Educational Field Trips

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“Each farm field trip has been so well organized, educational, and fun.” Group Leader, 2017

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Objectives of Field Trips:

  • Expand comprehension of sustainability, botany, farming and community food security, including food choices, food system and food literacy work
  • Utilize all senses in learning, sparking a sense of connectivity and wonder
  • Hands-on and exploratory learning to develop curiosity, inquiry and problem solving
  • Close observation and recording of found information
  • Engage in farm work whenever possible to encourage community service and stewardship

When:

Educational Field Trips happen throughout the school year and summer at Bounty Farm, but mostly in our growing season months (February-November). We try to schedule field trips on Tuesdays and Fridays, sometime between the hours of 9am-2pm, but are open to having a conversation about  your group’s specific schedule.

Cost:

Cost for educational field trips is a sliding scale payment of $7-$10 per participant for a farm visit up to 2 hours, including some combination of a tour, educational lesson, and service learning. Payment of $7 or more per participant contributes to our farm visits scholarship fund that supports schools and groups with limited resources to visit the farm on educational field trips.

Example Lessons:

We will work with teachers or group leaders to determine which educational lessons best fit their particular group, based on age and current themes being covered in the classroom. Here are examples of common Farm Lessons:

  • The Six Parts of the Plant: Surprise! We Eat Them All
  • Eat the Colors of the Rainbow
  • Grow It! What Plants Need to Grow Successfully
  •  Plant Life Cycle: from Seed to Fruit
  • How Does Food Get From the Farm to the Table
  • BUGS! Beneficial & Harmful Insects
  • Seed Detectives: How Do Seeds Travel?
  • My Food Story: Personal & Cultural Relationship to Food
  • Community Solutions to Community Problems
  • Local vs. Conventional Food System

Farm Visit Schedule:

  1.      Opening Circle: Welcome, Expectations, Introductions, Farm Facilities, Set groups
  2.      Farm Tour in smaller groups- Greenhouse, Cultivated Beds, Hoop House, Potting Shed
  3.      Educational Farm Activities- We will break up into smaller groups and rotate through a number of stations around the farm, each offering a different activity around an educational theme.
  4.      Break- Halfway through the station rotations, we can break for snack
  5.      Educational Farm Activities continue
  6.      Closing Circle: Sharing what we learned and observed, what new information or curiosity we are taking home

Location of Bounty Farm:

We are located at 55 Shasta Avenue off of Petaluma Blvd North in Petaluma. To arrive the farm, continue to the end of Shasta Ave. where it dead-ends, and the farm is on the left hand side. Going north on Petaluma Blvd, we are the next right after Payran Avenue. Going south on Petaluma Blvd, we are the first left after Cinnabar Ave. Buses can be parked outside of the farm gate on Shasta Ave.

Schedule A Field Trip:

To schedule a field trip with Petaluma Bounty, please write education@petalumabounty.org with the following information: Size of group, age of students, number of teachers/chaperones, day/time prefered, length of visit, and educational objectives.