Berkeley Marina Experience Education Programs

The Shorebird Park Nature Center offers science and nature field trips for kindergarten - 12th grade classes. Field trips are not currently being offered, but will be added to this page when available.

Since 1979, the Berkeley Marina has offered innovative hands-on programs for class field-trips.  The unique locations of rocky shore, docks, pier, and the open Bay found at the Marina are used to provide Marine Environmental Education to school children and classes from all over the Bay Area. Each program instills a conservation message empowering the students to help the environment. 

Classes are taught by experienced naturalists and docent volunteers. The ratio of adult teachers to children is almost 1:3. We run our programs in the Shorebird Nature Center, which has a microscope lab and two 200-gallon aquariums.

Instructions for teachers

There are not currently any upcoming field trips available. Check back in fall 2022 for availability and registration details.

Each program requires that teachers attend a 1-hour in-person teacher training session before the field trip. During this training session, teachers will get a preview of the site, update Nature Center staff on their curriculum, and review lesson plans with staff.

Nature Center classroom programs

Fish program

• Grade level: 2nd - 12th 
• Duration: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

Students will discover the essential elements of fish, rays and sharks. Hands-on experiences include: fish printing, Northern anchovy dissection, aquarium observations and viewing scales and gills under a microscope.

Birds program

• Grade level: 2nd - 12th 
• Duration: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

Students will gain a greater understanding of local birds and their anatomy. This program offers multimedia presentations and hands-on activity stations: feathers, conservation, sounds, eggs and nests. We'll take a practice walk with binoculars to identify local marine and land birds.

Marine mammals program

• Grade level: 2nd - 12th 
• Duration: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

Students will learn about local marine mammals (seals/sea lions, whales, dolphins, porpoises and otters) and the physical features which help them survive. Hands-on stations include: sounds, feeding, conservation and insulation.

Bay scientist program

• Grade level: 2nd - 12th 
• Duration: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

Utilizing our hi-tech projecting microscopes, students examine an array of marine life from the rocky shore and docks of the marina, including plankton samples. Students learn about the water composition of the Bay estuary through hands-on activities. 

Nature Center field programs

Low-tide discovery program

• Grade level: K-3rd 
• Duration: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Students receive an estuary education while visiting the rocky shore and the docks of the marina. Students will encounter bay organisms through hands-on discovery and learn about their unique adaptations.

Low-tide research program

• Grade level: 4th - 12th 
• Duration: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

This is an advanced level low tide program which focuses on the Bay estuary watershed and history. Students will collect plankton, conduct hydrological testing, discover and compare the habitats of the rocky shore and docks of the marina, view invertebrates under the microscopes and discuss human impacts on the environment.

Sailing program

• Grade level: 2nd - 12th 
• Duration: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

We partner with the Pegasus, a 51-ft. sailboat, to provide this unique experience. We take a class of 24 students or less; half go sailing while the other half learn Bay geography, sailing terminology, compass work and binocular studies.