10:00 am

On your last walk through nature, what did you notice? What did you wonder? In this program students will explore the connections between living things within their local environment (Kingdom Plantae). They will learn the connection between science and our communities and how they can begin to identify plants in their everyday lives. Students will learn some of the key identifiers of each sub-category in the Kingdom Plantae and use these skills on a nature walk. This information can then be used in the classroom to further investigate plants and find connections between plants, and between people and nature.

Grades: 2-7              Length: 1.5 – 2 hours                Maximum group size: 30 students

Program Components:

• Introduction to Kingdom Plantae
• Explore and observe nature by going on a nature walk
• Practice observation skills through different activities
• Make connections between science and our communities
• This program starts with a 20-minute presentation inside, then takes place mostly outside.

Click here to see how this program supports BC’s curriculum for Grades 2-7.

Click here for the pre-visit activity for River Champions Grades 2-7.

Brief description of program: 

This unique field trip offers students an on-site tour of the first and only facility in North America dedicated to recovery and recycling of ocean plastic with direct traceability to ocean recovery expeditions. It includes hands-on interactive sorting of ocean plastics.

Can’t get to our facility? Be sure to check out our FREE online program, EPIC Academy at: https://www.bcfieldtrips.ca/trip/explore-issues-about-ocean-plastics-and...

We highly recommend Teacher/students register (at no cost) and review Lesson 1 of EPIC Academy content prior to attending this tour, to create increased understanding and awareness of what will be observed and discussed during the tour.  PLEASE SEE "ADDITIONAL NOTES" BELOW for important notes!

Full Trip Details: 

Ocean Legacy Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the ocean plastic pollution crisis, and strengthening the plastic circular economy through our recycling program. Our work is built on a four-pillar program called EPIC, which stands for Education, Policy, Infrastructure, and Cleanup.

Education and Policy are upstream efforts that prevent plastics and other waste from reaching our oceans and waterways. Infrastructure and Cleanup are downstream initiatives that seek to remove plastics from our oceans and shorelines, and process them for reintroduction into the plastic circular economy. 

The field trip will occur primarily outdoors at our Plastic Pollution Emergency Response recycling facility located at Steveston Harbour in Richmond. Ours is the first and only facility that collects marine plastics from a wide variety of sources to recover what was considered waste and turns it back into reusable plastic. Sources include: our own cleanup expeditions on coastal waters and shorelines, the Ocean Legacy network of Ocean Plastic Depots across BC and Atlantic Canada, used marine/fishing gear, ghost gear, materials collected by other non-profit cleanup organizations and marine industrial businesses. 

The tour offers an opportunity to see the process used to convert recovered marine plastic back into high-grade 100% post-consumer processed plastic pellets for use in the manufacturing of durable products as part of the circular economy. Ultimately, the goal of the field trip is to foster understanding of the plastic pollution crisis and circular economy principles: what is considered waste, how much of what consumers use daily is actually recyclable/recoverable, and to provide students with hands-on interaction with marine debris. Students develop awareness of their own plastic consumption habits, and ways they can take direct action to become part of the solution. Students will see the transformation of ocean plastic waste into new resources that have economic value.

Knowledge gained in this field trip can be enhanced when paired with EPIC Academy, Ocean Legacy's 10 lessons of no-cost/fully-funded online ocean plastics education. This LMS platform offers access to both individual online learners and also has downloadable materials for classroom educators. Includes classroom PowerPoint presentations, fully developed lesson plans, reflective activities and quizzes/answers sheets.

Fieldtrip structure:

• Walk the facility perimeter to see the equipment and portions of the recovery process
• Watch ocean plastics recycling in action
• Identify resin codes
• Sort items you see and use at home: a large bag of ocean-recovered plastic materials will be emptied to engage all students in an interactive sorting activity that demonstrates what types of commonly used plastics end up in the ocean. This prompts students to consider their consumption habits and connects cause and effect of reduced consumption and proper disposal
• See benches and lumber made from ocean-recovered plastic

What to bring:

• Work gloves for sorting
• Closed-toe shoes are required for safety
• Snacks 
• Water bottle (can be refilled with filtered water on-site if needed)

One single stall/private washroom is available on site.

FREE PARKING - is available on Chatham street; pay parking is also available in the lot directly in front of our facility.

PLEASE SEE "ADDITIONAL NOTES" BELOW for important notes!

Explore the Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site to learn about history of boatbuilding and its importance in Steveston. Students will explore the different steps to build a boat by participating in a tool scavenger hunt, a caulking demonstration, and more maritime-themed activities. These steps will then be applied to a boatbuilding activity, with each student making their own small wooden boat to bring home.

How did Chinese immigrant communities maintain a sense of identity and overcome the challenges of discrimination to settle in Vancouver’s Chinatown? How did they strive to create a sense of home and belonging? 

Students will explore these questions by engaging with our interactive exhibits and touchable teaching collection. By investigating historic photos, head tax certificates, cultural artefacts, and personal belongings, students will be introduced to discriminatory policies that define the Chinese Canadian experience as well as the community’s diligent efforts to overcome them.

Total length: 1 - 2 hours 

Grade levels: 4-6

Cost per student: $8 (1 adult chaperone per 5 students may visit for free)

Bring your class for a free guided tour of the B.C. Parliament Buildings. Guided tours provide an overview of the history of the Parliament Buildings and the role of the Legislative Assembly. 

Explore the historic houses and engage in story time and eye-spy activities to learn about Steveston's unique cultural community. Students will participate in a shopping relay game while representing a family that may have lived in this community. Experience what life may have been like for the workers, families and children from diverse cultures who lived and worked here together. 

Many of the big decisions we face as individuals, communities, or nations don’t have a correct answer. Making these decisions can be extremely challenging, as we grapple with information and misinformation, our own conscience, and strong opposing opinions. In the face of climate change, many of these decisions become even more challenging. In this program, students are tasked with deciding whether or not to approve a project that would have impacts on global scale. We go step by step through the process, conducting research, mapping out consequences, and ultimately: deciding.

Curricular Connections: 

During this program, students will learn about the perspectives of local Indigenous peoples in the context of this project proposal. This program also has strong ties to social studies, as students learn about the connections between the physical environment and political change. Students will explore evidence-based decision making through science, the impact of technologies, how humans impact climate change, and how climate change impacts the environment. Most importantly, students will be better prepared to be civically engaged in our increasingly complex world.

Online Booking Form Here!