There's nothing like the sights, smells, and sounds of the real thing. You can enhance your classroom studies of subjects like history, mathematics, art, science, and geography by visiting a national park -- the original primary source.
Tumacácori engages kids onsite by offering inquiry-based learning experiences.
Please Note - Guided Field Trips are limited to 30 students. Each class must be accompanied by a teacher and one chaperone per six students.
Contact the Education Specialist by calling 520-377-5064 or send an email.
Grade Levels:Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Subject(s):Social Studies
Students will investigate how mission life differed from traditional O’odham village life. Did mission children go to school? What did they eat? How does construction of a traditional O’odham home compare to a mission church built from mud? Learn why, when, where and how, as you tour the park’s orchard, garden, and church with a ranger. Students will practice using a traditional mano and metate and learn how to “mud” an O’odham home.
Grade Levels:Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Subject(s):Literacy and Language Arts,Science,Social Studies
This exploratory walk highlights the ecology of the Santa Cruz River Valley. This program will also touch upon the importance of river corridors as locations for traditional O’odham villages. Students will learn about the plants that were used for clothing, tools, and food. Learning will involve inquiry, sensory activities, and language arts.
Do you teach in Santa Cruz or Pima County? Are you looking for help to fund a field trip to Tumacácori? The National Park Foundation's Open Outdoors for Kids program wants to help! Download theTransportation Grant Application (.pdf, 839kb) to see if you are eligible for free bus money to support your field trip.
Arizona Content Standards
All programs address current Arizona content standards across multiple subjects.
Entrance Fee Waivers
Accredited school groups coming for educational purposes are exempt from the normal entrance fees. If this is your school's first time coming to the park, contact us to get an educational entrance fee waiver.
Guidelines for Leaders and Chaperones
We ask chaperones to be aware of and responsible for their students at all times, and to remember that while they are in the park classroom behavior is expected. Please take a few minutes prior to leaving the bus or upon assembling in the garden area to review rules and proper conduct with your students. Essentially, emphasizing general courtesy, safety, respect for other visitors and protection of the park's resources cover most bases.
Come prepared to be outside. All participants should bring drinking water and appropriate clothing -- a hat when it is sunny and hot and coats for chilly winter mornings.
Protect the park. Park rules are in place to protect fragile resources and visitor safety. Before your participants enter the park, please remind them:
Touching and/or climbing on the ruins is strictly prohibited.
Use quiet voices, especially inside the church and museum.
Clean up after yourself, especially during meals and snacks.
Stay on the trails.
Leave rocks, plants, and artifacts, (such as pottery pieces and stone tools) where you find them so others will be able to enjoy them.
Enjoy park wildlife from a comfortable distance.
The Picnic Area is located outside of the back (east) garden gate. Feel free to use the area, but please ensure that you leave the area cleaner than you found it. Trash cans are located nearby. If the cans are full, please remove the bag and replace it with extra bags, located in the bottom of the can.
The park's resources are a national treasure. All of us need to do our part to ensure that it endures for future generations.
Options for Large Groups
(under normal, non-COVID circumstances)
Are you bringing a group of more than 30 students? Consider some of these options:
Break in half and combine field trips listed above or combine with a trip to the Tubac Presidio State Historic Park just up the road. We like to call it 1Day,TuParks (get it?) and it's a fantastic way to maximize your field trip day.
Break into small groups and explore the mission grounds.
Break into small groups and explore the mission grounds, museum, river corridor, and nearby sites like the Tubac Presidio on your own.
Large groups should contact the park in advance to make arrangements with education staff, inquire about fee waivers, or simply give a small park a big heads-up! Remember that the historic buildings are fragile and indoor spaces are small so learning is best done in small groups of 10 or fewer. The picnic area includes about ten tables, so it can accommodate a large group all eating at once. Help keep things clean!
