Mountains to Sound Greenway Education Program
Educating the Next Generation
The Mountains to Sound Greenway Education Program brings an educator into 4th - 10th grade classrooms in King County schools to teach inquiry-based science curriculum, takes students on a field study trip to a nearby forest, and/or provides an ecological restoration component, all with the goal of teaching about the challenge of sustaining a healthy, natural environment in balance with the needs of a growing population. We engage students to think critically about real life problems, asking questions such as: What is the best way to use the last forest lands bordering the city? How does urban development affect the life-cycle of salmon? Each year, over 3,000 students participate in classroom lessons and over 2,500 student go on field study trips.
By registering your class for one of the six different curriculum units we offer, teachers are eligible for a(n):
- Activity Guide (available online to download) with materials & DVD
- In-class Lesson taught by a Mountains to Sound Greenway teacher
- Field Study Trip to Tiger Mountain Natural Resources Conservation Area
- Optional Stewardship Extension/Ecological Restoration Event: Ecological restoration events are available for schools after participation in the education program.
- Optional Independent Extension Activities
It costs $640 to teach one in-class lesson and one field study trip (not including transportation costs). To offset the cost of providing our programs, we developed a Fee Schedule for the In-class Lesson and Field Study Trip portion of our program. These fees are per class. Stewardship Extension events are still provided at no-cost to schools. The King County Metro Wheels to Water Program provides a limited number of buses every year to transport schools with higher than 25% free/reduced lunch to our field trips.
You can also download or request a copy of the poster - Biosolids, The Ultimate in Recycling!
The Mountains to Sound Education Program is aligned with the EALRs: Essential Academic Learning Requirements (pdf) and is funded by generous grants from the King County Wastewater Treatment Division. The program is also supported by the Klorfine Foundation, Kiwanis Club of Issaquah, Washington Women's Foundation, the Alan Stephenson Boyd Family Trust, the McKibben-Merner Family Foundation, the Ji Ji Foundation, The Boeing Company and donors to the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust. To make a donation to the Greenway Education Program, please visit the class sponsorship page.
The Stewardship Extension program received initial funding of a No Child Left Inside grant from the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Northwest Biosolids Management Association provided funding for the Savvy about Soil curriculum. Penny Harvest funded the design and printing of Native Plant ID books.
