Culturally responsive teaching is a pedagogy that embraces full equitable access to education for students from all cultures. These strategies include learning within the context of culture and implementing student-centered teaching while communicating high expectations. The primary purpose of our two summer projects was to reshape our approach to curriculum design and development by incorporating culturally responsive teaching strategies. Two case studies, a marine ecology program and an alternative route teacher education program, provide evidence that culturally responsive teaching translates well between indoor and outdoor settings. In the first study, we initiated discussions with Suquamish and Port Gamble S’Klallam tribal representatives and determined that a focus on understanding and maintaining a healthy Liberty Bay aligned best with the cultural context of the local tribes. With tribal representatives, we established three related themes: restoration, estuary function and ocean currents, that would define our inquiry-based experiences infused with culturally responsive teaching. Then, in the second study, using a mixed methodology, we followed the preparation of fifteen teacher candidates through a summer content immersion and schoolyard ecology field experience as part of their alternative route to teacher certification program. We purposely designed the summer study to support and learn from the funds of knowledge of the teacher candidates and migrant youth. Next, we sought to determine if a culturally responsive pedagogy, modeled in a cell biology course could be applied to plan and teach schoolyard ecology during a migrant youth academy. Our findings suggest that culturally responsive teaching can positively support the cultural and community wealth of teachers and students while affirming and deepening our appreciation of the natural world.