Education
Youth Experiences
Inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards
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Grizzly Bears Forever
Adventure a grizzly’s ‘sense of place’ and expand your own. Explore the biology of Alberta’s grizzly bears and their habitat through stories, bio-facts, engaging activities, and maybe… just maybe… see a ‘bear’ appear in your...
Animal Detectives
Get ready to investigate the case of the missing Alberta animals! CPAWS brings the experiences of species at risk to life through activities, outdoor games, and stories.
Fabulous Forests
Explore Alberta’s forests and investigate the struggles and successes trees face in our own backyard and beyond. Get up-close and personal intros to fir, aspen, pine ignite forest connections set to last a lifetime!
Explore Parks!
Bring meaning to curriculum through place-based case studies, nature exploration, and help your students foster a deeper relationship with nature and Alberta’s parks.
Climate Game Changers
We believe that climate literacy can and should be FUN. From elementary through to high school, students will engage in hands-on competitive and collaborative games to learn about how they can fight for nature, together.
What Our Educators Think
The CPAWS guide (Vanessa) was incredible!! She was amazing with connecting with the newcomer kids and made the content perfect for their age and language levels.
- Foothills Immigrant Community Services
Sheri’s expertise, enthusiasm and encouragement allowed them to truly interact with their grasslands. Allowing games to act as a vehicle for curriculum kept everyone engaged and allowed for deep learning connections. They all wanted to answer and ask questions, because your program allowed them to each find their own learning spark on the landscape. Moments of hands-on, independent discovery are powerful.
- Kelsey Galbraith, Grade 5 Teacher, Livingstone School, Lundbreck, AB
“The presenter did a great job engaging the students in the material she was presenting. Excellent activities done in the classroom with the students. Additionally, the hike was great! The hike leaders were very knowledgeable and again engaged all the students in various activities to reinforce their understanding. Myself and all my students thoroughly enjoyed the program!”
– Grade 7-9 teacher, Omar Bin Al Khattab School
“Amazing facilitators/educators. I loved how connected they became with the groups, checking in on each of us, providing more scientific knowledge and background and really engaging the children in the learning! Also, after the program, the time during the child surveys watching the connection and how the leaders spoke with a couple of the children was beyond incredible. It is evident how passionate, caring, and wonderful they both are! I loved that, even though some of the scientific language was large the explanation came to help the children understand and really love nature and the natural world!”
– Ms. Langman, K-3 Educator, Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane
What Our Students Think
Thank you CPAWS for the best day EVER! I loved it! I wish I could do the same thing all over again a million times!!
- Grade 4 Student, Livingstone School, Lundbreck, AB
My favourite part? Well, it was everything, because everything was outside. School is just better outside!
- Grade 4 Student, RancheView School, Cochrane, AB
”Thank you for this presentation and thanks again for making me learn about the world's water and for making me to have more interest in Science! Thank you!”
– Grade. 5 student, Black Gold School Division
“The best part of the program was the interactive understanding they provide for the current issues in climate change”
– Grade 12 student, James Fowler School
Frequently Asked Questions
We will meet you at your school or community for indoor programs. Outdoor program options are available in the Calgary region, Kananaskis, and the Pincher Creek region, including Beauvais Lake and Castle Provincial Parks. Please check individual program pages for its specific location offerings. Visit our Hike Locations page to find directions to each available trail.
Important Note on Back-Up Locations:
We have now set-up back-up locations for all our hiking trails in case of trail closures or local, inclement weather. This will allow us to pivot to a nearby trail without having to cancel your booking. Please confirm the back-up plan with your bus company and school board, as required. Include the specific trail information (booked trail and back-up trail) under the destination field of your trip proposal to your school board. The location pairings are as follows:
Booked Trail | Back-Up Trail |
Coal Mine Scar Trail | Yamnuska Day Use Area, Lower Meadows Area, and Yamnuska Ridge Trail (up to the first bluff only) |
Troll Falls Trail & Hay Meadows Trail (Please note Troll Falls is only available to groups of 14 or less). |
Yamnuska Day Use Area, Lower Meadows Area, and Yamnuska Ridge Trail (up to the first bluff only) |
Yamnuska Day Use Area, Lower Meadows Area, and Yamnuska Ridge Trail (up to the first bluff only) | Coal Mine Scar Trail (Grade 6+) |
Foran Grade Trail & Windy Point Trail | Brown Lowery Trail |
Brown Lowery Trail | Foran Grade Trail & Windy Point Trail |
Fish Creek Hiking Trails (from Bebo Grove Day Use Area) | Nose Hill Park Trails and Pathways |
Fish Creek Hiking Trails (from Votiers Flats Day Use Area) | Nose Hill Park Trails and Pathways |
Nose Hill Park Trails and Pathways | Fish Creek Hiking Trails (from Bebo Grove or Votiers Flats Day Use Area) |
Yes! We are pleased to work with you to accommodate your groups' needs.
