Due to the current health concerns and distance learning in schools, Discover the Flyway has shifted to a virtual format for the first half of the 2020-21 school year. Click Here to learn about our virtual Discover the Flyway program.
Field Trip Program for K-12 Students
Discover the Flyway is an outdoor education program for K-12 students, based on California science and social studies standards. Its goal is to offer children a meaningful outdoor experience that will give them an appreciation for the wetlands, agriculture, and wildlife of the Central Valley and contribute to a lifetime of healthy outdoor activities and development of a land stewardship ethic.
The program is a partnership between the Yolo Basin Foundation and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Since 1997, over 60,000 students from both public and private schools in the Sacramento region have experienced a Discover the Flyway field trip.
Program Description
The Discover the Flyway program begins at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Headquarters Demonstration Wetlands. Activities are hands-on, interactive, and inquiry based. Students rotate through four wetlands themed learning stations about animals, birds, plants, soil, water, agriculture, and Native American life.
The morning activities are followed by a 30-minute lunch (not provided) at the Demonstration Area. The field trip continues with a binocular lesson and distribution of loaner binoculars and bird I.D. cards for each student and chaperone. Then students load up in their bus or chaperoned cars and caravan to the nearby 16,000 acre Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area for a time of discovery before returning to school.
Details
- Field trips are offered Tuesday through Friday each week Sept-May.
- Field trips require a minimum of four and a maximum of five hours.
- Number of students: Maximum of 40
- Chaperones: minimum of one adult chaperone for each station selected.
- A $10.00 per student donation is requested to assist with program expenses.
- Transportation funding assistance may be available to Title I schools through the Transportation Mini-Grant Program. Contact Heidi Satter, hsatter@yolobasin.org, for more information.
Learning Stations
(minimum of 4 hours, maximum of 4.5 hours)
Animals
Salmon Senses (2nd – 6th)
Tracks, Scat and Signs (1st – 6th)
Birds
Feathered Friends (K – 2nd)
How do I Compare to an Egret? (K – 1st)
Migration Madness (3rd – 6th)
Owl Pellets (4th – 12th)
What Can I Eat with this Beak? (3rd – 6th)
Plants
Leaf Identification (K – 2nd)
Wetland Plant ID (3rd – 12th)
Soil
Sinking into Soil (K – 1st)
The Great Percolation Race (2nd – 12th)
Water
Water Quality Testing (6th – 12th)
Wetland Pond Study (K – 12th)
Land Stewardship
Un-Nature Trail (K – 2nd)
(minimum of 4.5 hours, maximum of 5 hours)
Patwin Life (3rd)
Autumn: Acorn Season
Spring: Salmon Run!
Summer: Tule Cordage
Winter: Valley Villages
Feeding the People (4th)
Changing Swampland to Farmland
Irrigation: Moving Water to the Farm
Seeds and Grains of the Yolo Basin
Transportation: Food on the Move
Wild About Wetlands Kits
Wild About Wetlands Kits are available to teachers to prepare students for their Discover the Flyway program or to supplement wetland education. Kits include activities and lessons with all materials provided. Teachers or other youth leaders can check out kits FOR TWO WEEKS.
We are also revising some of the activities to a virtual platform. Here is an example https://yolobasin.org/whoseskullisit/
Teachers must pick up and return kits at the Yolo Basin Foundation office. To reserve a kit, email Corky Quirk at cquirk@yolobasin.org.
