See notes.

Pretty much everyone in Metro Vancouver knows about Stanley Park. It’s world famous for its dense forest, spectacular views, seawall, beaches, and fabulous trails. The park even won the title of “World’s Greatest Park” in a TripAdvisor contest. But while the park hosts millions of people every year, very few come away from their visit with any knowledge of the park’s remarkable social history.

Stanley Park is not an untouched rainforest. It was home to local Coast Salish people for thousands of years before it became a park, and even for decades afterwards. Numerous villages dotted the shoreline, including Whoi Whoi, which hosted large potlaches and from where a delegation sailed to meet Captain George Vancouver as he explored the area in 1792.

The story of the forced eviction of indigenous people from the land that would become Stanley Park is a shocking background to the park’s creation. Some mixed race indigenous and European families were able to fight back against the City’s onslaught of lawsuits, and keep their homes in the park near Brockton Point until the 1950s. Today their memory and resilience is honoured by the statue Shore to Shore, by Salish artist Luke Marston, which we visit on the tour.

The creation of the park was also about more than creating a space for Vancouverites to enjoy afternoon strolls and picnics. The land was originally intended as a military reserve, established to protect the city should the Americans decide to invade. After it became clear that wouldn’t happen, real estate developers, the Canadian Pacific Railway, the City of Vancouver, and the Federal Government all battled for control of the land. The fact it became a park illustrates the colossal power the CPR once had in Vancouver. 

Throw into the mix the tale of Deadman’s Island, stories of true crime, smallpox pest houses, buried treasure, public art, crow shoots and poetry and you’ll find that despite its beauty, there’s a lot more to Stanley Park than meets the eye!

A unique field trip for students from Grade 5 – University:

• Duration – 2 hours
• Start and end point – Outside the Vancouver Aquarium entrance by the whale fountain at 845 Avison Way

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.

Format: PDF online at https://monova.ca/climbing-to-the-clouds-a-peoples-history-of-bc-mountaineering/.

Explore mountaineering and related themes. Students will investigate First Nations acivities in the local mountains, the scientific and technical advances made by mountaineers, as well as their impact on wilderness conservation. This program is based upon the website, viewable in French and English https://monova.ca/climbing-to-the-clouds-a-peoples-history-of-bc-mountaineering/.

Students roll up their sleeves to assess, interpret and analyze archival documents and hands-on artifacts related to seven people of varied genders, ages, and ethnic backgrounds who lived in Surrey during World War One. The Chinese head tax, Komagata Maru incident and German internment are just a few of the challenging social and political issues during this time period that this teaching kit covers.
Three week loan / $53.00

How many plants are related to broccoli? Why can’t we grow coconuts in Vancouver? Explore these questions and more as we dive deep into the evolution of food crops through natural and human selection, and the effects of climate on our food.

Get a taste of what Fresh Roots is all about!  Activities will vary depending on age, size of group, and the needs of the farm, but you can expect to learn about how Fresh Roots came to be, learn about food and food systems through play, participate in farm work, and try some farm-grown food!

On the Forbidden Vancouver Tour you’ll explore Gastown, our city’s oldest neighbourhood. In the late 1910s our Province experimented with prohibition, meaning the sale of alcohol was banned. Enterprising criminals began to make money “bootlegging,” making and selling liquor illegally to a thirsty population. Even some government officials couldn’t resist the temptation to make a quick buck trafficking liquor.

As illegal drinking dens started to pop up throughout the city, the VPD formed a “Dry Squad” to hunt down bootleggers. Eventually mob boss Joe Celona had risen to the top of the city’s underworld, with even the Chief of Police on his payroll. Fighting for prohibition were the temperance union, a patchwork social movement formed by religious leaders, suffragists who wanted the vote for women, business owners, and many in the general population worried about the huge extent of alcohol abuse in Canada in the years leading up to prohibition, and particularly in Vancouver.

Many people of colour and particularly indigenous communities were brutally targeted under prohibition law, which was used by authorities to exert control over marginalized people. While prohibition was eventually repealed, it sadly remained in place for decades in the case of indigenous people. 

Once prohibition came into force south of the border, enterprising sailors made a fortune smuggling liquor down the West Coast in a practice known as “rum-running.” Vancouver’s Reifel family ran the largest rum running operation and would end up one of the country’s richest families. The Canadian government was even in on the act, charging an “export duty” on every case of liquor that left the country.

Discover all this and more on the Forbidden Vancouver Tour! A unique field trip for students from Grade 7 – University.

• Duration – 2 hours
• Start point – Outside Monaco Cafe at 356 Water Street
• End point – Maple Tree Square, Gastown