My children attend a school that encourages teachers to have many field trips to connect learning in the classroom to the outside world. Here are a few of our favorites; tried and true! There are many opportunities to show your students a new perspective on their Tucson home. Don’t forget to call the venues to make a reservation for your group.
1) Fort Lowell Park
2900 N. Craycroft Road Public Park and Museum Az Historical Society –
Hours: Friday and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This is an excellent end of year spot; where the trip may be more about getting out and having a picnic than extensive touring but there is a museum where you can see photos and clothing, maps and more in what was the soldier fort from 1862-1891.
The buildings at Fort Lowell reflected a Mexican Sonoran style of architecture. Buildings were built with think adobe walls, pine logs, and saguaro ribs supporting hard packed dirt roofs and wide hallways for ventilation. By the mid-1880s Eastern Anglo features such as porches, shutters and tin roofing were added. The troops kept in constant contact with Tucson through dinners, dances, band concerts, baseball games and by frequenting the numerous gambling halls and saloons. With the end of the Apache wars the army saw no further need for Fort Lowell and in 1891 the post was abandoned. Since 1963 the Arizona Historical Society has operated a branch Museum at the Fort Lowell Historic Site. D.T.F.
Source : http://oflna.org/fort_lowell_museum/ftlowell.htm
2) Red Hills Visitor Center (Saguaro West) Tucson Mountain District
Gates Pass to Kinney Road to end of Kinney Road. Follow signs to Visitor Center. PH 520-733-5158
Open All Year 9:00 am to 5:00 pmӬClosed Christmas
Rangers here in the Tucson mountains near the Desert Museum will show your students the flora and fauna of the Tucson area and will guide your class to pictographs left as early as 1500 BC that are not open to the general public. They conclude their tour with a hike up Red Hill. The ranger station is the starting point and only bathrooms. Excellent and informed rangers make this field trip. There is a very attractive visitor center with spectacular views of mountains and Saguaros right from its back porch. The visitor center has cultural and natural history exhibits of the Sonoran Desert. You can see a 15 minute program called “Voices of the Desert”, giving a Native American perspective of the Sonoran Desert. There is also a great bookstore run by the Western National Parks Association. Various Ranger guided programs are held throughout the year. During the Winter months (November to mid-April) several different programs are offered daily. Call the visitor center to ask what is available that day.
Source: www.saguaronationalpark.com/visitor-centers.html
3) Agua Caliente Park -Roy P. Drachman Agua Caliente Park
12325 E. Roger Road Tucson, AZ 85749
Park hours: 7 a.m. – sunset
This oasis on the east side is a Tucson treasure. There is a spring fed pond with the areas best bird watching. They have a watershed program that is excellent. Students learn about how we receive water, use water, and recycle it. There is plenty of room for a picnic with your class and restrooms, water fountains and a gift shop. They have many programs and most are tied to Arizona School Standards. Elementary and Middle School groups would benefit most from this visit.
Interpretive signs explaining the geology and history of the warm spring and the natural and human history of the site are installed throughout the park. The entry gates and interpretive sign supports were produced as part of the public art component of the park development. The ranch house, caretaker cottage, now known as Rose Cottage, and the bunk house have been restored. The ranch house depicts the home as it may have appeared in the 1920s. In addition, there are historic photos of the ranch and an art gallery that exhibits art by local artists on a rotating basis. Agua Caliente Park has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/eeduc/schools/elemiddle.htm
4) Catalina State Park
Contact the Park:(520) 628-5798
11570 N. Oracle Rd Tucson, AZ 85737
This park allows camping; 24 hours. Contact park for specific information
Hike the Romero Trail with your class and you will see a landscape unchanged since the Hohokam people lived here. You will see their ruins, including a metate that has lasted through generations of treasure hunters, trash mounds and ball courts as well as evidence from its ranching years. The Spanish came through here looking for gold. You will have to cross a small stream that runs in Spring. This is a chance to cool off and the kids love marching through the water. The trail is about a mile so it is not too long. Best for fourth grade and older. There are picnic tables and bathrooms. They also have new program:
Catalina Adventure Program! An Environmental Education Program for Grades 1-3
The Catalina Adventure Program! is a 2-hour environmental awareness program designed for sensory learning for grades 1-3. This participatory and interactive field trip, led by trained naturalists, focuses on developing an awareness of nature through the senses. Appreciation of the natural world and our relationship to it is emphasized during a series of hands-on activities along a trail in the 5,500 acre park. Students get to explore and learn to use all of their senses. The trail walk and activities apply the concepts of using the five senses learned in the classroom to improve the students’ understanding of the natural world. Teachers receive a packet with pre- and post-visit classroom activities to enhance the on-site experience. The materials contain specific key concepts, teacher background information, and student activity sheets. The Catalina Adventure Program begins in October 2010. There is currently a fee of $2 per student. For more information or to schedule a trip, please contact the park office at (520) 628-5798 for details. Source: www.pr.state.az.us/parks/cata/index.html
5) The Tucson Children’s Museum
200 S 6th Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701 (520) 792-9985
Seasonal hours; call for reservation
I am often surprised by how many parents I speak with that have not been here or haven’t been here for a long time. New exhibits and hands on exhibits make this so fun and educating. We buy an annual pass as my children love it here and parking is easy. Easily overlooked but favorite exhibit; pvc tubes on a magnetic board that you arrange them to allow a ball to pass through. Hours of engineering fun for children!
There are bathrooms and water fountains of course and activities that will delight the younger set. The best audience for this trip would probably be up to 4th grade. The Dance Dance Revolution booth is loved by older children but there is not much else they can occupy themselves with for very long. Bring quarters for the meters!
This school year, the Children’s Museum Tucson is offering teachers and their students the opportunity to participate in one of seven Adventure Learning Tours. The tours, which are geared for students in Kindergarten through 5th grade, are all aligned with Arizona Academic Standards. Play and learning go hand in hand at the Museum and benefit our community’s kids by:
Fostering social interactions
Developing gross motor skills
Encouraging literacy
Advancing problem solving techniques
Source: http://www.childrensmuseumtucson.org/