What
Utah County students have the opportunity to learn from specialized lesson plans offered by the Utah Lake Authority during hands-on field trips. The lesson plans teach Utah State core concepts in math, language arts, science, and social studies. Interested teachers will need to teach as many of the lesson plans as possible during the current school year and then fill out a simple online application in order for their classes to attend the field trip. The lesson plans are available below.
During the trip, students will rotate through several mini classes that reinforce information taught in the classroom. Additional classes about sailing, fishing, and other topics related to the lake are also part of the experience.
Who
The field trips are designed for 4th grade students in the Alpine, Nebo, and Provo School Districts.
Where
In the spring, field trips are held at the Utah Lake State Park, and in the fall, Saratoga Springs City Marina. These two locations provide the perfect setting and opportunity to see the lake they have been learning about.
Spring Field Trips:
Utah Lake State Park
4400 West Center Street
Provo, Utah 84601
Fall Field Trips:
Saratoga Springs City Marina
156 Harbor Park Way
Saratoga Springs, UT 84045
When
Spring field trip dates are scheduled in late April and early May, and Fall field trips are typically the first week of October.
Field trip stations begin at 10:00 am and end at 1:30 pm, and each station presentation lasts approximately 25 minutes. A lunch break is scheduled from 12:00pm to 12:25 pm.
Please ensure that your school will be able to attend the entire time because it is difficult for our presenters to have schools arrive late or leave early.
How to Be Selected
We ask teachers to apply with an online application, as the number of students that can attend is limited. The application process includes submitting photographs or scans, as well as answering some short essay questions. Please only submit one application per school, but we ask that all the 4th grade teachers in your school collaborate to provide answers.
The selection process for applicants then considers the proximity of the school to the field trip location, the timeliness of the application submission, the number of our lessons taught to students, and other factors. Preference will be given to schools that teach more lessons and demonstrate that the students benefited from them.
Whether your school is selected to attend or not, the students will benefit from the lesson plans taught and discover new ways to enjoy Utah Lake.
Students have FUN learning about Utah Lake!
Field Trip Information
Interested in learning more about the Utah Lake Field Trip opportunity? Read below for our FAQs. Contact us with any other questions!
More Information
Weather doesn’t get in the way of a good field trip, so make sure your students are prepared. Most of our field trip stations provide pavilions, and unless there is lightning headed our way, the show must go on! A notification will be sent out immediately if we decide that the weather is not safe for our presenters or the students.
Unfortunately, field trips cannot be rescheduled, so please prepare a backup plan for your students if a cancellation happens. You will be responsible for canceling buses or food arrangements that have been made.
The Utah Lake Authority offers to reimburse up to $200, per bus, to help with transportation costs to and from the Utah Lake State Park. We request that you send us a copy of your invoice as soon after the field trip as possible. Your reimbursement check typically arrives within two weeks from when we receive the invoice.
During the Summer of 2010, the Utah Lake Authority worked with fourth-grade teachers from the Alpine, Provo and Nebo school districts to create ten lesson plans that teach core concepts in Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies using Utah Lake as an example. We hope that these lessons will be exciting, fun, and a beneficial resource to fourth-grade teachers all over Utah County, and instill a greater understanding and appreciation for the lake. In June 2012, the lesson plans were brought current to include the new core curriculum requirements with the updated standards listed.
The links below list the lessons and will take you to another page that contains the materials needed:
Contact us by email at info@utahlake.gov or call us at 801-753-8270 if you have any questions, comments, or ideas for improvement.
Our family are regular visiters to Utah Lake. We love spending our weekends fishing, boating, and swimming. We frequently go to the area just south of Lindon boat harbor, known I think unofficially as muddy beach. We noticed over the summmer that people leave a lot of trash there. This is an area where there is a lot of wild life that needs to be protected. Is this area privately owned? Is there someone specifically that I could talk to that you would know of that could help me with my questions? We love the lake and want to do anything we can to help keep it beautiful and also to help keep the wildlife in this area safe. Thank you.
Ashley England
I have a question. When did our school(Park View Elementary-Payson) sign up for the Utah Lake Field trip? I’ve lost our information on it. Is there a chance that I can bother you for that information? I also wondered about the invoice to be reimbursed. Do we get that through our secretary or the district office?
Thanks so much for the help.
Marilyn Paice
Hi Marilyn,
It looks like you applied on 9/9/2014. We can handle the bill directly, or we can reimburse the school after the field trip has taken place. We just need an invoice from the transportation department or school; we pay/reimburse approximately two weeks after we receive it. Most schools pay the original bill and ask that we reimburse them.
If we haven’t heard from you by now, does that mean that we weren’t selected to go to this field trip?
Thanks,
Marilyn Paice
Hi Marilyn, sorry for the delay and for any confusion. Unfortunately Park View wasn’t chosen to attend. We have limited resources for the field trips and we were unable to invite every school that applied. The schools that taught the most Utah Lake lesson plans were given priority. We invite you to apply again next year. Thanks for your participation.
We would like to introduce a new category during our presentation relating to “The business of abusing a lake”(as it is the only category that currently exist that pertains to our mission ) Invasive bird species that unlike invasive plants also have an impact on the ecosystem.
We will bring live examples of invasive birds;are we permitted to set our exhibit in a potential wildlife area?
I think you called us today and spoke with Noelia about this. Let me know if I am mistaken.
Can only a school sign up?
Yes, only schools that have taught the Utah Lake Curriculum are able to attend the field trips at this time.