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Salmon undergo a laborious journey to return home to their natal stream. In this outreach program, students will become familiar with salmon migration in the Lower Mainland. They will be introduced to the challenges of salmon during their journey home and how their physical structures are adapted to overcome such obstacles. One of the main challenges addressed is the blockages of the river, which prevent salmon from completing their migration. As such, tools known as fish passes are created to support salmon survival and are monitored through PIT tagging procedures.

Grades: 4-7                          Length: 1 hour                Maximum group size: 30 students

Program Components:

• Learn how salmon migrate up the river and the obstacles they face along the way.
• Discover new technologies and how the design of fishways must be adapted to fish behaviour. 
• Learn about existing fish passages infrastructure and use this to design their own models. 
• Perform biological tests on a model salmon, such as taking measurements and determining characteristics.

For more information, visit our website or email us. 

Online booking form here. 

Objects help us to tell the stories of people, places, and moments in time that make up how we understand our communities. 

On this engaging tour, students discover how technology and a skilled team combine to operate the Vancouver Landfill – where 70% of Metro Vancouver’s waste is received annually. Students will get to know the Zero Waste Centre, the Composting Facility, the ‘active face’ of the landfill, and how landfill gas is captured and upgraded to renewable natural gas quality​.

Vancouver Landfill Facility Tour for Schools | Metro Vancouver

Brief description of program: 

This unique field trip offers students an on-site tour of the first and only facility in North America dedicated to recovery and recycling of ocean plastic with direct traceability to ocean recovery expeditions. It includes hands-on interactive sorting of ocean plastics.

Can’t get to our facility? Be sure to check out our FREE online program, EPIC Academy at: https://www.bcfieldtrips.ca/trip/explore-issues-about-ocean-plastics-and...

We highly recommend Teacher/students register (at no cost) and review Lesson 1 of EPIC Academy content prior to attending this tour, to create increased understanding and awareness of what will be observed and discussed during the tour.  PLEASE SEE "ADDITIONAL NOTES" BELOW for important notes!

Full Trip Details: 

Ocean Legacy Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the ocean plastic pollution crisis, and strengthening the plastic circular economy through our recycling program. Our work is built on a four-pillar program called EPIC, which stands for Education, Policy, Infrastructure, and Cleanup.

Education and Policy are upstream efforts that prevent plastics and other waste from reaching our oceans and waterways. Infrastructure and Cleanup are downstream initiatives that seek to remove plastics from our oceans and shorelines, and process them for reintroduction into the plastic circular economy. 

The field trip will occur primarily outdoors at our Plastic Pollution Emergency Response recycling facility located at Steveston Harbour in Richmond. Ours is the first and only facility that collects marine plastics from a wide variety of sources to recover what was considered waste and turns it back into reusable plastic. Sources include: our own cleanup expeditions on coastal waters and shorelines, the Ocean Legacy network of Ocean Plastic Depots across BC and Atlantic Canada, used marine/fishing gear, ghost gear, materials collected by other non-profit cleanup organizations and marine industrial businesses. 

The tour offers an opportunity to see the process used to convert recovered marine plastic back into high-grade 100% post-consumer processed plastic pellets for use in the manufacturing of durable products as part of the circular economy. Ultimately, the goal of the field trip is to foster understanding of the plastic pollution crisis and circular economy principles: what is considered waste, how much of what consumers use daily is actually recyclable/recoverable, and to provide students with hands-on interaction with marine debris. Students develop awareness of their own plastic consumption habits, and ways they can take direct action to become part of the solution. Students will see the transformation of ocean plastic waste into new resources that have economic value.

Knowledge gained in this field trip can be enhanced when paired with EPIC Academy, Ocean Legacy's 10 lessons of no-cost/fully-funded online ocean plastics education. This LMS platform offers access to both individual online learners and also has downloadable materials for classroom educators. Includes classroom PowerPoint presentations, fully developed lesson plans, reflective activities and quizzes/answers sheets.

Fieldtrip structure:

• Walk the facility perimeter to see the equipment and portions of the recovery process
• Watch ocean plastics recycling in action
• Identify resin codes
• Sort items you see and use at home: a large bag of ocean-recovered plastic materials will be emptied to engage all students in an interactive sorting activity that demonstrates what types of commonly used plastics end up in the ocean. This prompts students to consider their consumption habits and connects cause and effect of reduced consumption and proper disposal
• See benches and lumber made from ocean-recovered plastic

What to bring:

• Work gloves for sorting
• Closed-toe shoes are required for safety
• Snacks 
• Water bottle (can be refilled with filtered water on-site if needed)

One single stall/private washroom is available on site.

FREE PARKING - is available on Chatham street; pay parking is also available in the lot directly in front of our facility.

PLEASE SEE "ADDITIONAL NOTES" BELOW for important notes!

Bring your class for a free guided tour of the B.C. Parliament Buildings. Guided tours provide an overview of the history of the Parliament Buildings and the role of the Legislative Assembly. 

Hosted through video conference software, an FRDC educator will lead your students through a fully interactive program, engaging them with the material by utilizing the latest tools in online and remote education. 

Learn about all sturgeon from both an Indigenous and Western Science Perspective.

Did you know there’s a 6-meter-long, 100-year-old fish living in the Fraser River? Learn all about the endangered white sturgeon through interactive activities, with both Indigenous and Western science perspectives. Students will listen to a First Nation’s story about sturgeon, construct theories from available research, and communicate their learning through art.

To participate in this program, you will need:

• A stable internet connection.
• The ability to join the video conference with the FRDC educator.

Curricular connections:

This program incorporates the First Peoples Principles of Learning, specifically that learning is relational; recognizes the role of indigenous knowledge; is embedded in story; and requires recognizing the consequences of one’s actions. This program supports science competencies through analyzing data and constructing theories, and applying First people’s perspectives. This program supports the ELA Big Idea that stories help us make connections with others and the world. And this program supports the Arts Education competency of expressing feelings, ideas, stories, observations, and experiences through the arts.

For more information, visit our website or email us. 

Online booking form here.

Get a taste of local food and agriculture on the North Shore! The Edible Garden Project invites secondary classes to explore Loutet Farm while learning more about subjects such as food security, global supply chains, agroecology, climate change... and more! Students will explore the unique landscape of North Vancouver and our own role within these systems, alongside the EGP's role in the community through a guided tour and seasonal hands-on activities.

Note that there are several different areas of concentration available for this tour. Teachers can choose from the following themes: food security & global perspectives; environmental stewardship & sustainability; biodiversity; climate change; Indigenous perspectives.