Raincoast Field School
“The goal of the Raincoast Field School is to increase outdoor learning opportunities for students in our local public schools.”
Raincoast Field School is an outdoor education program designed to meet BC curricular outcomes while providing hands-on learning opportunities for students in our local public schools. It is a collaborative program developed by the Raincoast Education Society (RES) and the teachers at the Tofino and Ucluelet elementary schools.
Field trips and activities are led by a qualified full-time instructor with extensive experience as a science educator, and encompass multiple aspects of curricular outcomes including science, numeracy and literacy. The program is constantly evolving, with lessons being built or recycled to best fit with the unique themes of each class as determined by the teacher.
Making Connections
Raincoast Field School is designed to complement classroom lessons taught by each class’s teacher. The program provides education about the environment in a natural setting and incorporates physical education while reviewing mathematics, English language, arts and social studies concepts that students have learned in class.
Ultimately, the material covered in each class is based on specific requests from the teacher which the Field School instructor then incorporates into a unique activity or lesson plan.
Progress
Full programming is provided to the Wickaninnish Community School in Tofino (since 2014) and the Ucluelet Elementary School (since 2018) through Raincoast Field School. Each and every student from K to grade 7 gets to participate in at least one field trip per month during the school year – that’s over 200 Raincoast Field School trips delivered per year!
Follow along
Raincoast Field School programs are currently being run in Tofino and Ucluelet elementary schools (K-7). Follow along with our programs below.
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This lesson had students really getting to the bare bones of science! 🦴.
Mr. Reynolds’ class spent the morning discussing the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates, and exploring and identifying different animal bones.
We then headed out to Combers Beach, where we spent the afternoon learning how to use binoculars and scopes to search for sea lions. 🦭
We talked about differences and similarities in skeletal structures and even looked at and compared different digestive systems. Students were amazed to learn that a sea lion’s intestine is about 18 times its body length — they were definitely digesting some big ideas today! 🩻🦷
Field School Topic: Body Systems
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Ms. Reimer’s Grade 2-3 class took a sunny walk to Tonquin Beach for a hands-on water cycle adventure! 💧
Students travelled as water droplets through different reservoirs such as clouds, oceans, rivers, plants 🌱, and animals, collecting beads at each stop to build their own water cycle bracelets.
As they rolled the dice 🎲 to discover where they would flow next, they learned that every droplet takes a different path. By the end, no two bracelets were the same, showing just how unique each droplet’s journey can be!
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This field trip was all about adaptation and survival! 🌿🦒
Today`s field trip was all about adaptation and survival! 🌿
Ms. Morris` class started with a discussion on what adaptations are — from human examples like opposable thumbs and walking upright to animal adaptations like a giraffe’s long neck 🦒, a bear’s fur and hibernation, different types of camouflage, and specialized bird beaks.
Then it was time for a Battle of the Beaks! Students rotated through different “beak tools” to collect as much “food” as possible, making predictions, recording data, and analyzing whether the results supported their thinking. 📊
Afterwards, we walked down to a forested area above Tonquin Beach for an intense survival game of Manhunt! 🌲
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Here on the West Coast, salmon are everywhere — in our stomachs, in our minds, and throughout the ecosystem around us, especially now in fall. 🐟🍂
Ms. Brown’s class spent a morning learning about and acting out the life of a salmon.
We started by naming the 5 local salmon species and exploring the stages of their life cycle. Once comfortable with each stage, we played the salmon lifecycle lottery game to see the challenges each stage faces — most salmon don’t make it back to their home streams to spawn. 🌊
For our final activity, we all became spawners swimming upstream! 🏞️ We dodged bears 🐻, ducked under branches, hopped over waterfalls, squeezed through tiny streams, and wove through river bends before finally reaching the spawning grounds. 🌲🐟
Field School Topic: Salmon
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Many useful things come from the forest — things we need to live and thrive. 🌲 From food to building materials, there’s a lot on offer!
For Ms. Arora’s field school, we went to the rainforest loops to get up close and personal with some of these useful plants.
We started by getting to know the major tree species — Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar, and Sitka Spruce. We discussed how to identify them and the types of things they are used to make. 🪵
Later, down the trail, we turned to the berry-bearing bushes — salal, cynamocka, red huckleberry, and salmonberry. 🫐
We also explored the connections between forests and salmon, and the links between trees and edible mushrooms 🍄 — both examples of how interconnected the forest is, and how our food can be traced back further than we might first think! 🐟
Field School Topic: Natural Resources
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Ms. Comtois’ grade 5/6 class took a deep dive into life systems — a series that took us from cells to ecosystems! 🦠
For our first lesson, we focused on the smallest blobs of life — cells! We explored some of the structures and functions found within cells before making our own cut-and-paste models. We also took note of the immense diversity of multicellular life around us. ✂️🔬
Next, we headed out to collect microscopic organisms from our oceanic backyard. At Crab Dock, we gathered plankton samples to bring back to class and study under our microscopes. With this, we could leap up in complexity to trophic levels — producers and consumers. 🌊🐟
On our third day, we took the bus out to the rainforest loops to investigate the relationships within a rainforest. Here we started connecting ideas of organization from the smallest to the largest scales. 🌲
Lastly, we walked over to TSK to explore the eelgrass beds out front as a site for our beach seine. After a few attempts, we found some great examples of life in the meadows. It was here that we made another leap in complexity, discovering how all the ecosystems we visited are interconnected. 🦀
Field School Topic: Life systems
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🍂 Noticing the Signs of Fall with Ms. Brown’s K/1s
When the seasons are changing, it’s nice to pause and take it in. That’s exactly what we did for our first field school with Ms. Brown’s K/1s.
