Wild Wetlands

Inside the Outdoors ® Wild Wetlands program is located at the Muth Interpretive Center on the bluffs of the largest wetland in Orange County. Coastal bluffs, marshes, mudflats, and open water provide a wide diversity of habitats for your students to explore.

Curriculum enrichment for 2nd & 3rd grade:
California Science Content Standards Life Science, Investigation and Experimentation
2nd Grade:   2a, 2d, 3e, 4a, 4c
3rd Grade:   3b, 3c, 3d, 5c

Second and third grade students will explore and discover this ecosystem during this half day field trip. Experiences include the following learning stations:

Birding and Animal Evidence
Use binoculars to observe birds and search for animal evidence, students discover why wetlands are important in the natural world. They witness the diversity of wetland inhabitants and learn to identify unseen animals.

Marsh Life
On a scavenger hunt, students discover the life at the wetland and the homes they create. Students obtain a greater understanding of where living things can and cannot survive.

Food Chain Game
Students become osprey, fish or worms and play a game to understand their roles in the food chain. They identify organisms in the wetland and discuss why animals at the top of the food chain experience greater impacts from pollution.

Marsh Recipe
Students focus on the living and non living components of the ecosystem. They create a model of a wetland to understand the integral pieces and learn how humans affect nature.