Crystal Cove
- Grade Level: 5th Grade
- Location: Crystal Cove State Park
- Program Length: 5.5 Hours
- Standards Supported: NGSS 5-PS3-1, NGSS 5-LS2-1
-
Cost: Visit our Program Fees page for more information!
During this full-day field experience, students become coastal scientists as they investigate how energy and matter move through Crystal Cove State Park's interconnected ecosystems. Through blufftop investigations, tide pool exploration, and a beach cleanup, students discover how food webs, energy flow, and human impacts shape one of Southern California's most remarkable coastal environments. Along the way, they collect scientific evidence, make observations, and explore how their own actions can help protect marine ecosystems.
Field Investigations
- Ocean Food Webs & Biomagnification: Model how matter moves through marine food webs and discover how pollution, including microplastics, can affect top predators.
- Coastal Sage Scrub Energy Pyramid: Investigate how energy flows through producers and consumers while exploring Crystal Cove's coastal sage scrub ecosystem.
- Tide Pool Ecology: Examine preserved tide pool specimens and discover how different animals are adapted to survive in unique intertidal zones.
- Beachcomber Investigation: Conduct a beach cleanup while collecting and classifying plastic pollution to investigate its impacts on coastal ecosystems.
- Tide Pool Exploration: Explore Crystal Cove's tide pools, identify marine organisms, and collect data to investigate energy flow within a living ecosystem.
Ready to Join Us?
Ready to become coastal scientists with your students?