School Programs and Registration

Preschoolers celebrate autumn through this interactive program. Activities include: reading the story, Squirrel’s Fall Search; taking a leaf hunt in the woods; exploring leaf shapes; and making a craft they can take home.

Offered: Fall
Length: 2 hours, with outdoor hike

Preschoolers will learn about bears and what they eat in this hands-on program. Activities include: reading a story, Bear Snores On; learning what bears eat; scavenging like a bear; making a craft to take home; and taking a hike in the woods.

Offered: Spring
Length: 2 hours, with outdoor hike

Screech, Saw-whet and Great Horned are all names of Michigan owls. From tall to small, preschoolers will explore and learn facts about owls. Activities include: learning the different sounds owls make; seeing how owls eat; making a craft to take home; and taking a hike in the woods.

Offered: Fall, Winter, and Spring
Length: 2 hours, with outdoor hike

Preschoolers will learn about insects through this interactive program. Activities include: learning insect characteristics; exploring bug life at centers; and finding insects while taking a hike in the woods.

Offered: Spring
Length: 2 hours, with outdoor hike

Preschoolers will explore the world of Jan Brett, American illustrator and writer of children’s picture books, through her book, The Mitten.
Activities include: using fine motor skills to lace a paper mitten; sequencing animals; and looking for animal tracks during a wintery woodland hike.

Offered: Winter
Length: 2 hours with outdoor hike

Kindergartners will be engaged in differentiating wants vs. needs of an animal, learning what animals need in their habitat, and engineering a nest as if they are a bird.

Offered: Fall and Spring
NGSS: K-LS1-1., K-2-ETS1-2.

First graders will learn about the structures and functions of animals during this hands-on program. Students will learn about animals’
feet. They also will explore the fur and other body coverings of animals, and how their body covering helps them survive.

Offered: Fall and Spring
NGSS: 1-LS1-1.

Second graders will be actively engaged in this pollination activity. They will also learn different ways seeds are dispersed in nature. Students will collect data to examine the diversity of plant life
and natural habitats.

Offered: Fall and Spring
NGSS: 2-LS2-2., 2-LS4-1.

Third graders will get a hands-on look at the Pine River ecosystem. Students will learn how to identify and classify benthic macro-invertebrates. They also will learn about life cycles and invasive
species. Waterproof boots are recommended. An extra pair of shoes is required.

Offered: Spring
NGSS: 3-LS1-1., 3-LS4-3.

Fourth graders will examine the nature center’s bird and mammal taxidermy models to identify external physical structures and how they help animals survive. Students will also engineer a creature with an adaptation of their choosing. Students will explore plant parts and functions and discuss plant adaptations. They will go
outdoors to see why maple trees produce so many seeds.

Offered: Fall and Spring
NGSS: 4-LS1-1.

Fifth graders will explore the woods in this hands-on field trip. They will search for different ecosystems in the nature center’s 80 acres of diverse habitats. Students, working in teams, will decipher 10 clues about the different ecosystems at the nature center.

Offered: Fall and Spring
NGSS: 5-LS2-1., 5-PS3-1.