School Field Trips at the Sanctuary
School Field Trips at the Sanctuary are full. Registration for October 2024-June 2025 will resume September 9, 2024. Thank you for your interest!
Experience the majesty of an old-growth forest only minutes from downtown Portland! Explore our incredible 172-acre sanctuary as you hike along with an experienced Bird Alliance of Oregon Naturalist. Discover the many animals living in and around the protected Balch Creek watershed or walk into a stand of old-growth forest. Students’ senses will be filled with the smell of the forest, the sounds of birds calling and mammals scurrying about the forest floor and trees.
What will students learn on a guided School Field Trip?
Our School Field Trips augment your students’ science and environmental education needs and are designed to correlate with NGSS and STEM standards and requirements. Students in grades PreK through 6th will be immersed in inquiry-based and experiential learning from the moment they arrive at the Sanctuary. We’ll search for wildlife and their signs, engage in hands-on activities and explore everything that the forest has to offer.
Field Trips are available to book Tuesdays-Fridays.
Please reserve at least two weeks in advance so we can prepare for your group.
Ready to book? Email Us at, schoolprograms@birdallianceoregon.org
School Field Trip Options
Interacting with Ecosystems: Grades 2-6
Join us for a morning in the forest using hands-on learning to discover the interdependent relationships that shape our local ecosystem. Get up close and personal with predator and prey animal specimens, hunt for animal signs along our nature trails, and conduct fun experiments and games in our outdoor classroom. Students will leave with a rich understanding of the complex energy web that connects trees, birds, mammals and humans right in their own community, as well as real actions they can take to combat climate change and support local wildlife!
OR
Amazing Animal Adaptations: Grades 2-6
Discover the amazing birds that live right here in Portland and the adaptations that help them survive! Students will directly handle and compare fascinating skulls, wings, and nests of birds they can find in their own neighborhoods, and discover how birds’ internal and external structures give them super senses that help them survive. They will come away with an understanding of birds as indicator species for climate change and ways we all can help birds thrive in our community!
Option 1: Grades 2-6
Programs are 90 minutes long. Program includes a 1 hour exploration of our Forest Sanctuary and a 30 minute hands-on investigation in our nature classroom. Please arrive 15 minutes before your tour begins. Lunch space can be provide before or after your program if needed. Let us know ahead of time!
Choose Your Curriculum
- Interacting with Ecosystems
- Amazing Animal Adaptations
Price per Time Slot
General: $150/per class (13-30 kids), $75 12 kids and under
Title 1 School: $100/per class (13-30 kids), $50 12 kids and under
*30 students maximum per time slot. Book both time slots if your group is larger than 30 students. Maximum capacity for both slots is 60 students.
Time slots:
9:45-11:15
11:30-1:00
Fall 2023 Days:
Tuesdays-Fridays
Spring 2024 Days:
Tuesdays-Fridays
Option 2: Grades PreK-2
Programs are 60 minutes long. Program includes a 30 minute exploration of our forest Sanctuary and a 30 minute hands-on investigation in our nature classroom. . Please arrive 15 minutes before your tour begins.
Curriculum
Hanging out in Habitats: Grades PreK-2
Spend the morning in the forest using hands-on learning to observe and investigate what plants and animals need to survive in their habitats. While walking the trails explore the four things that all animals need from their habitat to survive and how many animals may share the same resources including humans!
Price per Time Slot
General: $150/class (13-30 kids), $75 12 kids and under
Title 1 School: $100/class (13-30 kids), $50 12 kids and under
*30 students maximum per time slot. Book both time slots if your group is larger than 30 students. Maximum capacity for both slots is 60 students.
Time slots:
9:45-10:45
11:30-12:30
Reserving both time slots for two classes?
We’ll provide both classes with a self-guided scavenger hunt they can use to explore the Sanctuary on their own when not in our guided program. Maximum capacity for both slots is 60 students.
Teacher Resources!
- School Field Trip Teacher Packet
- Letter to Teacher
- Letter for Bus Driver
- Letter for Chaperones
- Cancellation Policy
- View Sample Schedules
- View School Standards
- INDEPENDENT SCHOOL VISIT? Please contact schoolprograms@birdallianceoregon.org to share your visit details and check to see if our Sanctuary is available. We do not have an indoor space for lunch. Please use Upper Macleay Park.
