a phenology database.
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Ecosystem Discovery
Grades: K – 8, Curriculum varies by grade
Group Size: up to 75 students
Duration: 2 hours
Location: Agua Caliente Park, Historic Canoa Ranch, Tucson Mountain Park – Desert Discovery Center, and Pima Prickly Park
Explore the diversity of life in our desert ecosystem through guided, hands-on exploration. Students use binoculars and hand lenses to make observations then work as a class to understand the interrelationships between plants, animals, and the environment. Students reflect on their observations of ecosystem connections through a “sitting-in-nature” journaling activity.
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Bat Research Simulation
Grades: K – 12, Curriculum varies by grade
Group Size: up to 60 students
Duration: 2 hours
Locations: Agua Caliente Park, Brandi Fenton Memorial Park, and Historic Canoa Ranch
Students learn about the fascinating lives of bats while they practice scientific field-research methods during this outdoor bat-netting simulation. Students collect model bats, take measurements, identify species, and record data, which are compared to actual bat data from research in Southern Arizona.
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Life on the Ranch
Grades: K – 6, Curriculum varies by grade
Group Size: up to 60 students
Months Offered: January – early April
Duration: 2-2.5 hours
Location: Historic Canoa Ranch
Discover the rich history of ranching in the Santa Cruz River Valley, from Spanish and Mexican settlers, to the Gadsden Purchase that led to the American period as represented by the Manning family’s ownership of Canoa Ranch. Students tour Historic Canoa Ranch, try their hand at ‘roping’, design a cattle brand, and engage in other interactive activities that showcase life on a working ranch to learn how people utilized the natural resources in creative ways to sustain their way of life.
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HABITAT RESTORATION PROGRAMS
with SERVICE-LEARNING
Serving Learning programs include a focused lesson coupled with in-the-field service experience
INQUIRE NOW FOR SPRING 2023
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Invasive Species in the Sonoran Desert: Students learn the elements of healthy and resilient ecosystems, discuss stresses that can affect ecosystem balance, and discover the threats invasive species pose to the Sonoran Desert.
Students then participate, as a class, in one of the following service learning projects:
Invasive Plant Removal Field Experience: Students remove buffelgrass, fountain grass, Russian thistle, or other invasive plants from a natural area.
Grades: 7-12
Group Size: up to 30 students
Duration: 1-hour pre-field trip class PLUS 2-hour field experience
Location: Pre-field lesson in class or online via Zoom, fieldwork location TBD
Native Plant Revegetation Project: Students prepare native plant restoration seed balls for distribution in areas where invasive plants have been removed.
Grades: 3-12
Group Size: up to 30 students
Duration: Involves both field trip and class time
Location: TBD
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Creating Urban Habitat: Students learn how the development of human communities impacts wild landscapes, through habitat loss, fragmentation by roads, and overall degradation resulting in the limitation of resources available for native wildlife. Students examine how these habitat alterations create challenges for wildlife survival and explore how the creation of habitat pockets within urban areas – like parks, balconies, backyards, and schoolyards – can offer much-needed resources for wildlife traveling between wild areas.
Students then participate in a Plant Propagation Project at our Native Plant Nursery.
Grades: K-12, Curriculum varies by grade
Group Size: up to 30 students
Duration: 2.5 to 3 hours
Location: Pima Prickly Park and adjacent Native Plant Nursery
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Living River of Words Youth Arts and Science (LROW): Residency
Grade: K – 12, Curriculum varies by grade
Group Size: 25 – 60 students
Months Offered: October – Mid-January
Duration: 2.5 to 3-hour field trip PLUS 3 to 4 virtual or outdoor class sessions (depending on art medium)
Field Locations: Santa Cruz River, Historic Canoa Ranch, Agua Caliente Park, Mission Garden
This multidisciplinary program combines nature, art, and science to help students explore how water moves through the landscape and the connections that plants, animals, and people have to water. After learning about these topics in the classroom and the field, students work with one of our teaching artists to share their impressions and create entries of poetry, visual art or photography to Living River of Words: Youth Poetry and Art Contest. An LROW Arts and Science Residency includes:
- A pre-field trip classroom session with NRPR environmental educators
- A field trip to connect with a local water body and study water quality; aquatic life; riparian ecosystems; and poetry, art, or photography
- Two or three sessions with a teaching artist (virtually or outdoors at your school) for students to complete their contest entries.
The duration and specific lesson plans for LROW Residencies are determined at the time of scheduling and tailored to accommodate group size, grade level, field location, and time available.
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CALL TO TEACHERS
The availability of the LROW residencies is limited, but we will do our best to include a variety of schools, districts, age levels, etc. To be considered for a residency, please complete our interest form to help us understand your needs.
We will consider all requests together and then work with selected teachers to schedule residencies that serve a diversity of schools and students. If you are not selected for a full residency (school and field program) this year, we will still offer resources for independently engaging your students in LROW activities and entering the poetry and art contest.
Interest Form Submission Deadline: Monday, September 2, 2022
Anticipated Selection Date: Mid-September
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Living River of Words Youth Arts and Science (LROW): Independent Learning
In addition to LROW residencies with schools, individuals and groups are encouraged to engage independently in this interdisciplinary program connecting youth (ages 5-19) to the wonders of water through nature, art, and science.
By using resources on our website or joining a community workshop, youth and their families are encouraged to learn about water in their community, explore and observe the natural world, and reflect on their experiences through art and poetry. Youth are then invited to share their creativity with the community by entering the annual Living River of Words: Youth Poetry and Art Contest. Submissions are due February 1, 2023.
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If you have questions about our Field Study and Classroom Programs
or are ready to schedule, email us at:
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Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation
520.724.5375
eeducation@pima.gov
www.pima.gov/nrpr
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