Fraser River Discovery Centre
Our Trips
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.
Join us as we journey down the river of stories from the headwaters to the mouth of the Fraser. Travelling along an interactive map, students will learn all about the Fraser River Basin through stories from the near and distant past. The program ends with a reflection on our place in this landscape, as students add their own story to the map.
Curricular connections:
This program supports curricular competencies in English Language Arts as students engage actively as listeners, viewers and readers; create stories to deepen their awareness of self; and use oral storytelling processes. This program also supports competencies in Social Studies as students learn about cultural characteristics and ways of life of local First Peoples, and understand the significance of the Fraser River Basin to individuals and groups. 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 exploration of one’s own identity. Further, this program supports students in the process of developing a positive personal and cultural identity.
To participate in these programs, you will need:
- A stable internet connection.
- A device for each student (laptop, tablet, or chromebook, etc) with a stable internet connection. They will use this throughout the program for the interactive activities.
- The ability to join the video conference with the FRDC educator. This can be done one of two ways: the teacher can join the video conference and project it with sound for the whole class to view; or each student can join on their device with headphones.
FRDC is continuing to support schools during this pandemic with our newest offer: online school programs! 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.
Let’s Design a Cleaner City is an online program that empowers students to solve real world problems. In this program, students expand their knowledge of urban challenges by learning about major sources of urban and industrial pollution. Students will then use the design thinking process to imagine and create a cleaner city.
To participate in these programs, you will need:
- A stable internet connection.
- A device for each student (laptop, tablet, or chromebook, etc) with a stable internet connection. They will use this throughout the program for the interactive activities.
- The ability to join the video conference with the FRDC educator. This can be done one of two ways: the teacher can join the video conference and project it with sound for the whole class to view; or each student can join on their device with headphones.
Can’t come to the Fraser River Discovery Centre? No problem! We can come to you! Two FRDC staff will bring all the materials necessary to run some of our most popular River School Programs right in your own classroom!
All materials will be fully sanitized between use, and the staff will wear masks. If there are additional safety protocols we need to follow, please contact us. Please note, small group work is part of each program, with frequent sanitation of touched objects.
Cost: $9 per student, plus $0.90 per kilometer between FRDC and your school.
Programs:
- Nature Walk (Grades 2-7)
- On your last walk through nature, what did you notice? What did you wonder? In this program students will explore the connections between living things within their local environment (Kingdom Plantae). They will learn the connection between science and our communities and how they can begin to identify plants in their everyday lives. Students will learn some of the key identifiers of each sub-category in the Kingdom Plantae and use these skills on a nature walk. This information can then be used in the classroom to further investigate plants and find connections between plants, and between people and nature.
- Our Bones are Made of Salmon (Grades 4-7)
- Indigenous people have relied on salmon since the fish became abundant in the Fraser River about 5000-6000 years ago. This program explores the connection between Indigenous people and salmon on the Fraser River. Students get hands-on experience with fishing technology, learn about wind-drying salmon, and discover that salmon is in the hearts of Indigenous people living along the Fraser River today.
- Living Dinosaurs (Grades K-7)
- Sturgeon are amazing fish that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. Human influences over the past 150 years have threatened their existence. In this program, students will learn about the sturgeon lifecycle, survival needs, and what we can do to protect this remarkable species.
- Trading Trail (Grades 2-5)
- The Fraser River is one of the world’s great rivers not only in its contribution to the environmental, cultural, and historical wealth of British Columbia, but because of its current pivotal role in the economy of BC. We are going to explore how people have used and shared the resources of the Fraser River, focusing on the tumultuous time when First Nations and Fur traders shared the river.
- Welcomed by the Water (K-3)
- Prior to European colonization, Indigenous peoples got what they needed from the land and water around them. Indigenous peoples have relied on salmon since the fish became abundant in the Fraser River about 5000-6000 years ago. They used native plants for food, medicine, building materials and more. This program explores the connection between Indigenous peoples, salmon, and the broader Fraser River Basin. Students experience the movement of salmon, storytelling and oral histories, and the many uses of native plants through an Indigenous perspective.
- PLEASE NOTE: This program requires a large open space, like a covered play area or gymnasium.
- River of Stories (Grades K-2)
- Join us as we journey down the river of stories from the headwaters to the mouth of the Fraser. Travelling along an interactive map, students will learn all about the Fraser River Basin through stories from the near and distant past. The program ends with a reflection on our place in this landscape, as students add their own story to the map.
- Complexities and Compromises (Grades 8-12)
- Many of the big decisions we face as individuals, communities, or nations don't have a correct answer. Making these decisions can be extremely challenging, as we grapple with information and misinformation, our own conscience, and strong opposing opinions. In the face of climate change, many of these decisions become even more challenging. In this program, students are sasked with deciding whether or not to approve a project that would have impacts on a global scale. We go step by step through the process, conducting research, mapping out consequences, and ultimately: deciding.
For more information, visit our website or email us.
Bring the joy of discovery into your classroom with one of our brand new Education Kits! It’s all the hands-on learning you expect from the Fraser River Discovery Centre, conveniently packed into one easily transportable package. Our Kits include all the materials you’ll need, as well as detailed lesson plans, for inquiry-based learning about life right here in the Fraser River Basin. The Kits are fully sanitized between uses.
We currently have one on offer, but check-back soon, as more are in development!
138 Reasons We all know that salmon are important for people, both culturally and economically, but did you know that there are 138 other species that rely on salmon for their survival? Learn all about them through hands-on or eyes-on materials, interactive lessons, as well as a scientific experiment!
- Kit includes:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Salmon life-cycle refresher (video or narrated storybook available, based on age)
- Salmon-arch building sets
- Replica skulls of some of the 138 species
- Water quality testing kits, including a Fraser River water sample
For more information, visit our website or email us.
Want something different in an outreach kit? Please fill in our educator survey to tell us what you need from an outreach kit, or email us your comments to programs@fraserriverdiscovery.org.
Help students discover the Fraser River through creative, hands-on activities designed with British Columbia’s school curriculum in mind.
Download our free My River, My Home Resource Kit for lesson plans, activities and background information related to the ecosystems, cultures and industries connected to the Fraser River. The kit aligns with our fully guided education programs, with many activities that are suitable to extend learning before or after field trips to the Fraser River Discovery Centre.
Complementing the award winning “My River My Home” exhibit at the Fraser River Discovery Centre in New Westminster, the free 100-page, user-friendly guide:
- Includes 25 lesson plans and background information for educators
- Challenges students to see the Fraser River holistically, exploring concepts of environmental, cultural and economic sustainability through creative activities, writing prompts and hands-on activities
- Activities meet BC Ministry of Education Curriculum requirements for grades K-9 and address BC’s new cross-curricular competencies (critical thinking, personal and social awareness and responsibility, and communication skills).
The kit is divided into 5 sections that can be explored independently or used to create an inquiry unit about the Fraser River:
- Connect: students are asked to activate previous knowledge and explore the question “What is my connection to the Fraser River?”
- Develop Knowledge and Explore Sustainability: students explore the cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability of the Fraser River.
- Investigate Water Quality: introduces water quality and outlines the Taking the Pulse of the Fraser program available at the Discovery Centre.
- Putting the Fraser on the Global Map: students study and compare the cultures, environment, and art, and water quality data from the Fraser, Amazon, Congo, Ganges-Brahmaputra, and Kolyma rivers.
- What’s Next: The final section encourages students to become active citizens in water quality issues.
For suggestions on how to use or modify an activity in the kit, or to book a professional development workshop for educators on using the kit with your students, please contact programs@fraserriverdiscovery.org.
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