Field Trip

The destination we chose for our field trip is the Rancho Los Alamitos, which is located

at 6400 Bixby Hill Road, Long Beach, CA 90815. To get to The Rancho from the 405 Freeway,

exit at Palo Verde Avenue and turn south. If driving from the 605 Freeway, exit at Willow and

follow west to Palo Verde then turn south. The general phone number for The Rancho is (562)

431-3541. To schedule a tour call the phone number and someone can help arrange a date and

time. Tour guides ask that groups be no larger than 10 students, since the rancho house has many

important artifacts and has limited space. If the group of students is large, some students can tour

the barns and the gardens to prevent kids from waiting around.

The Rancho today is 7.5 acres, which was part of the 300,000 acres in concession Manuel

Nieto obtained in 1790. Rancho Los Alamitos consist of the main ranch house, which includes

several expansions and restorations, as well as 4-acres of gardens. The Rancho also consist of a

barn area, which is smaller than it was originally, but still big enough to demonstrate a little of

how life in the ranch used to be. In recent years, the restoration of Rancho Los Alamitos has

added The Rancho Center, which includes a history room and theater video. This center features

original sources and pictures drawn from The Ranchos intact archive.

Rancho Los Alamitos is a site that can show students a little bit of what the past was like

during the Rancho Era. This site has educational value because it takes students to a place in time

that they are studying in class. For example, a diseno of Rancho los Alamitos is included in a

packet to show how the land was divided, this also shows students that disenos are not very

accurate. Taking students to this site brings up subjects like concessions and land grants and how

they differ. In addition, Rancho Los Alamitos will show students the difference between how
people used to live. This aspect can range from pointing out the clothing, architecture,

technology, and engineering advances. It is important to note that Rancho Los Alamitos did not

get electricity in the house until 1915, so students will see how different life was in the 18th and

19th century for children their age. In today’s society, students are surrounded with technology:

wireless phones, television, Internet, etc., they will see life in a completely different way.

Students will be able to recognize that not everyone grew up surrounded by technology. In the

ranch house, there were no televisions, and the most advanced thing they had was the telephone,

which was not cordless.

One of the strengths of Rancho Los Alamitos is that the site has free parking, entrance,

and tours. This is convenient because parents would not have to spend any money sending their

children to a site that will enhance their knowledge of the Rancho Era. The tour is about 30- 45

minutes long, the students are provided with images of the rancho house from when it was first

built in 1790 to 1906 when the final additions were made. Also the students get to tour the home,

and the tour guide explains what the original house consisted of, and what parts of the house

were added on when certain families lived in the ranch house. A second strength is that there are

many education aspects that students can learn about in one place. By showing students a little

bit of what they have been learning in class, their interest will increase making their

understanding more clear. A third strength of Rancho Los Alamitos is that they have a large

grass area in front of the rancho house which can be an area to take the students after the tour to

review what they saw at Rancho Los Alamitos, such as what they thought was interesting, play a

trivia game, and also have lunch while they wait for other groups to finish.
 One weakness of Rancho Los Alamitos is that it is only open for a certain amount of

hours on certain days for school tours. This can be conflicting because teachers need to have a

wide range of hours to plan for bus rides and lunch. Furthermore, a second weakness of Rancho

Los Alamitos is that students may have sort of a biased look at The Rancho, because of the

restorations and renovations, but showing and explaining to students some of the differences can

address this issue. A third weakness of The Rancho is the guided tour is only about 30-45

minutes long and the garden tour is self guided so teachers and chaperones will have to get

creative and make the garden tour fun and interesting, so teachers might have to do some

research on the gardens.

Overall, we agree that taking students to Rancho Los Alamitos can be a great experience

because they would be learning and seeing a part of history that can be foreign to many students.

The admission and parking are free, this will allow the teachers to not worry about raising money

to cover cost. The only things teachers would need to arrange would be transportation, which

regular school buses will not be expensive, and the school can provide lunch for the students to

take on the trip. We believe our students will have gained a great experience and understanding

of history through this field trip.