Free School Programs from Pima County

Conservation Lands and Resources 

Pima County Conservation Lands and Resources’ K-12 field study trips and classroom programs are linked to Arizona Academic Standards.

Visit our website for lesson plans and teacher resources.

Reservations are required for all school programs.

Bat Research Simulation

Grades: K – 3, 4 – 6, and 7 – 12, Curriculum varies by grade

Group Size: up to 60 students

Duration: 2 hours

Locations: Agua Caliente Park, Brandi Fenton Memorial Park

Students learn about the fascinating lives of bats while they practice scientific field-research methods during this outdoor bat-netting simulation. Students collect model bats, take measurements, identify species, and record data, which are compared to actual bat data from research in Southern Arizona.

Pollinator Survey

Grades: K – 3, 4 – 6, and 7 – 12, Curriculum varies by grade

Group Size: up to 60 students

Months offered: August – October and March – early May

Duration: 2.5 – 3 hours

Locations: Brandi Fenton Memorial Park, Agua Caliente Park, Feliz Paseos Park, and Pima Prickly Park

Learn about plants, pollinators, and pollination. Students use digital cameras to record pollinator populations. The class collects barrel cactus data and counts the seeds within a ripe fruit. This seed count, used as an indicator of pollinator population health, is submitted to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for use by scientists to help identify and understand local pollinator hotspots. Data collected are compiled with existing data sets and made available to the class for further analysis in the classroom. Photographs taken are made available for classroom exploration and identification.

HABITAT RESTORATION PROGRAMS with SERVICE-LEARNING

Serving Learning programs include a focused lesson coupled with in-the-field

service experience. Limited number of programs available each year.

Invasive Species in the Sonoran Desert: Students learn the elements of healthy and resilient ecosystems, discuss stresses that can affect ecosystem balance, and discover the threats invasive species pose to the Sonoran Desert.

Students then participate, as a class, in one of the following service learning projects:

Invasive Plant Removal Field Experience: Students remove buffelgrass, fountain grass, Stinknet, Russian thistle, or other invasive plants from a natural area.

Grades: 7-12

Group Size: up to 30 students

Duration: 1-hour pre-field trip class PLUS 2-hour field experience

Location: Pre-field lesson in class or online via Zoom, fieldwork location TBD

Native Plant Propagation Class Project: Students prepare native plant restoration seed balls for distribution by staff in areas where invasive plants have been removed.

Grades: 3-12

Group Size: up to 30 students

Duration: Involves both field trip and class time

Location: TBD

CAN'T COME TO US?

Our group is piloting programs expressly designed to bring environmental education to your schoolyard.

Creating Urban Habitat: Students learn how the development of human communities impacts wild landscapes, through habitat loss, fragmentation by roads, and overall degradation resulting in the limitation of resources available for native wildlife. Students examine how these habitat alterations create challenges for wildlife survival and explore how the creation of habitat pockets within urban areas – like parks, balconies, backyards, and schoolyards – can offer much-needed resources for wildlife traveling between wild areas.

Students survey their schoolyard for habitat resources then design and evaluate options to create their own urban habitat pocket.

Grades: K-12, program customized

Group Size: up to 30 students; multiple groups may participate

Duration: 1.5 hours+; minimum 2 classroom/schoolyard visits

Location: School

Pollinators and Food: Students learn about plants, pollinators, and the process of pollination. They discover how vital pollinators are to healthy habitats, explore their connection to the food we eat, and discuss the threats pollinators face and what we can do to assure healthy pollinator populations into the future.

Grades: K-12, Curriculum varies by grade

Group Size: up to 30 students/program; scheduling multiple programs per visit preferred

Duration: TBD

Location: School

Living River of Words Youth Arts and Science (LROW): Residency

Grade: K – 12, Curriculum varies by grade

Group Size: 25 – 50 students

Months Offered: October – Mid-January

Duration: 3-hour field trip PLUS 3 to 4 follow-up classroom visits by the artist (number of visits depends on art medium)

Field Locations: Santa Cruz River, Historic Canoa Ranch, Agua Caliente Park, Mission Garden

This multidisciplinary program combines nature, art, and science to help students explore how water moves through the landscape and the connections that plants, animals, and people have to water. After learning about these topics in the classroom and the field, students work with one of our teaching artists to share their impressions and create entries of poetry, visual art or photography to Living River of Words: Youth Poetry and Art Contest. An LROW Arts and Science Residency includes:

• Pre-field trip, teacher-led preparation activities
• A field trip to connect with a local water body and study water quality; aquatic life; riparian ecosystems; and poetry, art, or photography
• Two or three sessions with a teaching artist for students to complete their contest entries.



The duration and specific lesson plans for LROW Residencies are determined at the time of scheduling and tailored to accommodate group size, grade level, field location, and time available.

CALL TO TEACHERS

The availability of the LROW residencies is limited, but we will do our best to include a variety of schools, districts, age levels, etc. To be considered for a residency, please complete our interest form to help us understand your needs.

We will consider all requests together and then work with selected teachers to schedule residencies that serve a diversity of schools and students. If you are not selected for a full residency (school and field program) this year, we will still offer resources for independently engaging your students in LROW activities and entering the poetry and art contest.

Interest Form Submission Deadline: Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Anticipated Selection Date: Mid-September

Living River of Words Youth Arts and Science (LROW): Independent Learning

In addition to LROW residencies with schools, individuals and groups are encouraged to engage independently in this interdisciplinary program connecting youth (ages 5-19) to the wonders of water through nature, art, and science.

By using resources on our website or joining a community workshop, youth and their families are encouraged to learn about water in their community, explore and observe the natural world, and reflect on their experiences through art and poetry. Youth are then invited to share their creativity with the community by entering the annual Living River of Words: Youth Poetry and Art Contest. Submissions are due February 1, 2025.