Field Trip FAQs
Directions to Cooking Lake - BLACKFOOT
Inside Education is excited to offer our award-winning forest education programs to Edmonton and area schools!
This program allows students to explore and experience a local multi-use forest through an exciting full-day, curriculum-based field trip at the Cooking Lake – Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area.
Field Trips to Cooking Lake are available in the fall and spring.
- All field trips are no-cost
- A $100/bus subsidy is also available, invoice required - see our busing subsidy policy for details
Program Themes
Forest ecosystems | values of the forest | natural resource development | tree measurements | land use and multiple perspectives | sustainable forest management | careers | trees and their products | stewardship.
Available Programs
Grade 3
Students will discover the roles that plants, animals and people have in a forest. They will explore how plants and animals interact by participating in games and activities about food chains, animal senses, and the interconnectedness between plants and animals in a forest. Students will also reflect on the impact that humans have on a forest ecosystem and how humans use forests as a natural resource.
Curriculum Connections:
Earth Systems
- Grade 3 - What visible changes can be identified by examining Earth’s surface?
Living Systems
- Grade 3 - How do plants and animals interact?
Grade 4
Students will explore the interconnections of Earth’s systems, identify and classify local plants and animals, and consider the forest as a natural resource to discover how different organisms interact with their forest environment.
Curriculum Connections:
Earth Systems
- Grade 4 - How does Earth sustain life?
Living Systems
- Grade 4 - In what ways do the structures of organisms support survival?
Grade 6
Connect with the forest by examining the natural and human factors that shape the forest landscape. Students will identify our forest plants, and use real forestry tools to explore a careers.
Curriculum Connections:
Earth Systems
- Grade 6 - What relationship exist between climate and changes on Earth?
Living Systems
- Grade 6 - In what ways are ecosystems complex?
Junior High
Uncover the interactions in our forest ecosystems by exploring its symbiotic relationships, succession system, and soils along with traditional and modern human uses of our plants and natural resources.
Curriculum Connections:
- Gr. 7 | Plants for Food and Fibre
- Gr. 7 | Interactions and Ecosystems
Junior High | WILDLIFE PROGRAM
This new program will utilize our on-site wildlife cameras to consider how species move and interact in the forest with an emphasis on species at risk and natural development.
Curriculum Connections:
- Environment & Outdoor Education
- Gr. 7 | Interactions and Ecosystems
- Gr. 9 | Biological Diversity
Senior High
Compare old growth and new growth forests through a comprehensive plot study and explore the opportunities and challenges of a multi-use forest area.
Curriculum Connections:
- CTS – Natural Resources – Forestry/Wildlife
- Environment & Outdoor Education
- Biology 20/30 Changes in Living Systems
- Ecosystems and Population Change
Contact Program Manager Natalie Graveline with any questions.
Please inquire if you would like more detail or have a special program request!