California Homeschool Unit Study ☀️

In October we booked a two week long road trip to California!!! Because of this I knew the plan for the month of November would be to do a unit study all about the state of California. History, climate, animals, plants… we did a deep dive into this beautiful state. Two weeks of the unit study happened pre-trip and two weeks during the trip. This was an absolute dream way of learning and I cannot even begin to express the gratitude I have for being able to do things this way with the kids. We learned about the Golden Gate Bridge; the history, the engineering behind this incredible master piece and then two weeks later were able to stand there and see it right in front of us. It is not lost on me how unbelievably lucky we are to do this.

Unit Study Pre-Trip

Before leaving for the trip we did a deep dive into these topics using videos, books from the library and websites.

☀️San Francisco

☀️The Golden Gate Bridge

☀️Redwood Trees

☀️The Gold Rush

Each child worked on an age appropriate report about the state with the information they learned.

Anika used this free State Report and Lapbook Template from Kiki’s Classroom on Teachers Pay Teachers.

We also got a big map of California free from their Visit California tourist website and I ordered a Lonely Planet travel book from Amazon and we spent time learning about popular tourist spots. We looked them up on the map and began making a list of possible places or things we wanted to see while we were there.

Unit Study During the Trip

San Francisco

During the trip we continued our study of San Francisco while spending two days there riding cable cars, hiking up and down the insane hills and hanging out with sea lions at Pier 39. It was like you would have to try not to learn while walking through San Francisco. Every where I looked there were signs with information about the city and the things in it. For example when we started this trip we were unsure what the difference was between seals and sea lions and I don’t think any of us could correctly identify them. Five minutes at Pier 39 reading the signs placed along the fence in front of the water where the sea lions were and we were all very clear on the difference. Nothing compares to learning like this.

The Exploratorium

We spent an afternoon at the Exploratorium, created by physicist Frank Oppenheimer, which is a hand on science museum that teaches you without you having a clue your learning. We could have spent a week at this place there was so much to see and do.

The Golden Gate Bridge

We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped in multiple places to take in this stunning creation.

Redwood Trees

We drove through the Avenue of the Giants and stopped at Humboldt Redwoods State Park where we walked through groves of redwood trees, hurting our necks trying to see the top and stooping down low to find their tiny seeds we had learned so much about. There was a brief moment when we contemplated bringing home one to plant, but Anika pointed out since it’s not native to Maine, it may become an evasive species and hurt our ecosystem. Mic Drop. No seeds came home to Maine.

The Gold Rush

We drove through Gold Mine Country stopping first at Shasta State Historic Park, an abandoned Gold Rush town that was a shell of what it once was. We drove route 99 until Marshall Gold Discovery State Park. We wandered through the museum and learned more about the gold rush and how it impacted people involved.

We were taught how to pan for gold and found a couple of flecks of it ourselves. We saw first hand how difficult a task this was.

We stood at the exact spot that James Marshall first found that piece of gold and started a chain reaction that changed California as we know it forever.

The kids work hard and completed the free Junior Ranger Activity Book while we were here so they could join the honorary junior rangers. Each were given a wooden badge to take home.

California Wildlife

We experienced A LOT of California wildlife close up. Ravens, sea lions, a coyote, squirrels, deer and so many different types of birds to name a few. Wildlife here was completely unfazed by humans. We were able to use the Merlin Bird ID App to help identify many of the birds we saw. We spent time exploring tide pools.

We learned about ravens from an employee at the Point Arena Lighthouse when she casually overheard us trying to decide if the bird overhead was a crow or a raven. She was extremely passionate about ravens, and the ravens that lived in the Point Arena Lighthouse land in particular and I now share in her passion for ravens.

California Plants

We also learned that plants grow a lot bigger in coastal California. We used the Picture This App to help us identify them.

We had an impromptu lecture at a farm stand for the passionate employee there where we learned so much about mandarins and persimmons. The best environment to grow them, where they came from, etc. She cut different fruit up and let us try them.

We saw a prickly pear cactus up close and learned the fruit that comes off of it is probably more trouble then it’s worth.

We used the Rock Identifier App also this trip.

Turtle Bay Exploration Park

We went to Turtle Bay Exploration Park, another hands on science and history museum in Redding CA. We saw exhibits about snow, A.I. and The Gold Rush. They also have outdoor exhibits with animals like raccoons, owls and bobcats.

Travel Journal

All four of us kept a travel journal that we wrote in daily. We used glue sticks and colored pencils so the kids could glue in things like plane tickets and draw pictures to go along with what they wrote about.