About
Third Grade Outdoor Education Field Trips includes a Third Grade Nature Education field trip and daily outdoor education field trips to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve. The program also includes a natural history, interactive presentation in the third grade classroom that uses natural history artifacts, displays, and hands-on activities. Students take a pre- and post grade-level science quiz connected to the field trip experience.
• Ages: 8–9 years old
• Schedule: Beginning in September and continuing through June of each school year, the Foundation provides daily outdoor education field trips.
• Price: Transportation costs are covered by the Foundation.
The third grade trip to the Reserve is the first leg in the environmental education pathway programming provided by the Foundation. In coordination with the Reserve Naturalist and trained Docents, the Foundation developed a tool to measure a student’s increase in grade-level nature science as a result of participating in the field trip. A pre- and post grade-level science quiz, written in conjunction with California Dept. of Education Elementary Science Standards, is given to the students in their classroom and again after their trip to the Reserve, and on average, students are demonstrating a 25% gain in natural science knowledge after participating in the field trip. The program aligns with California’s elementary education standards and uses natural history artifacts, displays and hands-on activities to teach age-appropriate science and conservation. The main goal of the outreach program is to increase awareness of the natural world and the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve while encouraging a healthy appreciation of wildlife and conservation.
The outreach program was founded by Outreach founder and Docent Nancy Backstrand. TNEF is partnered with RivCoParks to provide nature education programs at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve. The mission of the program is that children and youth in the communities will become the new generation of environmental stewards with an active understanding and love for the natural world in which they live, through funding and developing hands-on environmental programs that encourage innovative projects that inspire, educate and empower children and youth to appreciate, preserve and protect nature.
Last updated May 19, 2026.
• Ages: 8–9 years old
• Schedule: Beginning in September and continuing through June of each school year, the Foundation provides daily outdoor education field trips.
• Price: Transportation costs are covered by the Foundation.
The third grade trip to the Reserve is the first leg in the environmental education pathway programming provided by the Foundation. In coordination with the Reserve Naturalist and trained Docents, the Foundation developed a tool to measure a student’s increase in grade-level nature science as a result of participating in the field trip. A pre- and post grade-level science quiz, written in conjunction with California Dept. of Education Elementary Science Standards, is given to the students in their classroom and again after their trip to the Reserve, and on average, students are demonstrating a 25% gain in natural science knowledge after participating in the field trip. The program aligns with California’s elementary education standards and uses natural history artifacts, displays and hands-on activities to teach age-appropriate science and conservation. The main goal of the outreach program is to increase awareness of the natural world and the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve while encouraging a healthy appreciation of wildlife and conservation.
The outreach program was founded by Outreach founder and Docent Nancy Backstrand. TNEF is partnered with RivCoParks to provide nature education programs at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve. The mission of the program is that children and youth in the communities will become the new generation of environmental stewards with an active understanding and love for the natural world in which they live, through funding and developing hands-on environmental programs that encourage innovative projects that inspire, educate and empower children and youth to appreciate, preserve and protect nature.
Last updated May 19, 2026.
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