Spring Suwa’lkh Bookings Temporarily Closed

Wow! Due to overwhelming demand, we’re closing our bookings for spring at this time while we process the current requests. If you’d like to be added to the waiting list for spring or be notified when fall bookings open, please add your name to our list and we’ll be in touch as soon as we can!
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Bookings for our Vancouver farm field trips are still open! Learn more and book your Vancouver Field trip here.

About Suwa’lkh Field Trips

A field trip to Suwa’lkh is like no other Fresh Roots field trip. Located at the Suwa’lkh School in Coquitlam (map), our program space includes a native plant propagation greenhouse, medicine and food gardens, and a seven-acre forest with a forest classroom and a salmon stream. Field trips at Suwa’lkh focus on First People’s ways of knowing, helping students connect with Traditional Ecological Knowledge, in both cultivated and natural food lands. Students will even be able to take a piece of Suwa’lkh back with them in the form of native plants.

Cost & Group Size

Single visits cost $200 for up to 25 students; $8 for each additional student. Cost includes native plants to be planted at school or home. We can host a maximum of 30 K-5 students or 35 6-12 students.

SD 43 classes’ field trip costs will be subsidized 100% by the district this spring! Subsidized bus transportation may also be available. The bus seats a maximum of 22 people, and is only available for one trip each day.

Adult Assistance

We require 1 teacher/chaperone for every 8 K-5 students or 10 6-12 students at Suwa’lkh. Required adults are included in the group cost; additional adults will be charged at the student rate. If your group needs more adult assistance, please let us know on the registration form.

Scheduling

Suwa’lkh field trips are offered March through June and mid-September through mid-November. For Spring 2020, we can schedule field trips Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. or 12:30-2:30 p.m.

Got questions?

Email our Experiential Learning Manager at education@freshroots.ca or call 778-764-0344.

Multi-Visit Program

Grades 2-5

Spring in the Forest

Visits: Three visits scheduled in early March, late April or early May, and June
Cost: $500 for up to 25 students; $20 for additional students up to 30 maximum
Spring is a magical time in the forest, and we want you to see all of it. Track the season as it unfolds from bud to flower to berry, meet the plant and animal species that call our forest home, and learn about how local First Nations people celebrate spring. Every visit promises new wonders of the changing season!

Spring in the Forest supports these Big Ideas.

Career Education

2-3: Effective collaboration relies on clear, respectful communication.
2-3: Everything we learn helps us to develop skills.
2-3: Communities include many different roles requiring many different skills.
4-5: Leadership requires listening to and respecting the ideas of others.

ELA

2-3: Curiosity and wonder lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us.
3: Stories can be understood from different perspectives
4-5: Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world.

Science

2: Living things have life cycles adapted to their environment.
3: Living things are diverse, can be grouped, and interact in their ecosystems
3: Wind, water, and ice change the shape of the land.
4: All living things sense and respond to their environment.
4: The motions of Earth and the moon cause observable patterns that affect living and non-living systems.
5: Multicellular organisms have organ systems that enable them to survive and interact within their environment.
5: Earth materials change as they move through the rock cycle and can be used as natural resources.

Social Studies

2: Canada is made up of many diverse regions and communities.
3: People from diverse cultures and societies share some common experiences and aspects of life.
3: Indigenous knowledge is passed down through oral history, traditions, and collective memory.
3: Indigenous societies throughout the world value the well-being of the self, the land, spirits, and ancestors.
4: The pursuit of valuable natural resources has played a key role in changing the land, people, and communities of Canada.

See BC Curriculum Alignment

Single Field Trips

Grades K-3

Forest Tails

Salmon, squirrels, ravens, and raccoons are just some of the tails you might find in the forest. And people have been telling tales to teach about those tails for thousands of years. What tales will you discover?

Forest Tails supports these Big Ideas.

ELA

K: Through listening and speaking, we connect with others and share our world.
K-1: Stories and other texts can be shared through pictures and words.
K-3: Curiosity and wonder lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us.
2-3: Stories and other texts connect us to ourselves, our families, and our communities.
3: Stories can be understood from different perspectives

Science

K: Plants and animals have observable features.
1: Living things have features and behaviours that help them survive in their environment.
2: Living things have life cycles adapted to their environment.
3: Living things are diverse, can be grouped, and interact in their ecosystems.

Social Studies

K: Our communities are diverse and made of individuals who have a lot in common.
K: Stories and traditions about ourselves and our families reflect who we are and where we are from.
3: People from diverse cultures and societies share some common experiences and aspects of life.
3: Indigenous knowledge is passed down through oral history, traditions, and collective memory.