Please inform us at the time of booking how we can collaborate with you to meet the needs of your group.
Thanks to Adaptable Outdoors , anyone living with mobility challenges who would like to participate in a CPAWS hike is able to do so at Castle or Beauvais Lake Provincial Parks. Adaptable Outdoors provides opportunities for people living with disabilities to experience the benefits of outdoor recreation. By using adaptive equipment, experiences in nature become accessible to people of all abilities.
Contact CPAWS at education@cpaws.org for more information.
In-class experiences include two 1-hour visits. Community walks are up to 2 hours and hikes and winter walks are 3 to 4 hours. Bussing is not included. A non-refundable 15% deposit is required to book. If you want to book multiple programs for your school or group, then we offer multi-class discounts:
Number of Classes |
In-class Experience Cost |
Community Walk Cost |
Hike Cost |
1 |
$250/class |
$250/class |
$400/class |
2 |
$240/class |
$225/class |
$375/class |
3 |
$230/class |
$225/class |
$375/class |
4 |
$220/class |
$225/class |
$375/class |
5 |
$210/class |
$225/class |
$375/class |
We don’t want your class or group to feel excluded by fees! Please contact us at education@cpaws.org for flexible payment options.
A class/group is defined as max 34 people (including adults). This is applicable for both indoor and outdoor programs. For an outdoor program, you will need to ensure the following student to adult ratios are followed:
- Gr. 1-3: 1 adult per 8 students
- Gr. 4-6: 1 adult per 10 students
- Gr. 7-9: 1 adult per 12 students
- Gr. 10-12: 1 adult per 15 students
For workshops and virtual programs, we can usually accommodate you with 1 month notice. For outdoor programs, we suggest you follow this timeline for booking:
For… |
Book by… |
Fall programs |
June |
Winter programs |
November |
Spring programs |
December |
As our programs are in high demand, it is our expectation that you will make every effort to maintain your bookings.
If extenuating circumstances warrant cancellation of a program (like extreme weather, road closures, family emergency, etc.) we will reschedule programs rather than cancel.
We encourage all facilitators to inform us of any circumstances that may prevent the delivery of a program with as much notice as possible. Our cancellation policy is as follows:
-
1 month prior to booking: 85% refund - there is a 15% non-refundable deposit at the time of booking
-
29 to 14 days prior to booking: 50% refund
-
Less than 2 weeks prior to booking: no refund
We have a robust risk management and emergency response plan. Please refer to our hiking information for details.
It is our intention to continue the program rain or shine! Participants must be prepared for all weather conditions. Appropriate footwear, raingear, sunscreen, and hats and mitts are recommended. It is your responsibility to ensure all participants are prepared for the weather prior to leaving (check them as they board the bus). Guides will refuse service to participants that are ill-prepared for the day.
In the event of weather conditions that affect participant safety, the trip will be rescheduled and/or stopped (if the group is already onsite).
Our wilderness trips do occur in bear habitat. Bear safety is paramount. Wild bears typically fear humans. Participants will learn how to safely recreate in bear country during the program.
No, you need to arrange for your own transportation. If you book a bus for wilderness trips outside of Calgary, the bus AND bus driver must remain on site. The bus driver cannot hike/snowshoe with the group. Please confirm this at the time of booking the bus, to ensure the bus will remain on site and the bus driver is prepared to remain with the bus for the day.
Important Note:
We have now set-up back-up locations for all our hiking trails in case of trail closures or local, inclement weather. This will allow us to pivot to a nearby trail without having to cancel your booking. Please confirm the back-up plan with your bus company. The location pairings are as follows:
-
-
- Ribbon Creek (Coal Mine Scar, Troll Falls) <–-> Yamnuska
- Foran Grade <–-> Brown Lowery
- Fish Creek <–-> Nose Hill
-
(i.e., if you are booked at Yamnuska and the trail closes for your hike day, we would move the program to Ribbon Creek and vice versa.)
Please contact education@cpaws.org if you still have questions.