Field Station Explorers: Raccoon Curriculum
Join Rocky Raccoon as we study the following topics:
September: Awakening the Senses
Students will begin the school year by using their senses to explore the habitats around the Field Station. These activities include blindfolded walks, identifying mystery objects using the sense of touch, scavenger hunts, and various teambuilding games.
October: How Plants Grow
Learn about pollination, germination, seed dispersal, and root systems in these lessons about plant growth. Students will examine several species of flowers and learn about the important parts of its structure. They will sort different kinds of seeds and determine how they spread through a game of seed charades. They will create a large model of a plant as they explore how water and food moves through plants. Students will also go on scavenger hunts and create artwork depicting flowers and identifying roots and rhizomes in plants.
November: Trees
This month the students will expand their study of plants to include trees. They will begin studying pine trees and the unique whorls of branches for each year of growth. Students will paint a tree that is their same age using these characteristics. They will also examine bark, needles, leaves, and twigs from various kinds of trees to compare and contrast between species. The students will also create a drawing of a cross section of a tree that is their same age with events from their life marked in the rings. As we study about trees, we will spend a lot of time exploring the woods and playing woodland games.
December: National Parks
Hawaii Volcanoes, Crater Lake, and Yellowstone National Parks are the focus of study this month. All three parks have geothermal features that spark interest in children. Students will be learning about impact craters as they experiment with gravity and drop balls of different sizes and weights into buckets of sand. They will compare these craters to calderas, formed by volcanic activity. Students will create a volcano from homemade dough and perform eruptions. They will also study geysers and create their own eruptions as well as witness a larger chemical reaction.
January: Animal Adaptations
Students will learn how animals adapt to fit into their environment. They will learn how adaptations help animals find food and escape predation. Camouflage games and activities that use the senses will emphasize these traits. Explorers will also learn about bizarre animals that are perfectly suited for certain habitats. Students will make crafts that depict these animals. Students will also attend a National Park Service program on winter adaptations and will snowshoe if there is sufficient snow. (Snowshoe Photos)
February: Wildlife Tracking
Everyone knows that animals are living in the woods around the school even though we don’t always see them. This month we will learn all about the clues they leave behind that allow us to track where and how they live. The students will solve the Mystery of the Tricky Tracks as they learn about animal footprints in the snow or mud. They will also play a game of Trackster and track memory. Students will hop, waddle, and run across gait mats that force them to move like an animal and create a painting of these track patterns. They will also learn about how animals cache food for the winter and will search for squirrel middens and other feeding sites. Learning about scat is always popular! The students will be bringing home clay models of the kinds of scat that we find locally. Finally, we will discuss scent marking in mammals and follow a scent trail through the woods to determine which animals are lurking near the Field Station.
March: Spring Thaw
This month we will learn how plants and animals react to the changing environment as the seasons change from winter to spring. We will discuss how plants wake up from their dormancy and students will attend the National Park Service program on maple sugaring. We will also discuss reptiles and amphibians and their techniques for survival during the winter. We will conduct experiments with freezing to learn more about the wood frog and how it copes with the cold. Students will also play a game that teaches them about some anti-predation adaptations in amphibians and reptiles as they try to avoid a hungry fox in a tag game. Finally, we will learn about the first wildflowers to emerge in the spring and will search for them on a spring hike. Students will create a toy depicting these flowers.
April: Animal Nurseries (Nurseries Photos)
How animals raise their young is always a curious topic for children. This month we will discuss nursery sites including nests, tree cavities, burrows, dens, lodges, galls, hives, and vernal pools. Students will search for good nursery sites on hikes and create a wild den in a place they think will be ideal for raising young. Students will learn how animals work together to raise young as they demonstrate how to run an ant colony. They will also create paintings of animal homes and construct a nest. Vernal pools will be discussed as temporary nursery sites for amphibians and reptiles in the spring.
May: Explorations
Students will participate in their stewardship project during the first week. Projects are chosen as needed in the area near the school. They will also hike along the Little Calumet River in a long adventure on over 2 miles of trail. The Explorers school year will conclude with the annual Build-a-Boat day where the students create boats from natural objects and race them on the creek near the school.
