Visitor Center Field Trips

NPS/Bethany Szczepanski

Reservations for the 2024-2025 school year will open on August 28, 2024.

A field trip visit to the Channel Islands National Park Robert J. Lagomarsino visitor center is a wonderful way to introduce your students to their national park just off the southern California coast. Standards-based ranger programs are available for grades two – five. Visits are free of charge, but reservations are required and should be made well in advance, especially for spring programs.

Program Calendar

Visitor center ranger programs are offered during the following dates and times:

October – December

• Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM - earliest start time is 9:00 AM; latest start time is 10:00 AM

January – February

• Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM - earliest start time is 9:00 AM; latest start time is 10:00 AM

March - April - (note: Title 1 - 4th grade classes will have priority)

• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM - earliest start time is 9:00 AM; latest start time is 10:00 AM

May - June

• Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM - earliest start time is 9:00 AM; latest start time is 10:00 AM

Group Size:

To ensure we are providing the best opportunities for student engagement while maintaining a safe learning environment, the maximum capacity for our visitor center field trips is 65 students per group. If you have more than 65 students, your group will need to be split and visit on two separate days.

Travel Grants

While National Park Foundation's Open Outdoors for Kids grant funding is available, bus reimbursement may be available for Ventura County 4th grade classes at schools with Title 1 status. If you are eligible, please inquire with a park representative when you submit your reservation form.

 

NPS/Bethany Szczepanski

Chaperone Guidelines and Responsibilities

Chaperone Policy: One adult for every eight students.

Chaperones are key players in your day at the park. Make them aware of your expectations and needs for the trip:

• Guide the learning process and help focus students on the activity or speaker.

• Assist with safety. It will be one of your primary duties as a chaperone.

• Provide guidance to students for lunch and clean-up.

• Help set boundaries and provide leadership.

• Do not bring siblings who are not part of the class. Your full attention is needed to help monitor the students assigned to you that day.

• Most importantly… go with the flow, adapt, and have fun! The students pick up on how you react… if you are having fun, they will too!

Overview

A field trip to the Channel Islands National Park visitor center includes:

1. Welcome and Orientation, 15 minutes
2. Ranger Program, 30 minutes
3. Self-Directed Visitor Center Rotations (Junior Ranger worksheets will be provided), 45 minutes
   • Rotations: 15 minutes at each of the three locations:
     • Visitor center exhibits
     • Native Plant Garden
     • Observation Tower/ Topographic Maps
4. Optional: Park Film, “A Treasure in the Sea,” 24 minutes
   • With time allowing, the park film can be shown at the end of the program upon request. This is also a great pre or post-visit learning experience for your students and is available on our website.

 

NPS/Bethany Szczepanski

Program Descriptions

Channel Islands National Park offers two standards-based 30-minute ranger programs to choose from for your visitor center field trip. Explore the descriptions below to decide which is right for your students.

Sea Star Superpowers (Grades 4-5)

Students observe organisms of the kelp forest ecosystem investigating the structures and adaptations that help them survive.

Supports:

• NGSS 4-LS1-1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes - Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
• NGSS 5-LS2-1: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics - Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems - Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life.

Island Fox Explorations (Grades 2-3)

Students will discover the structures and behaviors of the endemic Island Fox which help them to survive in their isolated environment.

Supports:

• Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) 2-LS4-1 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity - Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
• NGSS 2-LS2-2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics - Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.
• NGSS 3-LS3-2 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits - Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
• NGSS 3-LS4-2 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity - Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
• NGSS 3-LS4-3 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity - Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

 

Schedule a field trip to the visitor center

To request a field trip visit to the Channel Islands National Park Robert J. Lagomarsino visitor center, please complete all three steps to schedule your program:

Step 1: Choose a program from the Program Descriptions.

Step 2: Reserve your day on our Microsoft Bookings calendar. Important Note: If you have more than 65 students, please book a second day.

• You will receive an email that says "Your booking is confirmed." This holds the dates for you but your program is not confirmed until you complete step 3 and receive a confirmaiton from the ranger.

Step 3: Complete and submit the Education Reservation Request Form - NPS Form 10-1750 below.

• Add the day(s) you requested on the Bookings calendar to the "Preferred date of visit" section.
• Important: If we do not receive your Education Reservation Request Form within 7 days of receiving your Bookings date request, we will cancel your Microsoft Bookings reservation to open up the dates for other schools.
• We will send a confirmation email verifying your program day(s) and time(s) within two weeks. If you do not receive this within two weeks, email us at [e-mail].

NPS Form 10-1750 (Rev. 04/2021)
National Park Service

OMB Control No. 1024-0228
Expiration Date 11/31/2025

Learning Accomodations

Does anyone in your group need any accomodations?

Yes No

If yes, describe the accomodation need.

Next Step

School / Organization Contact Information

School / Organization Name (required)

Name of Requester/Contact Person (required)

Title / Position (required)

Contact Email Address (required)

Contact Phone Number (required)
123-456-7890 extension if any

Mailing Address (required)

City (required)

State (required)

Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas Armed Forces - Americas Armed Forces - Europe Armed Forces - Pacific California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

ZIP (required)
Five digit ZIP code [99999]

Next Step

Group Details - Park Visit/ Field Trip

Name of Primary Contact Visiting if Different Than Above (optional)

Title / Position of Primary Contact if Different Than Above (optional)

Email Address of Primary Contact if Different Than Above (optional)

Phone Number of Primary Contact if Different Than Above (optional)
Format: 123-456-7890

Program Name or Subject Requested/Self-Guided

Grade Level(s) of Students (required)

Number of Staff / Chaperones (required)

Number of Students (required)

Preferred Date of Visit (required)
format mmddyyyy

My preferred date has been confirmed by the park (required)

Yes No

Preferred Program Start Time (required)

Alternative Date(s) (required)
Enter one or more dates .

Anticipated Arrival Time (required)

Anticipated Departure Time (required)

Mode of Transportation (required)

Disclaimer:

A park representative will follow-up to confirm group details once this request has been received and reviewed.

Submit my Education Reservation Request

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NPS Form 10-1750 (Rev. 04/2021)
National Park Service

OMB Control No. 1024-0228
Expiration Date 11/31/2025

Notices

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: Public Law 114-289 National Park Service Centennial Act and 54 U.S.C. 100701 Protection, interpretation, and research in System.

Purpose: To administer education programs for education audiences including but not limited to school groups, scouting groups, extracurricular groups, and home school groups.

Routine Uses: To effectively manage requests for education received by the NPS, the Education Reservation Request Form is used to collect basic education reservation information to facilitate operational aspects of scheduling groups for park education programs, including in-park education programs, ranger in classroom programs, and/or online distance learning programs.

Disclosure: Voluntary, however, failure to provide the requested information may impede the ability to grant your education reservation request.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

We are collecting this information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501) to provide park managers and educators the information needed to schedule and conduct education program activities. All applicable parts of the form must be completed in order for your request to be considered. You are not required to respond to this or any other Federal agency-sponsored information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB has approved this collection of information and assigned control number 1024-0288.

Estimated Burden Statement

Public reporting for this collection of information is estimated to average 5 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, National Park Service, 1201 Oakridge Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525. Do not send your completed form to this address.