Registration is now open for our Certified Garden Educator Course!!! Don’t wait, space is limited and is expected to sell out! Click the Cert Course link in our profile or visit lifelab.org/educator-certification-program for course and registration info.
Greetings Field Trip Teachers!
We’re looking forward to spending this time with your class in the Garden Classroom.
Please read this information thoroughly and pass the info along to all adults who will be accompanying your class.
For all field trips:
Where to Park: Please park in the dirt lot outside the Farm Back Gate. Click here to download a parking map, and please print a copy for each driver. GPS and map services don’t work here; please be sure drivers follow our map.
Parking Permits: We will meet you at the parking area before your field trip and provide parking passes.
Please plan on arriving 20 minutes early and having snack before the program. It always seems to take a little longer than planned to get here and walking from the parking area to the farm can take up to ten minutes with a group of children. Also, it’s a good idea to allow a few minutes for the students to have snack at the garden before the field trip begins.
Role of Chaperones: We invite all accompanying parents/chaperones to join in on the field trips and encourage them to help shepherd the students in their group. Also, keep in mind that the field trip is oriented towards children, so please ask chaperones to refrain from asking “adult” questions during the program.
Groups: Please divide the children into groups ahead of time, so that after our introduction we can efficiently split up. For 1st grade and up, we split into three groups; for the pre & K program we split into four groups.
Nametags are a great help to us, especially if they are color-coded for the groups (the red group, the blue group, etc.).
Dress appropriately, with closed-toed shoes. Make sure students are prepared for the weather and keep in mind that this is a hands-on experience — they may get dirty.
Weather: If it looks like there will be light rain during your visit please encourage your students to bring rainwear and boots if they have them. Light rain is no problem, but heavy rain will cancel a field trip and we will call the morning of the field trip if the rain is too heavy. (Exception: our winter field trip program runs rain or shine and we have plenty of rain cover and ponchos if needed).
Cancellations: Please call us (459-4035) as much in advance as possible if you need to cancel your field trip. If you cancel your field trip less than two weeks prior to the field trip date, the field trip fee will not be refunded or credited to later field trips. Payment for parking passes will be refunded if parking passes are returned unmarked.
For 1st grade and up field trips:
Lunches: Please have students bring a lunch to eat at our 11:40 lunchtime. Please challenge yourselves to bring low-waste lunches (packed in reusable containers). Due to limited garbage facilities, we ask that you pack out your garbage; recycling is available for cans and bottles.
Lesson Packet: Some of our field trips include pre- and post-visit activities for you to do with your class. We also include the lessons that your students do during their visit. Consider your visit to the Garden Classroom just one part of a whole unit you can share with your class. Download your lesson packet below.
- Fall Farm to Fork (1st grade & up)
- Winter Feeling Fine with Fresh Foods Field trip lesson packet 3rd – 5th grades)
- Download Full Color Power Plate in Spanish and English
- Videos Eat a Rainbow and Power Plate Lessons
Field Trip Agenda:
| Winter & Spring 1st & up Schedule 10:00 Introduction 10:20 Garden Classroom Lessons (based on the theme of the field trip) — We will rotate through 3 stations in 3 small groups 11:40 Lunch 12:00 Farm Exploration 12:55 Wrap-up |
Fall Farm to Fork Schedule 10:00 Introduction (Six Plant Parts) 10:20 Break into three groups and explore the farm, harvesting and tasting examples of the six plant parts and visiting the apple orchard and corn fields 11:40 Lunch 12:00 Garden Classroom Rotations: Apple Pressing, Tortilla Making, and Chickens 1:10 Wrap-up |
General Information
Life Lab is an independent nonprofit based on the UCSC campus. The Life Lab Garden Classroom is located on the 25-acre CASFS Farm near the base of campus. The Garden Classroom is an outdoor discovery laboratory. In the Garden Classroom you will find composting demonstrations, chickens, educational displays, a children’s vegetable garden, and much more.
The farm is managed by the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems and serves as a training and research center for sustainable agriculture activities and produces an array of mixed fruits and vegetables.
Life Lab offers a variety of field trips fall, winter, and spring. Click here for more information on our field trip programs.
Thanks for your interest in the Life Lab Garden Classroom & the CASFS Farm. We’re looking forward to your visit!
Cara Sundell, Garden Programs Manager
Life Lab
[email protected]
(831) 459-4035
