Each year, The Wetlands Institute hosts nearly 11,000 youth for hands-on, feet-wet environmental education, including environmental education field trips! All of our field trips emphasize hands-on learning and the scientific method. We offer a broad range of programs including: Marsh Critter Discovery Walk, Cycles of Life, Beach Exploration, Turtle Talk, Horseshoe Crabs and Shorebirds, Wetlands Ecology, Barrier Beach Ecology, and special Seasonal Programs. All environmental education field trip programs are aligned to New Jersey Academic Standards and the North American Association for Environmental Education K-12 Guidelines for Learning, and are tailored to the needs of our visiting teachers and schools.
Both In-Person and Virtual Environmental Education Field Trip Programs Available for the 2024-2025 Academic School Year!
Year-Round Environmental Education
Field Trip Program Opportunities
Marsh Critter Discovery Walk (PreK – 2nd grade)
60 minutes
$8/ student
Introduce your students to nature and show them that there’s more out there than sharks and poison ivy. Start with a walk down our Salt Marsh Trail, surrounded by waving grasses and shallow water. Be on the lookout for tall egrets, ferocious ospreys, migrating geese, and noisy gulls as we head out onto the boardwalk over the marsh. There might even be baby turtles hatching! Then we’ll head into the aquarium to meet many of the local animals: fish, sea stars, urchins, crabs, horseshoe crabs, diamondback terrapins, and an octopus. The teaching tank will be open, and kids will be able to touch many of the animals.
Virtual Option Available!
Virtual Program Prices: $75 Virtual Program Fee plus additional $6 per student
Cycles of Life (3rd – 4th grade)
90 minutes
$9/ student
(combine with any other 90 minute program and a lunch break: 4 hours, $16/ student)
Nature’s repetition is all around us. Take a walk down the Salt Marsh Trail to look at the tides, life cycles of turtles and birds, and signs of the seasons. Students become drops of water as they play the water cycle game, using precipitation and evaporation to move from ocean to clouds. Finally, they’ll take on the roles of marsh flora and fauna to build food webs, and learn how pollution moves through food chains.
Virtual Option Available!
Virtual Program Prices: $75 Virtual Program Fee plus additional $7 per student, $12 for a combination program
Beach Exploration (3rd – 4th grade)
90 minutes
$9/ student
(combine with any other 90 minute program and a lunch break: 4 hours, $16/ student)
Too many kids think the New Jersey Shore is just like they see on “Jersey Shore.” Walk behind the dunes at Stone Harbor Point to see how plants and animals survive this harsh environment. Then climb to the top of the observation platform with binoculars for a look at everything from ships at sea to migrating birds to Wildwood’s rollercoasters. Finally, pick up a pail for some beachcombing. We’ll show your students all of a beach’s P.A.R.T.S. (Plants Animals Rocks Trash Shells) as we learn what belongs on a beach and what doesn’t.
Virtual Option Available!
Virtual Program Prices: $75 Virtual Program Fee plus additional $7 per student, $12 for a combination program
Turtle Talk (3rd – 4th grade)
90 minutes
$9/ student
(combine with any other 90 minute program and a lunch break: 4 hours, $16/ student)
In all of New Jersey’s salt marshes, from Cape May to Sandy Hook, there’s only one reptile: the northern diamondback terrapin. Meet some terrapins (as well as several other species of turtles) up close, and find out how cars and crab traps endanger them.
Virtual Option Available!
Virtual Program Prices: $75 Virtual Program Fee plus additional $7 per student for a single program, $12 for a combination program
Horseshoe Crabs and Shorebirds (5th – 12th grade)
120 minutes
$10/ student
(combine with Barrier Beach Ecology or Wetlands Ecology and a lunch break: 5 hours, $18/student)
What do 250-450 million year old arthropods and birds have in common? More than you’d think! Students learn about horseshoe crabs and shorebird species interdependency along the Delaware Bay. Get up close (and very personal) with live horseshoe crabs, see if you are as tough as a shorebird, and learn about horseshoe crabs’ contribution to modern medicine. Students walk away with how they can help conserve these prehistoric critters and impressive little birds.
Virtual Option Available!
Virtual Program Prices: $75 Virtual Program Fee plus additional $8 per student for a single program, $14 for a combination program
Wetlands Ecology (5th – 12th grade)
120 minutes
$10/ student
(combine with Barrier Beach Ecology or Horseshoe Crabs and Shorebirds and a lunch break: 5 hours, $18/student)
Two full hours of hands-on, feet-wet activities! Students will test water quality from our dock to understand how environmental factors impact wildlife. Then they’ll take soil samples from the marsh and test them to demonstrate the marsh’s flood-preventing powers. Next, look at plants that can grow in the salty environment – including one that everyone gets to taste! – and chase after a few fiddler crabs. Finally, it’s into the creek with seine nets in search of minnows, shrimp, and crabs.
Virtual Option Available!
Virtual Program Prices: $75 Virtual Program Fee plus additional $8 per student for a single program, $14 for combination program
Barrier Beach Ecology (5th – 12th grade)
120 minutes
$10/ student
(combine with Wetlands Ecology or Horseshoe Crabs and Shorebirds and a lunch break: 5 hours, $18/ student)
Two full hours of hands-on, feet-wet activities! Start with a walk through the maritime forest at 48th street in Avalon, one of the last left in America. Students will test water quality on the beach to understand how environmental factors impact wildlife. Next, they’ll venture knee-deep into the ocean to catch a few of the animals that live just below the surface of the sand. Finally, everyone does a little beachcombing, while learning how to classify everything scientifically using simple taxonomy.
Virtual Option Available!
Virtual Program Prices: $75 Virtual Program Fee plus additional $8 per student for a single program, $14 for combination program
Registration Procedure: Reservations are made by email (preferred) or phone on a first come first served basis. Please email bknapick@wetlandsinstitute.org to book a program.
Special COVID-19 Considerations: As you prepare for your visit, please know that masking is optional at The Wetlands Institute and we respect individual choice related to mask wearing. For the safety of others, please do not visit The Wetlands Institute if you are feeling ill.
Do you teach in the northern New Jersey/ New York area? Exploring our coastal environments first hand is a wonderful and thrilling experience for students, but doing so at the Wetlands Institute may be too far for your school to travel. If so, a great alternative is the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium located on Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The NJSGC is a Wetlands Institute environmental education partner and offers hands on field trips that explore the beautiful coastal environment and surrounding wetlands.