All programs are 2 hours in length. The settings include both indoor classrooms (room capacity = 30) and outdoor walking trails through woodlands and aquatic ecosystems.
All programs are aligned with the ALCOS and National Science Standards.
Kindergarten - Turtles are Terrific!
Activities include:
Viewing live animal specimens in the indoor classrooms
Identification of living vs. non-living
Up close animal presentations with turtles and maybe a couple of other related animals
Nature walk (weather permitting)
Program covers Alabama Course of Study for Science #3, 4, & 6
1st grade – Good Earth Manners
Activities and learning objectives:
Students will develop a set of guidelines for exploring and enjoying nature.
Numerous live animal presentations are used to help teach students the appropriate way to show living things respect.
Students will get a chance to practice their new skills while viewing live animal specimens in the indoor classroom and in the wildlife habitat area outside.
Program covers Alabama Course of Study for Science #6 & 7.
2nd Grade - Wonderful Wildlife
Activities and learning objectives:
Viewing live animal specimens in the indoor classroom
Up close animal presentation
Students will interact with a variety of native animals from land and water as we discuss each one’s habitat
Students will develop an understanding of the value in our wild animals and places and learn ways they too can “treasure” them.
Program covers Alabama Course of Study for Science #7
3rd grade - Adaptations Exploration
Living organisms are adapted to their environment. This means that the way they look, the way they behave, how they are built, or their way of life makes them suited to survive and reproduce in their habitats.
Activities and learning objectives:
Viewing live animal specimens in the indoor classroom and recording observations in a field journal.
Students will develop an understanding of form and function.
Students will practice recording physical and behavioral characteristics of living things indoors and outdoors.
Program covers Alabama Course of Study for Science #6, 9, 10, and 11.
4th grade – Animal Classification
Activities and learning objectives:
Students will use a field journal to record their observations of the animals they encounter indoors and outdoors.
Using the biodiversity of life in the classroom displays, students will be guided through a lesson on how to classify animals according to their structures.
Through many hands-on demonstrations, students will discover the function of many animal structures.
Using their observation data students will construct a graph of the evidence they find in the wildlife habitat area.
Program covers Alabama Course of Study for Science #8 and #9
5th Grade – Ecosystems
Student observations in this program will focus on the bigger picture and how living and nonliving things in the environment interact within an ecosystem.
Activities and learning objectives:
Students will use a field journal to record their observations of the ecosystems they encounter indoors and outdoors.
Students will develop an understanding of how each living thing contributes to the ecosystem vitality (i.e. food chains, keystone species, and bioindicators).
Human disturbances to ecosystems will be discussed as we explore invasive species and wildlife habitat projects that help to mitigate the loss of wildlife habitat in our region.
Program covers Alabama Course of Study for Science #8, 9, and 14.
