Environmental Field Trip Assistance Program
Our field trip assistance program helps bring students to outdoor sites where they can experience hands-on learning about Hawaii’s environment. The Kokua Hawai’i Foundation offers financial assistance to Hawai’i public schools which otherwise could not afford to participate in environmental field trips.
We are currently accepting applications for the 2009-2010 school year. Download the application here. Deadline: March 31, 2010. Mahalo!
In partnership with the National Marine Sanctuaries Program and National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation, we developed Project Kai, an extension of our field trip assistance program that aims to make in-the-field learning about Hawaii’s ocean environment available to Hawaii’s students. Learn more here.
Note: Not all applications will be funded, nor can we guarantee that funded projects will receive the full amount requested.
Field Trip Opportunities
Bishop Museum (Hawai’i Island, O’ahu)
The Bishop Museum has a number of resources available for teachers, students, and parents that are available at the museum and also as outreach programs at schools and other venues. Educator tools are also available to supply teachers with resources to enhance a school visit to the museum with lesson plans that connect with current exhibits and guided education programs. For more information please visit their site:http://www.bishopmuseum.org
The Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden for Schools in Captain Cook offers many ways for schools and students to use the Garden to explore topics in Hawaiian studies, Hawaiian natural history, conservation, and horticulture. For more information please visit their site:http://www.bishopmuseum.org
Camp Erdman (O’ahu) 
Camp Erdman, located in Waialua on the North Shore of O’ahu offers environmental education programs that provide students with opportunities to experience nature through a variety of hands-on activities. The programs are typically overnight and run three days and two nights. Please call 808-637-4615 for more information or visit the “School Program” page of their website: http://www.camperdman.net
The Cultural Learning Center at Ka’ala (O’ahu)
The Cultural Learning Center at Ka’ala, located in the beautiful uplands of Wai’anae Valley, offers elementary and intermediate school students experience cultural immersion that engages all their senses. Students learn by doing- by touching, tasting, pulling, pounding in the taro patches. Kumu, the teachers, teach the students how to make poi, basics of kapa such as dyes, utensils and stamping. The curriculum covers nutrition, biology, archeology, resource conservation and economics from a Hawaiian perspective. Field trips cost $250 for a group of no more than 60 people and are only scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sign-ups begin the first workday of September. For further information please call 808-696-4954.
Hawai’i Nature Center (Maui, O’ahu)
The Hawai’i Nature Center, located on O’ahu in Makiki Valley and on Maui in Iao Valley, provides hands on field programs for preschool to 5th grade. The purpose of the Hawai’i Nature Center is to foster awareness, appreciation, and understanding of Hawai’i and encourages wise stewardship of the islands in the future. Each program strives to include as much of the Hawaii Department of Education Content and Performance Standards as possible. For a fun and engaging field trip, please contact the Oahu site at (808) 955-0100, the Maui site at (808) 244-6500, or visit www.hawaiinaturecenter.org.
Hoa ‘Aina O Makaha/Ke Ala-The Learning Center (O’ahu)
Located adjacent to Makaha Elementary School, Ke Ala-The Learning Center is an outreach program of Hoa ‘Aina O Makaha and Na Keiki O Ka ‘Aina. The Learning Center is a classroom without walls that provides over 4000 Oahu students a year with hands-on learning activities that teach respect for the land and awareness of the delicate relationship between humans and the environment. The Learning Center offers two curricula to visiting schools: The General Farm Tour focuses on plant and animal life cycles and the Hawaiian Tour, for upper grades, explores the voyages of Polynesians, their traditions, the kinds of plants they brought with them and how they were used. For further information please call 808-695-8978 or visit http://www.hoa-aina.org/
Lyon Arboretum (O’ahu)
The Lyon Arboretum and Botanical Garden is the only University botanical garden located in a tropical rainforest in the United States. It is an easily accessible tropical rainforest on the island of O’ahu. It currently consists of almost 200 acres at the top of the Manoa watershed with a set of small cottages and greenhouses used for research and community education about plants and the natural environments of Hawai’i. As a branch of the University of Hawai’i, it serves as a center for educational activities on plants, arts, culture, geography, and a range of other sciences.
Pohakea Elementary Teacher: “Yes, we would recommend the Lyon Arboretum as a field trip destination for elementary students. Students participated in a plant defense lab in which they tested leaf toughness with a tough-o-meter. They went on a hike through the rain forest where they learned about plant and animal interdpendency. Overall, the Lyon Aboretum was a great hands-on learning experience for our students.” www.Hawaii.edu/LyonArboretum
Mokupapapa: Discovery Center for Hawaii’s Reefs (Hawai’i Island)
Visit Mokupapa to learn about the natural science, culture, and history of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and surrounding marine environment. Interactive displays, engaging three-dimensional models, and immersive theater allow the visitor to experience the wonder and majesty of this special ocean region. To schedule a school tour please contact the Discovery Center manager at (808) 933-8195. Visit www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov/center/welcome.html for more information.
Paepae O He’eia (O’ahu)
E Komo Mai! Come visit He’eia Fishpond and experience what takes place in a Hawaiian traditional loko i’a. A field trip visit to He’eia Fishpond can be enjoyed by grade levels 4th-12th. Guests have an opportunity to tour and witness the 88-acre pond, to participate in service-learning projects aimed at sharing ways our Hawaiian ancestors cared for this special place, learn of the storied landscape surrounding the fishpond in mo’olelo (stories) about the He’eia ahupua’a and Ko’olaupoko, O’ahu, and participate in species identification.
Field trips cost $150 for no more than 40 participants, and are offered Mondays, Wednesdays, and the 1st Saturday of each month. Guests will leave with a valued eco-cultural learning experience and a student workbook. Witness and become a part of this ancient tradition that has been established for more than 600 years. It is an eco-cultural learning experience that you will not forget. For further information please call 808-236-6178.
TREE Center Hawai’i (Hawai’i Island)
Tropical Reforestation & Ecosystems Education Center is based on the island of Hawai’i. They are dedicated to the conservation and education of native Hawaiian ecosystems by engaging children and adults in hands-on activities and habitat restoration. Visit www.treehawaii.org or contact them at (808) 333-0330.
Waimea Valley, Hi’ipaka LLC (O’ahu)
Located on the North Shore of O’ahu, the Waimea Valley Audubon Center offers both guided and self-guided educational encounters for school groups, The “Ho’oku’i i ka ‘Aina: Connecting to the Land” program is for upper elementary students grades 4 and up. Students learn the importance of natural resource management through participation in traditional Hawaiian crafts and activities linked to survival in an Auhupua’a. For lower elementary students in grades 2 and 3, the center offers “Go With the Flow,” a program with engages students in the physical and biological dynamics of the Waimea watershed, through exploration of stream, estuary and manmade aquatic habitats. Please call 808-638-9199 for more information or to make reservations for your class to visit.
If you have suggestions for other field trip sites, especially on neighbor islands, please send them our way!