We started off with a signs of fall scavenger hunt 🍂—using our eyes, ears, noses, and hands to explore the sensations of the season. At the end of our scavenger hunt, students each found a very special leaf. 🍁
They studied their leaves closely, getting to know the edges, shape, and size to prepare for their challenge: finding their special leaf from a pair… with their eyes closed! 👀✨
Next, we turned to our ears for a few minutes of sound mapping. 👂🗺️ And finally, we wrapped up with a fun game of Bear and Salmon before the K/1s headed off to get ready for lunch.
Field School Topic: Senses and Signs of Fall🍁
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🏕️ Shelter-Building with Mr. Redican’s Class! 🎒
A welcome back to Mr. Redican’s class includes building community and building shelters. 🌲
We started by walking to the forest near Tonquin Beach, where we searched for suitable sites to construct our shelters. At first, students set off with their crew, a bag of gear, and their imaginations to build a shelter that could fit all their group members. 🛠️
After a tour of each construction, we took a closer look at some important skills: ridge-lines, reef knots, and tarp folding. 🪢 With these new and refreshed skills, they’re well-prepared to build an even sturdier shelter next time.
But for today, we ran out of time and enjoyed our walk back to school. 🌧️🏫
Field School Topic: Community and shelter building
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I missed posting this super cute Halloween lesson!,Ms. Harling’s 1/2s explored the scientific method through some spooky, silly Halloween experiments! 🎃✨
We tested baking soda and vinegar reactions to observe how mixing certain ingredients can create big, bubbly chemical changes. 🧪
The class made a barfing pumpkin 🤢🎃 and mixed colour-changing magical potions to practice making predictions, observing results, and asking great science questions.
What a great way to start Halloween day! 👻✨
Field School Topic: Scientific Method/Experiments
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Mr. Johnston`s 6/7 class spent a fun-filled morning at Wickaninnish Beach, exploring sandy beach ecosystems! 🌾
Students learned about the unique plants, animals, and adaptations that help life thrive in this dynamic coastal environment. 🐚
We discussed how tides, sand, and wind shape the beach, while enjoying a morning full of learning, movement, and fresh ocean air. 🌊
Field School Topic: Sandy Beaches
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In this exciting field school, Grade 1/2 students had a tree-mendous morning at Redd Fish Restoration, helping to pot alder trees! 🌿
These little trees will be planted at restoration sites to help restore healthy soil and support salmon populations. 🐟
We learned that alders are amazing because they fix nitrogen in the soil and can reach nutrients locked in bedrock — making the soil ready for plants and wildlife to thrive. 🌱
Using awesome teamwork, the students potted 20 alder trees, giving the forest and our local salmon a helping hand! 💚
We finished up by exploring the stream table and microscope — what a great day! 🪴
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Our Grade 6/7 students had an awesome morning at Redd Fish Restoration, working together in a tree-potting assembly line to pot over 130 alder trees! 🌿
These trees will be planted at restoration sites to help restore healthy soil and support salmon populations. 🐟
We learned how alders are true soil superheroes — fixing nitrogen and tapping into nutrients in the bedrock to make the soil fertile and ready for other plants and wildlife. 🌱
We finished up the visit by exploring the stream table and learning about watersheds. These students’ teamwork and dedication made a real difference in their environment — and they had a tree-ly fun time doing it! 💚
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Ms. Tremblay’s 1/2s spent the morning learning all about bats to get ready for building and mounting their very own bat boxes! 🦇✨
We began by exploring what makes bats so unique — how they fly, how they live, and why they’re so important to our ecosystems.
We then headed out to the schoolyard to look for good bat habitats and learn which trees make the best locations for bat boxes. 🌳
Back in the classroom, students got creative and painted their bat boxes before finishing the day with a fun game of echolocation tag — experiencing firsthand how bats use sound to navigate in the dark! 👂
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Ms. Soltysik`s K/1 students spent the morning at Big Beach learning all about salmon and their incredible life cycle. 🐟🌊
We acted out each stage of a salmon’s journey — from tiny eggs to fry, smolts, adults, and finally returning home to spawn. 🐟
Then, we did a “salmon sniffing” activity to learn how salmon use their powerful sense of smell to find their way back to the exact stream where they were born. 🌊
We finished up by running a salmon migration obstacle course, where students dodged predators, swam upstream, and jumped through rapids to learn about the challenges salmon face during their long migration. 🏃♂️🌊
What a fun day! 🐟
Field School Topic: Salmon
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Ms. Ellison`s Grade 3s spent the morning at Big Beach exploring currents, tides, and waves! 🌊🌬️
Students discovered what causes these ocean movements — how wind and the Moon help create waves and tides, and how temperature differences and the Earth’s rotation help form ocean currents. 🌍
👀 It was a fun, active day of learning, and the class did an awesome job observing the natural forces at work along our coastline!🌊
Field School Topic: Tides, currents and waves
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🌧️ Rain or Shine, Learning in the Forest! 🌿
On this rainy day, Ms. Wilson`s grade 4–5s braved the weather to explore the forest behind UES and talk about the interconnection between living things in nature. 🌱
We investigated the forest for signs of food chains, food webs, and symbiotic relationships. 🐛🦉
Then we escaped the rain and moved to the classroom for some food web constructing, where students modeled forest and ocean food webs and presented them to the class. 🌊🕸️
Field School Topic: Interconnection in Nature
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Support
Raincoast Field School is made possible with the support of the administration and teaching staff at local schools, and the generosity of organizations, businesses, and individuals within the community. The curriculum is designed to build upon itself each year, representing a long-term commitment to the students. Our instructors are highly skilled educators in a full-time position with the RES, committed to the program, and the community they teach in.
Need help?
If you have any questions about our courses, our events, or just us in general – we’re here to help!