Hands-on Learning, Nearby Nature

IOOBY (In Our Own Backyard)

Who: 2nd -6th grade classrooms
What: Four field trips and two classroom visits per year

Designed for second through sixth grade students, In Our Own Backyard is our award-winning environmental education program. IOOBY gets your students outside with four guided field trips throughout the school year to the same nearby natural space. 

IOOBY brings science lessons to life for your students. Immersion in nature provides opportunities for collaborative problem solving, confidence-building, and creative thinking. 

Led by LandPaths’ qualified and engaging field specialists, your students will each spend about 20 hours a year in nature, experiencing hands-on lessons centered around these themes:

  • Exploration and Discovery
  • Habitats 
  • Watersheds
  • Stewardship 

And we make your job easier by aligning IOOBY lessons with California’s Next Generation Science Standards, cutting down on your classroom planning and prep time.  Because you are visiting the same place throughout the year, students, teachers, and parent volunteers develop a lasting bond with the land. 

Questions

Want to get IOOBY at your school? Contact Youth Initiative Manager Rebecca Carrillo Steinrueck at [email protected]

Mark Mortensen, 4th grade teacher at McDowell Elementary School

" My students love our IOOBY experiences! The four pillars of Exploration and Discovery, Habitats, Watersheds, and Stewardship blend so well with our science lessons and with other programs in which our class is involved. By connecting to local natural spaces, often visited for the first time by them, I feel my students are more likely to feel a sense of stewardship that will last well beyond their school years. I only wish that all students could enjoy and benefit from this program. Our planet needs as many enlightened stewards as it can get! "

Thanks to these partners:

IOOBY is made possible by your generous donations and the following partners:

Stories from the Field

Reflections on the Queer Forestry and Fire Program

November 26, 2024

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The closest sound to me is my handsaw cutting through the wood of a small Douglas fir tree, the next sound the wind bustling in the canopy overhead and through the tall dried grasses surrounding me, more distant the sounds of laughter and conversation from those working around me, beyond that the consistent call of the foghorn from the bay. These sounds surround me as I work in the Ocean Song grassland, homeland of the southern Pomo, alongside the twenty-five other individuals who participated in the Queer Forestry and Fire Program. These are the sounds of community, connection, and care for the land and each other that we created in this program. 

What Happens Now? A Letter from Executive Director Craig Anderson to Friends of LandPaths

November 14, 2024

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The results of the U.S. presidential election, one week ago, sent shockwaves through our community, neighborhoods, and families. It makes a person pause, and it certainly should. At a time when it seemed there was momentum to move ahead, for many people what seems a U-turn has emerged, surrounding us. Click one of the tags above to read the entire post.

Community Gardens Internship  

November 11, 2024

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Are you interested in learning all about what it takes to run a successful community garden? Consider becoming a community garden intern with LandPaths! Bayer Farm, Santa Rosa’s Roseland neighborhood, and Jeff Bodwin Community Garden, in southwest Santa Rosa, together contain 120 garden plots adopted out to community members in addition to a teaching garden for students to learn about growing food and nutrition. The internship is offered on a part-time basis, unpaid, up to 20 hours per week, with an option of work in exchange for course credit. Click on one of the tags above to learn more.

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