Outdoor Classrooms

Ag + Open Space partners with local organizations through innovative programs that get young people outside to explore nature, science, agriculture, and environmental stewardship in their communities.

Sonoma & Gold Ridge Resource Conservation Districts

FARMS Leadership
Coordinated by the Sonoma Resource Conservation District in partnership with Ag + Open Space, FARMS Leadership field days introduce high school students to the depth and breadth Sonoma County’s agricultural lands with a focus on the region’s agricultural heritage.

Click here to see photos and learn more about the FARMS Leadership Program in Sonoma County and beyond.

Teaching Environmental and Agricultural Memories (TEAM)
Led by Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District and Sonoma Resource Conservation District staff and scientists, this unique program allows students to explore the important relationship between agriculture and the environment. Through field trips to Ag + Open Space-protected natural resource lands and working dairies and ranches, students build memories and connections to the cycles of the land, the sources of their food, and to the lives of local farmers, ranchers, and landowners.

Watch the video about this incredible program or visit the Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District and Sonoma Resource Conservation District to learn more.

Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation

Learning Laguna
Learning Laguna, the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation’s wetland science education program, provides 2nd through 4th grade students with fun, hands-on classroom activities and experiential field trips to the Laguna de Santa Rosa on either the Sebastopol Wetlands Preserve or the City of Santa Rosa’s Stone Farm. Both properties, protected by Ag + Open Space easements, are adjacent to the Laguna de Santa Rosa.

Contact our partners at the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation to learn more about this program.

LandPaths

In Our Own BackYard (IOOBY)
Led by LandPaths’ educators and scientists, In Our Own BackYard (IOOBY) provides opportunities for students and teachers in Sonoma County to “adopt” selected Ag + Open Space-protected properties. IOOBY includes four educational outings led by LandPaths’ knowledgeable field instructors.

Learn more about this program.

Sonoma Ecology Center

Wildlife Defenders
Led by Sonoma Ecology Center, Wildlife Defenders is the 2nd-grade module of their Watershed Education Program. Using models and hands-on explorations, students will learn about the specific flora and fauna that make up their local ecosystem, including what they can do as stewards of this diverse natural community.

Growing Discovery
In Sonoma Ecology Center’s 4th-grade programs students learn how our food is grown and sustainable agriculture concepts, including what they can do to foster a healthy local and backyard ecosystem.

Enviroleader Teen Program
Sonoma Ecology Center’s EnviroLeaders program provides Sonoma Valley teens with the opportunity to gain essential job and life skills through practical environmentally focused training. There is an emphasis on sustainable agriculture, community building and park stewardship over the semester-long seasonal paid internships.

Click here to learn more about Sonoma Ecology Center’s education programs.

Sonoma Land Trust

Bay Shoreline Exploration
Sonoma Land Trust provides educational in-person and virtual field trips for school groups at the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge Dickson Ranch Unit. Students Learning in Marsh Environments (SLIME) field trip program invites elementary students in third and fourth grade to learn about tidal marsh ecology, biodiversity and adaptation, and climate change resilience at a 1,200-acre wetland restoration site. Students participate in a curriculum designed to enhance NGSS disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts. SLIME field trips are offered in both English and Spanish.

Click here to learn more about about SLIME.