Exploring the Coast with 7th Grade Science Students
Category: Blog, Explore the Coast, Inspired Forward, School Partnerships, Youth Programs
By LandPaths Staff
May 11, 2026
After a 40-minute bus ride, 69 students from Santa Rosa Language Academy (formerly Cesar Chavez Language Academy), a Title I school in the Roseland area of Santa Rosa, chatter with excitement as they step off the school buses and into the parking lot above Shell Beach at the Sonoma Coast.
The sky is grey but the fog has lifted and the air temperature feels perfect for tidepool explorations with LandPaths’ staff.
The 7th graders are split into four smaller groups, each with a LandPaths’ education field specialist. Next up is an acknowledgement of the Pomo peoples as the first stewards of the land, personal introductions, and a water safety lesson. Then, students trek down a rustic stairway carved into the cliff, towards down the beckoning tidepools where sea life thrives. For the next couple of hours, they explored the fascinating ebb and flow of life nestled within the rocks on the beach.
“I liked seeing the sea stars!” says Eileen. Other students love exploring a small cave on a rock outcropping, a big hit with the group. Still others, like Emiliano, enjoy walking solo on areas of the beach, listening to the sound of the waves crashing onto the sand.
The field trip is part of LandPaths’ Inspired Forward, which launched in 2012 as a way to specifically address the particular developmental needs of our teen population.
Funding from the California State Coastal Conservancy’s* Explore the Coast grant makes this all possible, getting students, teachers, and chaperones out of the four walls of the classroom and into nature for hands-on sciences learning. The program introduces teens to the outdoors, offering the joyful and restorative benefits of time in nature while teaching coastal ecology based on Next Generation Science Standards. LandPaths partners with Title 1 schools and other schools in low-income neighborhoods to provide the program at no cost.
The field trip is the final one of four immersive visits to open spaces with LandPaths throughout the school year. It’s also a favorite, with students asking when they can come back, or making plans to bring their families to the Sonoma Coast. Talk about inspired!
The Coastal Conservancy is a non-regulatory state agency that works with others along the California coast, in coastal watersheds, and in the San Francisco Bay Area to protect and restore coastal resources, to help people get to and enjoy the coast, and to enhance climate resilience. Its vision is of a beautiful, restored, and accessible coast for current and future Californians.
