An Insider's Scoop on The Disney Youth Education Series!

The Disney Youth Education Series give students –and their teachers– a hands-on, educational adventure to Disneyland and/or California Adventure.

photo credit: deror_avi

Did you know that Disney Parks offers field trips for students to both Disneyland and California Adventure? The Disney Parks official name for their field trip program is called the Disney Youth Education Series. However, it is not your typical visit to Disneyland!

Instead the Disney Youth Education Series give students –and their teachers– a hands-on, educational adventure throughout Disneyland and/or California Adventure. Disney Parks collection of guided field studies, available in Applied Sciences, Environmental Studies, Liberal Arts and Leadership Development, is accredited, standards-based and designed to reinforce your classroom lessons. The programs are designed to practice teamwork, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

The Disney Youth Education Series is offered year-round, seven days a week and are available to elementary through senior high school students. To book a Disney Youth Education Series, you need a minimum of 10 students and a maximum of one (1) adult per every ten (10) children. All field trips requests must be made online at least 6 weeks in advance.

However, if you are not able to reach the minimum number of students required to book a field trip, Disney Parks also offers the Disney Youth Education Series with the Individual Enrollment option. As few as one student and up to nine students are welcome to take part in the individual program, which is a good option for homeschoolers and virtual students.

The Disney Youth Education Series offers 7 different field trips in California:

1. Creating a Leadership Legacy (grades 6-12)

Creating a Leadership Legacy, is a three-hour leadership experience through Disney California Adventure® that enables anyone ages 12 and up to discover Walt Disney’s “secret of making dreams come true.” Students learn how to develop their own leadership legacy, to become confident in their ability to accomplish their goals and be motivated to achieve the impossible. They are challenged to discover their personal branding and develop their core values, have the courage to step out of their comfort zones and understand the importance of diversity as they explore the Park and experience exciting attractions.

After completing Creating a Leadership Legacy, students will be able to:

Define likeability, leadership and legacy
Identify core values and how to apply them
Understand the importance of personal branding, integrity, risk-taking, personal ownership and self-esteem
Develop interpersonal communication and career skills, and understand the difference between verbal and non-verbal communication
Learn from past leaders and build upon their skills

2. Designing a Disney Story @ Disneyland (grades 3-12)

Learn about the complex components that work together to bring favorite Disney characters and stories to the big screen. In this 3-hour program students will study Disney’s role in the history and processes used to create early animated features, as well as the innovative animation techniques used to bring the vision of modern storytellers to life. Students in grades 3-12 will explore their own storytelling skills by planning and designing a storyboard and creating akineograph.During this interactive field study, students will:

Articulate the various elements of the animation process.
Demonstrate storyboarding and pitch their story to the group.
Draw a Disney character using simple geometric shapes.
Describe the physical phenomenon of persistence of vision.
Calculate the number of frames needed to produce a 60-minute animated film.
Create their own simple animation by making a kineograph 1/12 of a second long.
Discuss Walt Disney’s role as a leader and innovator in the animation and entertainment industries.
Understand how the characteristics of media, techniques and processes can be used to enhance the communication of experiences and ideas.

3. Disney’s Approach to Leadership and Teamwork (grades 6-12)

Discover the Disney way of working and the management skills used to lead a Cast of thousands. Students in grades 6-12 will practice overcoming obstacles by working as a team and thinking creatively to develop solutions in this 3-hour program. Exercises designed to reinforce courage, curiosity and constancy aim to give students the confidence to set goals and accomplish their dreams.

During this interactive field study, students will:

Tap into their personal leadership skills and learn how to apply them in a team setting.
Discuss the importance of diversity and respect for the ideas and contributions of others.
Develop and display effective interpersonal communication skills.
Brainstorm for creative ideas and solutions to a given problem.
Apply different ideas, perspectives and approaches to a project.
Gain the confidence and determination to overcome obstacles and accomplish goals.
Lead a project to completion while maintaining a positive attitude.

4. Energy and Waves Physics Lab 101 (grades 3-5)

Students in grades 3-5 discover light and sound as forms of energy and how to use them in practical application. In this 2.5-hour academic adventure students see first-hand how these elements are a vital part of creating world-class attractions and how Disney uses these physical properties to entertain and amaze guests from all over the world.

During this interactive field study, students will:

Define the concepts of a medium, energy and work.
Explain the phenomenon of binaural hearing.
Describe and demonstrate a compression wave.
Articulate and demonstrate how solids, liquids and gases affect sound.
Illustrate how white light is composed of different colors.
Discuss how different colors of light are made up of different wavelengths.
Identify various historical figures and their involvement in specific events in chronological order.
Apply a hypothesis through observation, experimentation, the recording of data and the drawing of a conclusion.
Compare and contrast refraction and projection.
Name the 7 forms of energy and demonstrate the Law of Conservation of Energy.
Understand energy types, sources, and conversions and their relationship to heat and light.

5. Energy and Waves Physics Lab 201 (grades 6-12)

Witness physics principles at work in creating true to form Disney attractions. With hands-on experiments and demonstrations, students in grades 6-12 come to understand the fundamentals of acoustics and optics, and the different mediums that affect the transmission of light and sound waves in this 2.5-hour field study.During this interactive field study, students will:

Explain the phenomenon of binaural hearing.
Define a medium and the nature of acoustics.
Articulate and demonstrate how solids, liquids and gases affect sound.
Describe and demonstrate a compression wave.
Explain the relationship between electricity and magnetism.
Identify magnetic properties and articulate several applications of magnetism.
Distinguish the difference between permanent magnets and electromagnets.
Describe how linear induction motors can be used in transportation systems.
Illustrate how white light is composed of different colors.
Articulate how different colors of light are made up of different wavelengths.
Demonstrate how light is reflected in an object and can be projected through a lens.

6. Exploring the Golden State (grades 3-5)

Students in grades 3-5 act as early settlers as they travel through the park to explore the four regions of California Native Americans, the Gold Rush and California Missions. During this 2.5-hour program students will learn about the state’s rich history including the influential events and people that shaped the Golden State including Chuck Yeager, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, John Muir and Walt Disney. They will also be inspired as they learn of the obstacles early Californians overcame to fulfill their dreams.During this interactive field study, students will:

Discuss three famous aviators who impacted California’s history.
Identify the four regions of California on a map.
Compare and contrast immigration and migration.
Articulate the who, what, where, when and why of the Gold Rush.
Learn about the California missions.
Discover the culture of two Native-American tribes of California.
Share with the group their own “California dreams.”

7. Properties of Motion Physics Lab (grades 6-12)

During this 3-hour interactive learning experience, students in grades 6-12 will learn the role of mechanical physics at Disney California Adventure® Park. Students will study Newton’s Laws of Motion and use the scientific method to explore the practical uses of magnetism, friction, gravity and different forms of energy. With the Park as their learning lab, students will use hands on experiments to see and test the relationship between physics and their favorite Disney attractions.During this interactive field study, students will:

Apply problem‐solving techniques to everyday situations.
Identify, define and illustrate potential and kinetic energy.
Identify, define and discuss speed, velocity and acceleration.
Discuss and illustrate inertia and horizontal forces.
State and illustrate the Law of Conservation of Energy.
State and illustrate Newton’s First and Third Laws of Motion.
Articulate various forms of energy.
Discuss various careers that result with the study of physics.
Discuss physical factors that may influence the roller coaster design process.
Discuss the utilization of pneumatics and magnets in relation to roller coaster lift systems