Looking for ideas for project collaboration between school children and nature centers
I am looking for some ideas on project collaboration between school children and nature centers. Last year we worked with 5th grade students from a local charter school to create ID guides that can be checked out of our center for free. We spent time with the students in class working on plant and animal identification and at the nature center doing surveys to see what is commonly found on the property. The end result was a really cool ID guide (completely generated by students) highlighting common species found here. Each student was assigned an animal or plant and they researched. They also worked with an art teacher to illustrate it in the guide. I loved the result and so did the teachers and students. I've included a picture of the guides created last year. They want to partner with us each year to create a project for the nature center. I’m looking for other ideas. What kind of long term projects have you completed with school children or would love to implement at your center if the resources were available?
Photos: https://dev7.naaee.org/system/files/harmony/images/1120171046.jpg
Great Ideas! Thank you for brainstorming with me. This year I decided that we would have the kids work with our education team on a community program coming up in April. We will be participating with many other sites around Utah in the City Nature Challenge using the Inaturalist app. It is a week-long challenge but our site will be hosting a bio blitz on a Saturday during that week. We are going to work with the students and challenge them to become experts in specific fields to assist other families and students during the bio blitz.
Example: One of the groups (10 kids) will spend the year studying insects and create a cheat sheet of common insects found at our center. On the day of the challenge they will help (along with some adult guidance from local entomologists) individuals identify insects they find and load them in the Inaturalist app.
I love the idea of the website video. I've been toying with the idea of having them create a video about preparing for a field trip. Something teachers can show students before they come on a Nature Center field trip. It could include things like how to dress for the snowshoeing adventure or finding the education classroom. I think I will run that by them for next year. Thanks Again!
Could they produce website content for you? Like a video about Utah plants and animals? Or maybe information that could be used for an interpretive panel at your site?
The South Mountain Environmental Education Center (SMEEC) has "adventure packs" that guests can rent, with information, and hands-on activities (with directions). These are used on self-guided hikes on the trails near the Center. Could this type of programming be adapted for different uses, like field trips?
The Ripirian Preserve here in Arizona has many resources including field trips, day classes, and research projects for the water basins and various bird species that frequent this location. Could species migration be tracked, like in citizen science there are usually scientists looking for those located across the country to help them track migration patterns. They also offer classes ranging from pre-k to high school on researching wildlife species throughout the preserve, and ask students to research topics like: bat and butterfly research, tourism trends, specific species research (currently burrowing owls), vegetation inventories, water percolation on soil chemistry, and more. Maybe having students create brochures to raise awareness of the facility and of the species that need protection in that specified area?