Teachers have one of the most vitally important roles in our society – they’re educating the next generation, after all! – but they don’t always receive commensurate support. Though we can’t insert more hours in the day, we can help by sharing some virtual and in-person educational resources related to stormwater, sustainability, and conservation!
Ranging from printable activity books to info on potential assemblies/field trips and even informative, science-oriented videos, we’ve put together a collection of some of LA’s best accessible resources.
Not a teacher yourself? With over 21,000 classroom teachers in LAUSD alone, chances are you know an Angeleno educator. The next time they have a break from lesson planning, consider sharing some of these educational resources (along with a nice, strong cup of coffee!)
- At our Classroom Materials page, we have a number of fun materials for your classroom including:
- LA Stormwater’s Clean Water Patrol Activity book offers water-related coloring pages, mazes, and more, in both English and Spanish (Eng./Sp.)
- Fun stickers with ocean creatures
- Book a school assembly by reaching out to the Environmental Defenders
- Join a cleanup day
- Kids Ocean Day is an annual event where kids from all over come together to help with a massive beach cleanup. It’s a fantastic way for kids to get up close and personal with environmental activism! The 2026 iteration falls on May 28th. Contact Kids Ocean Day directly to receive participation information.
- Heal the Bay offers a number of options for kids to join in on cleanup projects
- Great LA River Cleanup through Friends of the LA River
- City of LA Office of Community Beautification
- Surfrider
- Field trips: There are many virtual education and in-person field trip opportunities available throughout our region. Some of these include:
- The Aquarium of the Pacific has virtual and in-person field trip opportunities
- Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
- Roundhouse Aquarium
- Heal the Bay Aquarium
- Title 1 Grant Funding may be available for qualifying schools, as well as virtual field trips and “Key to the Sea” offsite adventures
- California Science Center (and the CA Science Center Kelp Forest!)
- Discovery Cube LA
- Los Angeles Environmental Learning Center at Hyperion: See first-hand how the City manages millions of tons of waste!
- Lopez Canyon Environmental Education Center at the Lopez Canyon Landfill
- Looking for field trips that will help your class get in touch with nature? Explore some of our city’s educational outdoor offerings. Earth Day will be here before you know it:
- Ballona Wetlands
- Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA
- Dates may be limited, so be sure to reach out to fieldtrips@ucla.edu to coordinate your class’ visit.
- San Gabriel Mountains Heritage Association
- The SGMHA notes that spring dates fill up early in the school year.
- TreePeople offers numerous environmental education programs for schools and teachers. With the goal to help young people grow into lifelong caretakers of the environment, kids can “dig in” with hands-on activities. These include opportunities to plant and care for trees at urban sites and participate in restoration activities in the mountains. TreePeople also holds workshops and programs specifically for educators, so you can further your own green education.
- The Audubon Center in Debs Park
- Descanso Gardens offers kid-friendly walking tours, story times, and student community service days throughout the year. They also offer field trips, with or without docents from the Gardens.
More Virtual Resources
- Friends of the LA River: Recommended for Grades: 9-11. Friends of the LA River (or FoLAR) offers its River Fellows program to high schoolers at Title I schools near the middle soft bottom area of the River. Students can gain practical, hands-on experience in environmental STEM projects. And for all ages, FoLAR emphasizes that the LA River itself is “one of the best classrooms in the city.” Joining in on one of their volunteer cleanup days can be a great way to learn while doing!
- Recommended for Grades 9-11
- Cabrillo Marine Aquarium: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium hosts a number of materials for teachers, including resources for lesson plans on various topics and information on educator workshops.
- Recommended for Teachers
- CA Science Center: Their “Stuck at Home Science” video series is a bit of a misnomer – you don’t need to be stuck at home to get something out of these exciting experiments and introductions to exhibits around the Center.
- Recommended for All Ages
- Descanso Gardens Resource Library: Descanso Gardens’ online resource library features nature-focused educational videos, activity journals, and city nature guides, so you can find the green wherever you go.
- Recommended for All Ages
- TreePeople: TreePeople offers a true bounty of guides and deep dives that you can explore from home or in the classroom! Whether you want to learn how you can save our urban canopy, find out about native plants, or dig into other facets of SoCal’s ecology, TreePeople is a valuable resource.
- Recommended for All Ages
- Heal the Bay: Their Ocean Heroes Activity Book (English and Spanish) is a fun, informative resource for older kids to learn how protecting our oceans is tantamount to being a real-life superhero.
- Recommended for Grades 5-8
These are just a selection of the wonderful educational opportunities our city has to offer. We’d love to know if there are any other environmental resources, activities, or venues you’d like to see us add to the list. Teachers can email lastormwater@lacity.org to let us know any recommendations we may have missed.
