Field Trips

Bring your class to the park!

Island Beach State Park provides the perfect outdoor setting to enhance classroom-based learning! IBSP Park naturalists conduct curriculum-based field trips using this remarkable landscape as a tool.  Students engage in real-world exploration of concepts they learn in the classroom.

 

Trip Logistics

  • Field trips are typically 2.5-hours and are designed for grades 1 through 8. (High School Teachers please contact us directly to coordinate your visit)

  • Fall field trips are available Tuesday through Friday, between Labor Day and Halloween. 

  • Spring field trips are available Tuesday through Friday April- June. 

  • Fees:  $3 per student, chaperones are free.

  • Each program is limited to 35 students.  It may be possible to book multiple programs on the same day for larger groups. Please call the Nature Center at 732-793-1315 or contact us.

  • Island Beach State Park complies with the state requirement of 1 chaperone for every 10 students. Chaperones play an integral role in any field trip. Please ensure they know the group’s itinerary, students’ names, and remind them to stay with students throughout the visit.

  • Field trips are outside, weather permitting, and require walking on paved and unpaved trails and uneven terrain.

  • Students can bring lunch or there is an option to purchase bagged lunch from our concessionaire (only open from June to September). Please remember that IBSP is a Carry-In, Carry-Out facility.

  • Students must wear a name tag.

  • To prepare for your trip, please review the Group Leader Checklist.

  • Buses/transportation MUST stay with the students at all times.

 

Self Guided Trips

If you are unable to participate in a Naturalist led field trip to IBSP, or if our educational programs do not meet your curricular needs, consider organizing your own class field trip to the park. Please call the Nature Center at 732-793-1315 or contact us for additional assistance.

 

Register for a Field Trip

  • Read information on all course offerings and choose the one that best suits your group.

  • Email your completed registration form and group liability form to Kelly.Scott@dep.nj.gov.  

  • Please use our calendar of events to check available dates.

  • You will receive a confirmation email once we receive and review your registration form.

  • A small number of grants are available for school that are experiencing funding issues.

  • If you need to cancel your visit, please contact us at least three weeks in advance. IBSP will make every effort to reschedule your visit.

  • Please note that visits are not confirmed until you have received a response and confirmation from the park. Programs are filled on a first come, first serve basis and are dependent on staff availability.

Registration Form

Group liability Form

 

Programs Offered

 

Shells on the Shore – grades 1-4

During this interdisciplinary lesson, students listen to a story about seashells, discuss shelled animals to gain scientific understanding and participate in a hands on activity that reinforces the lesson’s key concept that shells are made by certain marine animals called mollusks for shelter and protection.

  • Online Lesson Plan (coming soon)

Barrier Island Ecology – grades 1-8

Students will learn about the distinct habitats and wildlife species found on a barrier island.  

  • Online Lesson Plan (coming soon)

 
 
 

Web of Life – grades 4-8

Many different species, including people, utilize and inhabit the marine environment.  During this activity, students will discover the interrelationships these species share by examining feeding habits and assembling typical marine food chains.

  • Online Lesson Plan (coming soon)

Beach Profiling – Grades 7-8

During this profiling activity, the students will gather data that measures the surface of the beach using a method that simulates the way marine scientists and coastal geologists study our dynamic beaches.  

  • Online Lesson Plan (coming soon)

 

Salinity – grades 4-8

Salinity is the concentration of dissolved salts in water, usually expressed in “parts per thousand” (ppt). Objects float higher in salt water than fresh water because salt water is denser (heavier per unit of volume). Following completion of this activity,  students will be able to determine the salinity of a water sample by using a hydrometer, and understand how salinity influences an object’s ability to float in water.

Online Lesson Plan (coming soon)