Sign up for our fully outdoor school field trips and have your students thinking, caring, connecting and learning more about nature at High Park!
In-person field trips begin outside High Park Nature Centre located at 375 Colborne Lodge Drive. Each program will be completely outdoors (except for washrooms).
All programs include a hike, lively discussion and fun activities and games to get students thinking, caring and learning about the natural world all around us that we are part of!
*Please note the Nature Centre is not able to accommodate classes inside for lunch at this time.
How Does Place Hold Time: Grades 9-12
In this workshop students work together to build a two-dimensional timeline that captures the deep history of High Park including Indigenous presence, occupation, and stewardship. A hike will follow where students will come to experience how place holds time as they watch their timeline unfold. In small groups we'll look at published maps of the park to explore the concept of historical perspectives. Specifically, what is the dominant narrative presented by the maps and what historical relationships from the timeline are missing or distorted.
How Does Place Hold Time: Grades 9-12
In this workshop students work together to build a two-dimensional timeline that captures the deep history of High Park including Indigenous presence, occupation, and stewardship. A hike will follow where students will come to experience how place holds time as they watch their timeline unfold. In small groups we'll look at published maps of the park to explore the concept of historical perspectives. Specifically, what is the dominant narrative presented by the maps and what historical relationships from the timeline are missing or distorted.
I Live in a Watershed: Grades 6-12
Through historical and current maps, hiking to some of the nine bodies of water in High Park and completing chemical testing of the water in the watershed system students will get an experiential understanding of what a watershed is, how they work, and why keeping watersheds healthy is critical! We will hike to learn about how they work and will test water in High Park for pollutants and other indicators of water quality: 1. Salinity (Sodium Chloride), 2. Nitrate, 3. Phosphate, 4. Oxygen, 5. Turbidity and temperature, 6. Acidity.
How Does Place Hold Time: Grades 9-12
In this workshop students work together to build a two-dimensional timeline that captures the deep history of High Park including Indigenous presence, occupation, and stewardship. A hike will follow where students will come to experience how place holds time as they watch their timeline unfold. In small groups we'll look at published maps of the park to explore the concept of historical perspectives. Specifically, what is the dominant narrative presented by the maps and what historical relationships from the timeline are missing or distorted.
All in-person programs will meet outside the High Park Nature Centre at 375 Colborne Lodge Drive.
Program Length
Weekly availability
Note: School programs will take place during the afternoon from 12:30-2:30 PM in the fall and spring seasons and during the morning from 9:30AM-12:30PM in the winter season.
Note for TDSB schools: Click here to view this infographic and understand how to pay for your school field trips.
We can accommodate up to 30 students a class (plus upto 6 adult teachers/volunteers). For more than 30 students there will be an additional class fee and we'll need to assess if we have additional staff available to teach. If you indicate more than 30, please note we'll get back to you to confirm if this is possible.
Teachers are expected to take an active role in managing behaviours of their students. Read more about our behaviour policy by visiting our registration policy page.
The High Park Nature Centre promotes awareness and respect for nature through year-round, hands-on outdoor nature education and park stewardship activities. We strongly believe that an important part of connecting with nature involves responsible, active outdoor play.
At Nature Centre programs, we do engage in activities such as exploring in soil, hiking in the forest and balancing on logs-this often results in getting dirty! Our leaders prioritize safety by establishing clear guidelines with all participants and supervising throughout activities.
If you have questions or would like to learn more about active outdoor play, please talk with us.
Please ensure you’ve read and understood our registration policy before you book a field trip, which includes:
Check out our field trip programs for elementary school students and our At School in High Park program.
