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ANIMAL
ADVENTURE
Our live animal museum
provides the opportunity for children to get up close and personal with
residents who may be two legged, four legged, no legged, furry,
feathered, bristled or scaled. It’s the perfect setting to
introduce them to the basic differences between mammals, reptiles and
amphibians. A visit to our outdoor animal exhibits is included in
the program.
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ANIMAL
ADAPTATIONS
Using animals from our
live
animal museum, students investigate the strategies animals have devised
in order to adapt to their environment. An
outdoor hike provides
an opportunity for students
to deduce how
local wildlife use physical
and behavioral adaptations
to survive
in the natural world.
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Our
greenhouse is the starting
point for children to observe the diversity of plant life and
understand that plants, like animals, have unique needs and strategies
for survival. In every season, an outdoor exploration
adds to the understanding of plant ecology.
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Starting in our greenhouse and
then moving out of doors, students learn about the food web
and develop
an understanding of
our
dependence on green plants for our survival. They are introduced
to the life cycle of plants, their adaptations and the symbiotic role
played by animals.
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Soaring, diving, catching prey
on the wing. Raptors capture the imagination of young and
old. The live raptors in our outdoor
Birds of Prey House provide
a unique opportunity for students to observe the
physiology and
adaptations that enable birds of prey to do what they do so well.
An investigation
of
raptors, including the dissection of an owl pellet
(for grades 3+), provides insight into
“specialization” and what life
is like near the top of the food chain. Materials fee of $20 per
class for grades 3+.
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Students
learn basic
orienteering techniques, including
how to interpret a map and take a
bearing with a compass,
and are then
challenged to navigate their way
along an outdoor
orienteering course.
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APPLE
CIDERING
Children use an old-fashioned
screw press to make and sample apple cider. In the
process, they
learn about the colonial
experience of cider making and get a glimpse
of Americana pre MTV. Groups
must bring 3-5 apples per child and
a container to take home any extra cider. |
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AQUATIC
ADVENTURE
Turtles, frogs and other pond
critters that reside in our live animal museum are used
to teach young children about
aquatic
life. A
visit to our pond to look for
signs of who’s home and to observe the
diversity of an aquatic
habitat is part
of
this adventure.
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POND
ECOLOGY
There’s an abundance of life
and activity in a seemingly quiet pond. Students visit our pond and “dip” for pond
critters. They investigate the
interrelationships of plants and animals and the adaptations of
each. They uncover aquatic niches and learn about life
cycles. This program is designed to create an
understanding of a
pond’s balance of life. Teachers may choose forstudents to
conduct water tests (pH, temperature, turbidity).
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FOREST
ECOLOGY
Forests tell a story.
Students learn to deduce the history of a woodland
by “reading the
landscape”. They also uncover some of the differences between
deciduous and coniferous forests by doing field-testing of
forest
plots, studying the flora and fauna of the forest and making field
observations.
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A BUG’S
LIFE
They’re everywhere, so let’s
get to know them! Learn
how their life
cycles compare to our
own. Discover
their
adaptations for survival. See them
eye-to-eye in our indoor honeybee hive. Search for them outdoors
in the forest and the field. Learn how we depend on
insects. Live
insects and their
relatives are used in this
program.
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WINTER
BIRD BUDDIES
Using birds from our live
animal museum, students
are introduced
to the basics of avian
anatomy. They
learn how to identify
some of our common winter
residents, why some birds migrate and how others adapt to winter
life. Children make a pinecone feeder that they hang outdoors at
the Nature Center and look for winged visitors snacking on
tasty
offerings. (No peanuts are used.)
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MAPLE
SUGARING
Students learn about the
history of maple sugaring in America by visiting our
sugar bush and
seeing how trees are tapped and
sap is collected. (Sap tasting,
when available, is encouraged.) Native American and
colonial
techniques of syrup making are demonstrated at
our outdoor sugaring
sites. Students can challenge
their taste buds by seeing if they
can tell the difference between corn syrup and the “real
thing”, 100%
maple syrup.
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Your resource for fun and hands-on
learning!
