Field Trips for K-12 Students

Reservations for the 2022-23 school year are open

Click here to register your class for a 
2022-23 Discover the Flyway Field Trip

Discover the Flyway Field Trips

Discover the Flyway Field Trips start at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Headquarters Demonstration Wetlands. Students rotate through three or four wetland themed science learning activities or one social studies unit (see options below).  All activities are hands-on, interactive, and inquiry based. 

The morning activities are followed by a 20 – 30 minute break for lunch (not provided) at the Demonstration Area. The field trip continues after lunch with the distribution of loaner binoculars and bird I.D. cards to each student and chaperone followed by a binocular lesson. Then students load up in their bus or chaperoned cars and caravan to the nearby Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area for a time of discovery before returning to school.

Science Learning Activities

If you have 15 to 30 students, select 3 or 4 science activities.
If you have 30 to 40 students, select 4 science activities.

Science Learning Activity Options and Suggested Grade Levels

Animals
Critter Caper (1st – 12th)
Salmon Senses (2nd – 6th)
Tracks, Scat and Signs (1st – 6th)

Birds
Feathered Friends (K – 2nd)
How do I Compare to an Egret? (K – 1st)
Migration Madness (3rd – 6th)
Owl Pellets (4th – 12th)
What Can I Eat with this Beak? (3rd – 6th)

Plants
Leaf Identification (K – 2nd)
Wetland Plant ID (3rd – 12th)

Soil
Sinking into Soil (K – 1st)
The Great Percolation Race (2nd – 12th)

Water
Water Quality Testing (6th – 12th)
Wetland Pond Study (K – 12th)

Land Stewardship
Un-Nature Trail (K – 2nd)

Social Science Units

minimum time required for a social science unit: 4.5 hours
maximum time required for a social science unit: 5 hours

Patwin Life (3rd and 4th Grade)
Autumn: Acorn Season
Spring: Salmon Run!
Summer: Tule Cordage
Winter: Valley Villages

Feeding the People (4th Grade)
Changing Swampland to Farmland
Irrigation: Moving Water to the Farm
Seeds and Grains of the Yolo Basin
Transportation: Food on the Move

Wetland Tour Location

• Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

Field Trips Details

• Field trips are offered on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday September 20 to February 28 and May 1 to 31. For programs from March 1 to April 28, see our Discover the Flyway Vernal Pool-based Field Trip.
• Science based field trips require a minimum of three and a half hours (if you select 3 learning activities) or four hours (if you select 4 learning activities), and a maximum of 4.5 hours.
• Social Science units require a minimum of 4.5 hours and a maximum of 5 hours.
• Number of students: minimum 15; maximum 40.
• Chaperones: minimum of one adult chaperone for each station selected.
• Cost: $12.00 per student; no cost for chaperones.
• All participants are required to follow California Department of Public Health guidelines at the time of their field trip.

Transportation Funding Assistance
Transportation funding assistance is available to Title I schools through the Transportation Mini-Grant Program. Contact Heidi Satter, hsatter@yolobasin.org, for more information.

Wild About Wetlands Kits

Wild About Wetlands Kits are available to teachers to prepare students for their Discover the Flyway program or to supplement wetland education. Kits include activities and lessons with all materials provided. Teachers or other youth leaders can check out kits FOR TWO WEEKS.

We are also revising some of the activities to a virtual platform. Here is an example https://www.yolobasin.org/whoseskullisit/

Teachers must pick up and return kits at the Yolo Basin Foundation office. To reserve a kit, email Corky Quirk at cquirk@yolobasin.org.