Field Trips and Group Tours

Our educational programs for school, scout, and homeschool groups are an engaging, hands-on way for your students to connect to nature. Designed to support Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, our programs are led by experienced Farm-based Educators on our farm and on local forested land. Our field trips are adjusted to meet the needs of groups of different ages, abilities, and backgrounds, and our educators are committed to providing meaningful experiences for all visitors. To register for an educational program or for more information please contact our Education Manager at 781-893-1162 or via email education@landssake.org.

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Five Senses Farm Tours

Suggested Grades: Pre K-3
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer
This tour is perfect as a one time trip, or scheduled several times throughout the year. Students will come out in either fall, winter, or spring to see how the farm changes during different seasons. Using their five senses, students explore the Children’s Garden, chickens, farm fields, the Listening Forest, and the Flower Garden. 
Learning Standards
Life Science: Characteristics of Living Things, Living Things and their Environment.

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Farm Communities Tours

Suggested Grades: K-3
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer
What makes a community? In this tour, students investigate the communities of our chicken coop and farmstand to learn about their members, elements, and meaning. Fall tours include a study of chicken behavior and a focus on our farm crew, winter tours examine the effect of winter weather on our communities, and spring tours highlight eggs and seasonal vegetables. Book tours separately or as a set of three to observe how communities change and adapt along with our changing seasons. 
Learning Standards
Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems 

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Tree Detectives

Suggested Grades: 1-2
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Fall, Summer
Students will use evidence and observation to solve several “mysteries” about trees and the forest. Students will explore the life cycle of a tree, how to age a tree, how to understand if a forest is healthy or not, and what the reasons are behind seasonal changes in trees and forests.
Learning Standards
Life Science: Characteristics of Living Things, Living Things and their Environment, Life Cycles.
Earth Science: Periodic Phenomena

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Plant Parts

Suggested Grades: K-5
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Fall, Summer
Students will eat their way through the farm as we search for edible roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. On our journey, we will examine the different functions of each plant part and how they connect to the larger natural world.
Learning Standards
Life Science: Characteristics of Living Things, Living Things and Their Environment, Structures and Functions

Working Forests

Suggested Grades 1-4 $125 for up to 30 students Offered Fall, Winter, Spring In this tour, students make connections between the everyday objects they use in their lives and the trees that make these products possible. Together, we explore what is made from trees, learn Land’s Sake’s sustainable firewood harvesting practices, and connect with the woods using our senses. Prepare to be surprised and amazed by the many ways we interact with trees, and inspired by the steps we take to harvest sustainably.
Learning Standards
From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

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Garden Pollinators

Suggested Grades: 1-4
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Fall, Summer
Discover the important role that pollinators play in the garden and on the farm. Together we will dissect flowers and learn their various parts, learn about several different pollinators that visit the Children's Garden, do an investigation on which pollinators prefer which flower colors, and pretend to be pollinators as we hunt for pollen in the garden. If we're lucky we may even get to taste the results of pollination, fruits and vegetables!
Learning Standards
Life Science: Characteristics of Living Things, Living Things and their Environment.

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Soil Scientists

Suggested Grades: 1-5
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Spring, Summer, Fall
Students visit the farm to explore and identify the building blocks of soil: sand, clay, and humus, using various tools and soil identification tests. Acting as soil scientists, students explore the soils in a forest, on the farm, and in a wetland and compare the three. Students will also have a chance to meet some soil invertebrates and talk about how organic farming benefits the health of the soil.
Learning Standards
Life Science: Characteristics of Living Things, Living Things and their Environment, Life Cycles.
Earth Science: Earth’s Materials, Sun as Source of Heat and Light

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Farm Life Cycles

Suggested Grades: 2-5
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Understanding the connections between different organisms’ life cycles is a critical skill our farmers use daily to grow crops, raise animals and manage the land. We will investigate the life cycles of four common living things: chickens, plants, bees, and worms. Students will compare the life cycles of each to better understand similarities and differences in how living things change and grow.

Learning Standards
Life Science: Characteristics of Living Things, Living Things and their Environment, Life Cycles.

 

 

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Compost Tours

Suggested Grades: 2-5
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Students will explore the science of composting, learning about our three-bin garden compost system and the processes that turn plant waste into nutrient rich compost. The tour will include opportunities for students to help manage our compost, add compost to garden beds, learn about the compost food web, and create classroom vermicomposters.
Learning Standards
Life Science: Characteristics of Living Things, Living Things and their Environment, Life Cycles.

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Farm Tours

Grades: Any
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
At Land’s Sake we use organic farming methods to grow a variety of vegetables, berries, and flowers. This tour gives a behind-the-scenes look at how farming at Land’s Sake really works. Students will explore all the major processes including seeding, transplanting, cultivating, integrated pest management strategies, harvesting, and selling/donating. We will discuss the Community Supported Agriculture model that we use, along with the farm stand.
Learning Standards: 
Living Things and Their Environment, Energy and Living Things

 

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Maple Sugar Tours

Suggested Grades: Any
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: February-March
Land’s Sake invites school groups to come learn about the science and history of maple sugaring in New England. This program is a field trip to the Bill McElwain Sugar House in Weston, MA. Here students learn first-hand the process of making high quality, local syrup. Tree tapping, wood splitting, boiling and bottling are all explained in fun, educational, and interactive ways. Students see, hear, smell, touch, and even taste the various steps of the mapling process.
Learning Standards
Life Science: Characteristics of Living Things, Living Things and their Environment.
Technology/Engineering: Materials and Tools, Engineering Design
For more information about our well-established Maple Sugaring Program, please click here.

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Forestry Tours

Grades: Any
$125 for up to 30 students
Offered: Winter and Spring
While exploring forested conservation land, students learn about the history of the forests in New England and get a first hand look at sustainable forestry in action. We will learn about how to choose which trees to cut down, the process involved in taking down a tree, how we turn it into firewood, and why it’s so important to locally source these products. Conditions permitting, students may even get a chance to try splitting firewood themselves!
Learning Standards
Life Science: Living Things and Their Environment, Energy and Living Things

 

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School Group Volunteer Opportunities

Grades: Any
Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Bring your students, groups, or faculty to the farm and get your hands in a project! Volunteer programs can include a tour of the farm. Groups generally come in the morning from 10:00 am-12:00 pm, and often stay for lunch on the farm, but our timing is flexible. We are pleased to engage corporate and community groups in farm work April through October.

Please consider supporting our work by making a tax-deductible contribution of $500/corporate group and $10-$20/individual for community groups. This suggested donation helps defray the costs associated with organizing, leading, and educating groups, ensuring our ability to offer meaningful service learning experiences. Thank you for your support! If you are interested in setting up a volunteer program, contact the Education Manager via email at education@landssake.org.