10:30 am

Vancouver’s Davie Street is home to one of North America’s most vibrant gay villages. The city’s annual PRIDE parade draws crowds in the tens of thousands. Our city has openly gay politicians and monuments to gay activists. But it wasn’t always this way…

Before decriminalization queer people lived in fear of being “outed” and risked losing their jobs, families, and even freedom. Canada routinely imprisoned people for homosexuality. Many of the leaders in the struggle for queer liberation in Canada were from here in Vancouver. People like ted northe, who had the bravery to campaign for queer rights back in the 1950s.

Vancouver has played a larger-than-life role internationally in the struggle for equality. We had the world’s first openly gay church minister, St Paul’s hospital opened one of the first dedicated care units during the AIDS crisis, and we had Canada’s first chapter of the Imperial Court System. We also had bookstore bombings, some of the country’s first PRIDE marches, and a transgender campaigner who blew the whistle on the biggest crime in the city’s history.

The experience was researched, designed, and is guided by Forbidden Vancouver storyteller Glenn Tkach. It’s perfect for any secondary or post-secondary social justice, gender studies and civics courses, student groups, GSA groups and more.

• Duration – 2 hours
• Start Point – Trees Organic Coffee at 930 Burrard Street
• End Point – Davie & Bute streets at Jim Deva Plaza, by the rainbow crosswalk 

September 16, 2024-June 27, 2025

Referencing works from the City's Permanent Art Collection, participants explore the progression of themes and techniques in contemporary Coast Salish art. Discussions on appropriation and use of copyrighted work will be discussed within this program. Students will finish the workshop by creating their own collagraph print.

Curriculum Tie-ins: Indigenous Art, Community, Art Education

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! 

Boating:  Enjoy and explore the waters of on Lightning Lake with our boat rentals. Choose your adventure in a two-seater canoe, five-person Mackenzie canoe, rowboat, kayak or a stand-up paddleboard.

We have hourly and day rates available at the Boathouse (located at the Lightning Lake Day Use Area), as well as group rates for boat rentals of 6 boats or more.