CSI introduces students to the arthropods that live in Sabino Canyon. There are two different scenes.
Creek Scene and Desert Scene can be used to investigate the insects and arachnids depending on water, weather, and season.
The Creek Scene uses nets and buckets to capture creek critters and identify them using magnifying glasses and identification charts. Students gain knowledge of common plants and animals that live in Sabino Creek and identify food chains found here.
The Desert Scene can be investigated year round. Students hunt for and record evidence of arthropod activity while learning about the behaviors (aka jobs) that arthropods display and the importance of their work to our ecosystem. Here also insect and arachnid scientific classifications are introduced.
In both Scene Investigations, the students examine large arthropod models to learn morphologic adaptations and explore the terms and stages of metamorphosis.
This activity is recommended for grades 1 through 6.
Click here to download CSI – Grade 1 Standards
Life Science
- Students develop an understanding that Earth has supported, and continues to support, a large variety of organisms. These organisms can be distinguished by their physical characteristics, life cycles, and their different resource needs for survival. Different types of organisms live where there are different earth resources such as food, air, and water.
Core Ideas
- L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span.
- L2: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms
- L3: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another.
- L4: The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.
Standards
- L1U1.6 – Observe, describe, and predict life cycles of animals and plants.
- L2U1.7 – Develop and use models about how living things use resources to grow and survive; design and evaluate habitats for organisms using earth materials.
- L2U1.8 – Construct an explanation describing how organisms obtain resources from the environment including materials that are used again by other organisms.
- L3U1.9 – Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to support an evidence-based explanation that plants and animals produce offspring of the same kind, but offspring are generally not identical to each other or their parents.
- L4U1.10 – Develop a model to describe how animals and plants are classified into groups and subgroups according to their similarities.
- L4U3.11 – Ask questions and explain how factors can cause species to go extinct.
Social Studies
- The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.
Standards
- SP3.5 – Ask and answer questions about explanations given.
- C1.2 – Follow agreed upon rules for discussions when responding to others and making decisions including consensus building procedures.
- C1.3 – Compare one’s own thoughts and opinions with others’ perspectives.
- G2.1 – Compare how human activities affect culture and the environment now and in the past.
Click here to download CSI – Grade 2 Standards
Life Science
- Students develop an understanding that Earth has supported, and continues to support, a large variety of organisms. These organisms can be distinguished by their physical characteristics, life cycles, and their different resource needs for survival. Different types of organisms live where there are different earth resources such as food, air, and water.
Core Ideas
- L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span.
- L2: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms
- L3: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another.
- L4: The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.
Standards
- L1U1.6 – Observe, describe, and predict life cycles of animals and plants.
- L2U1.7 – Develop and use models about how living things use resources to grow and survive; design and evaluate habitats for organisms using earth materials.
- L2U1.8 – Construct an explanation describing how organisms obtain resources from the environment including materials that are used again by other organisms.
- L3U1.9 – Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to support an evidence-based explanation that plants and animals produce offspring of the same kind, but offspring are generally not identical to each other or their parents.
- L4U1.10 – Develop a model to describe how animals and plants are classified into groups and subgroups according to their similarities.
- L4U3.11 – Ask questions and explain how factors can cause species to go extinct.
Social Studies
- The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.
Standards
- SP3.5 – Ask and answer questions about explanations given.
- C1.2 – Follow agreed upon rules for discussions when responding to others and making decisions including consensus building procedures.<
- C1.3 – Compare one’s own thoughts and opinions with others’ perspectives.
- G2.1 – Compare how human activities affect culture and the environment now and in the past.
Click here to download CSI – Grade 3 Standards
Life Science
- Students develop an understanding of the flow of energy in a system beginning with the Sun to and among organisms. They also understand that plants and animals (including humans) have specialized internal and external structures and can respond to stimuli to increase survival.
Core Ideas
- L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span.
- L2: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms.
- L3: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another.
- L4: The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.
Standards
- L1U1.5 – Develop and use models to explain that plants and animals (including humans) have internal and external structures that serve various functions that aid in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
- L2U1.6 – Plan and carry out investigations to demonstrate ways plants and animals react to stimuli.
- L2U1.7 – Develop and use system models to describe the flow of energy from the Sun to and among living organisms.
- L2U1.8 – Construct and argument from evidence that organisms are interdependent.
Social Studies
- The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.
Standards
- SP4.1 – Explain probable causes and effects of events.
Click here to download CSI – Grade 4 Standards
Life Science
- Students develop an understanding of the diversity of past and present organisms, factors impacting organism diversity, and evidence of change of organisms over time.
Core Ideas
- L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span.
- L2: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms.
- L3: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another.
- L4: The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.
Standards
- L4U.11 – Analyze and interpret environmental data to demonstrate that species either adapt and survive or go extinct over time.
Social Studies
- The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.
Standards
- SP4.1 – Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments.
Arachnids
Eight legs, 2-part body; cephalothorax and abdomen
True Bugs
Wings of Adults generally folded in X pattern. Piercing, sucking mouthparts.
Mantids
Strong front legs for grasping prey.
Dragonflies and Damselflies
Four-winged flying predators.
Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Katydids
Long, strong hind-legs for jumping.
Beetles
Tough, hard forewings cover hind wings used for flight.
Flies
Only one pair of wings.
Bees, Ants, and Wasps
Narrow ‘waist’. Some have stingers, females only.
Butterflies and Moths
Four large wings are covered in scales that provide color and pattern.
Please tell us about your Field Trip experience
Thank you for participating in the Sabino Canyon Field Trip Program. We are constantly striving to make our program valuable for children and teachers. Could you help us evaluate our performance by completing this quick survey?
Field Trips in the Canyon
Field trips are offered from mid-October through mid-April.
Trips must begin between 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Allow two hours for the program; add an additional 30 minutes if your class will be staying for lunch. Since it takes time to drive to the teaching area from where a naturalist will meet you, please arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled field trip time.
We’ve increased our number of maximum students per field trip to 50. Multiple classes are encouraged to come together, as long as all students, school staff, and chaperones can fit on one bus.
To maintain safety for all users of Sabino Canyon, the U.S. Forest Service limits field trips to one bus and one lead vehicle driven by a naturalist; no other private vehicles are allowed into the Canyon. We strongly prefer that you not arrive in private vehicles in addition to your bus. However, if it’s absolutely necessary to do so, private vehicles will be led to an overflow parking lot where everyone must board and ride in the school bus to the teaching site.
If your school does not have access to a bus, please check back, as we are working on ways to accommodate you and your students.
We will begin accepting field trip requests for the 2026-2027 school year at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, and slots fill up quickly.
The application form will appear on this page at that time.