See BC Curriculum Alignment

Grades 4-7

Plants Make a Place

Learn about local traditional knowledge of plants and explore how they contribute to our sense of place, well being, and interconnectedness. Take some plants back with you, and get to know them throughout the seasons!

PLANTS MAKE A PLACE SUPPORTS THESE BIG IDEAS.

CAREER EDUCATION

6,7: New experiences, both within and outside of school, expand our career skill set and options.
6,7: Practising respectful, ethical, inclusive behaviour prepares us for the expectations of the workplace.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

4-7: Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world.
6, 7: Exploring and sharing multiple perspectives extends our thinking.

Physical and Health Education

4, 5: Personal choices and social and environmental factors influence our health and well-being.
6, 7: Healthy choices influence our physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

SCIENCE

4: All living things sense and respond to their environment.
6: Multicellular organisms rely on internal systems to survive, reproduce, and interact with their environment.

See BC Curriculum Alignment

Grades 4-9

Unexpected Eats

“You can eat that???” Yes, you can! Explore often overlooked foods in our garden and forest as you learn about ethical foraging and some of the traditional food and medicine uses of common plants.

Unexpected Eats supports these Big Ideas.

Physical and Health Education

4, 5: Personal choices and social and environmental factors influence our health and well-being.
5: Daily physical activity enables us to practice skillful movement and helps us develop personal fitness.
6-9: Healthy choices influence our physical, emotional, and mental well-being.
7: Learning about similarities and differences in individuals and groups influences community health.

Science

4: All living things sense and respond to their environment.
9: The biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere are interconnected, as matter cycles and energy flows through them.

Social Studies

4: Interactions between First Peoples and Europeans lead to conflict and cooperation, which continues to shape Canada’s identity.
5: Natural resources continue to shape the economy and identity of different regions of Canada.
8: Human and environmental factors shape changes in population and living standards.
8: Changing ideas about the world created tension between people wanting to adopt new ideas and those wanting to preserve established traditions.
9: The physical environment influences the nature of political, social, and economic change.

See BC Curriculum Alignment

Grades 6-12

Alien Invaders

There are aliens in the forest, and they’re taking over! Do you have what it takes to stop the invasion? Meet some common introduced and invasive species, discover why they are so successful, and help restore the habitat for indigenous plant and animal species.

Alien Invaders supports these Big Ideas.

Career Education

6-7: Leadership represents good planning, goal-setting, and collaboration.
6-7: Safe environments depend on everyone following safety rules.
6-7: New experiences, both within and outside of school, expand our career skill set and options.

Science

6: Multicellular organisms rely on internal systems to survive, reproduce, and interact with their environment.
7: Evolution by natural selection provides an explanation for the diversity and survival of living things.
9: The biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere are interconnected, as matter cycles and energy flows through them.

See BC Curriculum Alignment

Grades 8-12

First People’s TEK (Traditional Ecological Knowledge)

Exploring First Peoples’ ways of knowing and being, we will learn how knowledge, ecological sustainability, and prosperity were, and still are, all linked. Take some plants back with you and create a calendar of their natural cycles through the year.

First People’s TEK supports these Big Ideas.

English Language Arts

8, 9: Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world.
8, 9: Texts are socially, culturally, and historically constructed
10-12: Texts are socially, culturally, geographically, and historically constructed

Social Studies

8: Human and environmental factors shape changes in population and living standards.
8: Exploration, expansion, and colonization had varying consequences for different groups.
9: The physical environment influences the nature of political, social, and economic change.
11: Physical features and natural resources influence demographic patterns and population distribution
11, 12: Cultural expressions convey the richness, diversity, and resiliency of B.C. First Peoples
11, 12: Indigenous peoples are reclaiming mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being despite the continuing effects of colonialism
12: The identities, worldviews, and languages of B.C. First Peoples are renewed, sustained, and transformed through their connection to the land.
12: Natural processes have an impact on the landscape and human settlement.

Science

Science 9

The biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere are interconnected, as matter cycles and energy flows through them.

Earth Sciences 11

Earth materials are changed as they cycle through the geosphere and are used as resources, with economic and environmental implications.
The transfer of energy through the atmosphere creates weather, and this transfer is affected by climate change.
The distribution of water has a major influence on weather and climate.

Environmental Science 11

Complex roles and relationships contribute to diversity of ecosystems.
Changing ecosystems are maintained by natural processes.
Human practices affect the sustainability of ecosystems.
Humans can play a role in stewardship and restoration of ecosystems.

Life Sciences 11

Organisms are grouped based on common characteristics.

Environmental Science 12

Human actions affect the quality of water and its ability to sustain life.
Human activities cause changes in the global climate system.
Sustainable land use is essential to meet the needs of a growing population.
Living sustainably supports the well-being of self, community, and Earth.

See BC Curriculum Alignment