Katie Roberts Bluffs Day
Each year, we invite all the 3rd grade classes in the Carpinteria Unified School District to an Earth Day field trip to the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve. It is called the Katie Roberts Bluffs Day, named after the late Katie Roberts, who helped save the Carpinteria Bluffs back in 1998 and, a few years later, created this day-at-the-bluffs field trip for our local students.
For this day at the Bluffs, we hand out supplies to each 3rd grade teacher and her/his students that include a walking tour story map of the preserve [see below], links to several short films [see below], and a journal similar to the flip book [see below] that you can download as a PDF. Although we designed these materials specifically for the Katie Roberts Bluffs Day, we hope that our educators–in fact, any and all of our Bluffs visitors– will continue to use these materials for their own unofficial field trips to the Carpinteria Bluffs.
This special open space nature preserve is, indeed, a wonderful outdoor classroom for all to enjoy.
Field Trips: The Bluffs as an Outdoor Classroom
This section of our website is directed toward teachers and parents interested in the potential of the Carpinteria Bluffs as a natural, outdoor classroom, is available for both formal and informal school field trips.
Every year, we host a field day at the Bluffs, now named the Katie Roberts Bluffs Day, for 3rd graders from the Carpinteria School District.
Here’s what several local Carpinteria Schools did at the Carpinteria Bluffs for Earth Day back in 2006 with our annual Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs sponsored field trip coordinated by the late Katie Roberts.
For more information, please contact us at Education@carpinteriabluffs.org
What to bring on your field trip:
– Water
– Sun protection (sunscreen & hat)
– A sketch pad (pencils, pens, watercolors, etc.)
– Binoculars
– A magnifying glass
– A compass (to learn about mapping)
– A sweatshirt or jacket
– A bag lunch
– Your imagination & a sense of wonder
Plan to stay all day.
For further information, please contact Marty Selfridge, Vice-President Education at marthagean@gmail.com.
Students arrive from Canalino, Aliso, and Carpinteria Family schools.
Students learn from Ted Rhodes a little about the oil spill of 1969, the origins of Earth Day, and the history of the grassroots roots effort by the community, including numerous teachers and school children, to save the Carpinteria Bluffs as natural coastal open space. Then, the students, teachers, and parents break into smaller groups of 10-15 and spread out across the preserve to focus on specific subjects.
Students use binoculars to bird watch at the Bluffs.
John & Linda Callender give a brief lesson on bird watching and how to identify some of the common birds they might spot at the Carpinteria Bluffs, including the White-tailed Kite.
Bob Hansen coaches two students on how to properly adjust their binoculars.
Andrea Adams Morden leads a hands-on workshop on Wildflowers at the Bluffs and Poppy Pressing at the confluence of the Dorothy C. Campbell Trail and the Artists’ Passage.
Students learn more about the California Poppy, our State Flower.
Andrea helps students dissect a flower.
Across from Andrea’s Wildflower station, students learn about the Chumash people that once lived here in abundance.