September: Awakening the Senses
Students will begin the school year by using their senses to explore the habitats around the Field Station. These activities include blindfolded walks, identifying mystery objects using the sense of touch, scavenger hunts, and various teambuilding games.
October: How Plants Grow
Learn about pollination, germination, seed dispersal, and root systems in these lessons about plant growth. Students will examine several species of flowers and learn about the important parts of its structure. They will sort different kinds of seeds and determine how they spread through a game of seed charades. They will create a large model of a plant as they explore how water and food moves through plants. Students will also go on scavenger hunts and create artwork depicting flowers and identifying roots and rhizomes in plants.
November: Trees
This month the students will expand their study of plants to include trees. They will begin studying pine trees and the unique whorls of branches for each year of growth. Students will paint a tree that is their same age using these characteristics. They will also examine bark, needles, leaves, and twigs from various kinds of trees to compare and contrast between species. The students will also create a drawing of a cross section of a tree that is their same age with events from their life marked in the rings. As we study about trees, we will spend a lot of time exploring the woods and playing woodland games.
December: National Parks
Hawaii Volcanoes, Crater Lake, and Yellowstone National Parks are the focus of study this month. All three parks have geothermal features that spark interest in children. Students will be learning about impact craters as they experiment with gravity and drop balls of different sizes and weights into buckets of sand. They will compare these craters to calderas, formed by volcanic activity. Students will create a volcano from homemade dough and perform eruptions. They will also study geysers and create their own eruptions as well as witness a larger chemical reaction.
January: Animal Adaptations
Students will learn how animals adapt to fit into their environment. They will learn how adaptations help animals find food and escape predation. Camouflage games and activities that use the senses will emphasize these traits. Explorers will also learn about bizarre animals that are perfectly suited for certain habitats. Students will make crafts that depict these animals. Students will also attend a National Park Service program on winter adaptations and will snowshoe if there is sufficient snow. (Snowshoe Photos)
February: Wildlife Tracking
Everyone knows that animals are living in the woods around the school even though we don’t always see them. This month we will learn all about the clues they leave behind that allow us to track where and how they live. The students will solve the Mystery of the Tricky Tracks as they learn about animal footprints in the snow or mud. They will also play a game of Trackster and track memory. Students will hop, waddle, and run across gait mats that force them to move like an animal and create a painting of these track patterns. They will also learn about how animals cache food for the winter and will search for squirrel middens and other feeding sites. Learning about scat is always popular! The students will be bringing home clay models of the kinds of scat that we find locally. Finally, we will discuss scent marking in mammals and follow a scent trail through the woods to determine which animals are lurking near the Field Station.
March: Spring Thaw
This month we will learn how plants and animals react to the changing environment as the seasons change from winter to spring. We will discuss how plants wake up from their dormancy and students will attend the National Park Service program on maple sugaring. We will also discuss reptiles and amphibians and their techniques for survival during the winter. We will conduct experiments with freezing to learn more about the wood frog and how it copes with the cold. Students will also play a game that teaches them about some anti-predation adaptations in amphibians and reptiles as they try to avoid a hungry fox in a tag game. Finally, we will learn about the first wildflowers to emerge in the spring and will search for them on a spring hike. Students will create a toy depicting these flowers.
April: Animal Nurseries (Nurseries Photos)
How animals raise their young is always a curious topic for children. This month we will discuss nursery sites including nests, tree cavities, burrows, dens, lodges, galls, hives, and vernal pools. Students will search for good nursery sites on hikes and create a wild den in a place they think will be ideal for raising young. Students will learn how animals work together to raise young as they demonstrate how to run an ant colony. They will also create paintings of animal homes and construct a nest. Vernal pools will be discussed as temporary nursery sites for amphibians and reptiles in the spring.
May: Explorations
Students will participate in their stewardship project during the first week. Projects are chosen as needed in the area near the school. They will also hike along the Little Calumet River in a long adventure on over 2 miles of trail. The Explorers school year will conclude with the annual Build-a-Boat day where the students create boats from natural objects and race them on the creek near the school.
