10:00 am

Students learn how families kept up the Christmas spirit during WW2 when rations, homemade gifts and family abroad were a reality.

Many of us have an idea about the importance of pollinators, and how they’re necessary for ¾ of our major food crops. But who exactly is doing all the pollinating around here? People often first think of honeybees, and that’s our starting point for this tour: visiting Loutet Farm’s two resident hives and getting the basics of pollination down. But there’s so much more to it than that! Students will get a chance to try their own hand at the process while identifying different parts of flowers, both wild and cultivated. We’ll talk about the importance of a diversity of pollinators and their associated habitats, how evolution plays a part, the struggles facing pollinators, and what we can do to help.

What's the story of the plants we eat? Students will explore the journey of a vegetable from seed to plate, studying the seeds of plants grown on the farm, learning about their unique differences. Through a guided tour, students will see plants in different stages of their reproduction and their life cycle, relating this knowledge to our choices about what we eat in which season, and why that may be. As always, there's a chance for hands to get dirty after touring our farm, where we experiment with seed saving and understanding local adaptations. Students will harvest or plant seeds either at the farm, or to take home and plant in their own gardens or patios.

In a Vancouver Mysteries game your students are the heroes of their own outdoor adventure — they’ll sharpen their deductive reasoning skills while they complete a series of challenges and collect clues to solve a mystery on the streets of downtown Vancouver.

Students are divided into teams of up to 6 players competing for first place in an Amazing Race style game. Points are earned by answering each challenge correctly, completing the game within a time limit, and by being one of the first teams back.

Game kits include a map, game book, worksheet, and any tools required to solve the mystery (examples: magnifying glass, measuring tape). Players use the map to navigate the streets of downtown Vancouver, cracking codes and solving puzzles along the way. Landmarks, sculptures, parks, and historic sites all play their part as the story unfolds.

Games are facilitated by Vancouver Mysteries’ Game Operators who arrive in character as detectives or secret agents to introduce the game and send the teams out on their adventure. At the end of the game, Game Operators meet the teams to calculate their scores and award team certificates.

Choose from any of our three games: Gastown murder mystery Crime in Downtown, downtown spy game Secret Mission and superhero adventure Heroes and Villains.

Need some lesson plan ideas? Check out our Field Trips page to download free lesson plans, access Kahoots! games, and pick our brains for more field trip ideas.

Based on the BC curriculum, Stillwood's Outdoor Eduation Program is designed to take classroom learning outside in a practical and hands-on approach. The program is modular and covers content from K-12, meaning you get to pick and choose what topics you would like for your field trip, no matter what grades you teach.

Our modules include: Water Cycle, Stream Quality & Flow Rate, Bug Catching, Biodiversity Surveying, Wildlife Discovery, Geology & Landforms 

We also facilitate nature hikes and team building sessions! 

Hands-on learning is key in this program, which explores the six simple machines: pulley, lever, wheel-and-axle, inclined plane, screw and wedge. Students look at photos of artifacts, view videos, go on a scavenger hunt, and make a catapult.

Handmade presents and carols sung around the fireplace; discover the simple pleasures of the holidays as they were celebrated in Surrey long ago. Bring an old fashioned Christmas to life, as students examine archival photographs and artifacts, and make traditional decorations to bring home.