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The programs at the Douglas Center can be adapted to fit any timeframe
between one and four hours.
Schedule early...send
an email with the program, date, time and class size to schedule.
The Programs available are for Lake County, Indiana teachers, students,
churches, clubs and organizations.
Butterflies
Goal: Butterflies introduces students to
the concept of Endangered Species. Students learn several basic biological
concepts - protective coloration, parts of a flower, and strategies employed by
both hunters and the hunted in the real backdrop of Miller Woods. Students also
explore cycles in nature and cycles in their own world.
Description: This program opens with a
metaphoric wide-angle lens, creating and populating a mural meadow in which
paper animals will gradually tell the stories of camouflage, predator/prey and
survival behavior in the real outdoors.
Target Age: Pre-K through 3rd grade
Earth Walks
Goal: To learn more about the
environment in our own backyard - The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
Description: Miller Woods makes a great
classroom. Come wander through the rolling oak savannahs and spectacular
wetlands of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
Target Age: Pre-K through High School
On Sandy Shores
Goal: Students explore and deepen their
understanding of many aspects of the "sandy shore," from grains of sand to
commonly found animals to more complex biological and ecological interactions.
Description: Students examine and sort beach
litter, identifying objects that will eventually become sand. Students use
language skills to describe sandy locations and look at samples of sand from all
over the world.
Target Age: Pre-K through High School
Ladybugs
Goal: To learn about body structure, life
cycle and basic animal form and ecology.
Description: Ladybug is science and math
based with strong literature tie-ins. They absorb math concepts of counting,
symmetry, and pattern as they indulge their curiosity about this charming
insect. Important lessons are learned about the environmental role of ladybugs
and the interdependence found in nature.
Target Age: Pre-K through 5th Grade
Buzzing a Hive
Goal: To learn about the complex social
behavior, communication, and hive environment of the honeybee.
Description: Students get a good
introduction to the honeybee's extravagant communication system and intricate
behavior. In a series of activities that build on one another, the children make
paper bee models to learn about bee body structure; act as bees in a beehive
drama, taking the parts of guard bees and otehrs in the hive; perform bee dances
to learn how bees communicate; and learn about bee predators and honey robbers.
Target Age: Pre-K through 5th Grade
Rain Drops and Oil
Goal: To introduce young students to the
properties of matter. The activities are designed to prompt discussions about
environmental issues such as oil slicks and educate students about household
hazardous wastes.
Description: In a series of fun and fluid
activities, young students explore the properties of different liquids. First
they sort and classify, observe how food coloring moves through different
liquids, and leave with a "Great Lake in a Bottle."
Target Age: 1st through 5th Grade
Tree Homes
Goal: To encourage an appreciation for
trees and the animals that live in them.
Description: This field trip is designed to
stimulate children's interest in the world around them and in the biological
need for warmth and shelter. It introduces different parenting and nesting
strategies and compares the characteristics and behaviors of various tree home
animals.
Target Age:
Pre-K through 3rd Grade
Homes in a Pond
Goal: This interactive life science
program conveys key environmental concepts - habitats, life cycles, diversity of
life.
Description: Come to the Douglas Center for
some close encounters with creatures that live in ponds. Using nets, explore our
outdoor pond where smaller forms of life, such as dragonfly nymphs, snails and
water boatmen make their home.
Target Age:
1st Grade through High School
Worm World
Goal: To become familiar with basic
ecological concepts: change, cycles, relationships, energy flow, ecosystem
structures and function as they explore a worm's world.
Description: Hmmmmmmm...Dirt, Worm World
springboards from youngster's fascination with the stuff to explore the
properties of soil - a natural resource we take for granted. This program brings
this hidden world up close, deepening as they transform garbage into gardens.
Target Age:
Pre-K through High School
Ecology in the Dunes
Goal: This program nurtures
curiosity about patterns and interactions in nature.
Description: Students learn key ecological
and biological concepts as they investigate the trails of Miller Woods. A bush
becomes a "community" of interacting plants and animals. If requested, a special
investigation can focus on ants or spiders. This field trip sparks the
excitement of discovery and nurtures a sense of stewardship toward living
things. Come wander the rolling oak savannas and spectacular wetlands of the
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and discover "Ecology in the Dunes".
Target Age: Pre-K through 12th grades
Environmental Detectives
Goal: To understand the many
sources of water pollution and the interconnectedness of the natural world.
Description: A complex environmental problem
is built around a fictional watershed. Students perform chemical and biological
tests to catch the culprit(s), and track changes to the environment.
Target Age: 4th through 12th grades
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