School Programs
Grades served: ECE
– 5th Grade
Site Program Length:
* Site visits occur Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
* 9:30am-12:30pm in the fall & spring
* 10:00am-12:00pm during the winter quarter
Pre-trip Classroom Presentations:
* Schedule throughout the day on Mondays and Fridays
* 1 hour
Outdoor Environmental Education:
Take your students on an ed-venture into the natural
world. Explore Life Science in real life. When you
register for a Bluff Lake Nature Center Explorer's
program for elementary school students, you get more
than a field trip; you enter into a long-term relationship
with professional staff that will help you meet your
Colorado Life Science Standards.
All of our curricula are based on Colorado State Standards
for Science Education. It is our goal that you and
your students walk away from this experience with
a better understanding of key science concepts along
with a feeling of connectedness to our natural world. |
Students
discover nature with sensory exploration.
Equipped with binoculars and journals,
students experience special wildlife habitats
within an urban setting.
|
Pre-Trip Classroom Visit:
Prior to our classroom visit you will receive an Explorer's
Pack in the mail. This will contain pre-trip and post-trip
activities, a parent letter, a map and vocabulary words.
Approximately one week prior to your field experience, a
Bluff Lake Instructor will come to your class. During this
pre-trip visit we will give your students the background
information they need, conduct group activities, and answer
questions. Your students will then be ready for their field
experience.
Site Visit Field Trip: Your
Bluff Lake visit will begin with a general
introduction and then your class will be broken up into 3 groups. Each group will visit a hands-on activity station led by one of our Education Volunteers. Each station will incorporate games and activities, journaling and writing, and exploration to teach the concepts outline in each Life Science Grade Level Expectation.
Assessment Program: All BLNC Explorer's programs begin with a pre-trip assessment to help us gauge your students' current experience with the relevant scientific concepts. We will wrap-up with a post trip assessment to see how much they have learned.
Scholarship Program: Since
our beginning in 1995, it has been our goal to ensure that
all students, regardless of financial circumstances, have
the opportunity to learn about nature. All public schools
receive free programs. If your school is rated at 50% or
higher enrollment in the “Free and Reduced Lunch”
program, we will also offer your school partial to full reimbursement for
school bus expenses.
Sheltering and English Language Learners:
We offer all of our curriculum in Spanish and English. All
of our programs use sheltered English techniques to reach
a broad spectrum of ELL. We have a bilingual staff for your
monolingual Spanish speaking students.
Our Programs:
- Sensory Discovery (Grades ECE and K): Use all of your senses to explore Bluff Lake and discover how animals use their senses. Based on Life Science GLE Preschool #1.
- Healthy Habitats (Grades 1-2): Discover the different habitats at Bluff Lake, which animals live in each habitat and what they need to survive. Based on Life Science GLE 1st Grade #2 and 2nd Grade #1 and #2.
- Life Cycles (Grades 2-4): Learn about the different life cycles of various animals and how they are connected to all other animals, including humans. Based Life Science GLE 3rd Grade #1. This program is only available in April and May.
- Wetland Wonders (Grades 3-5): Learn what makes a wetland a wetland, what animals live there, and how a wetland is nature’s way of cleaning water. Based on Life Science GLE 4th Grade #1 and #3.
- Winter Wonders (ECE-5th, January 1 – March 25): Discover a winter world at Bluff Lake and learn about the different winter adaptations of Colorado animals.
2010/2011 School Year Registration: Teachers may register over the phone in about 10-15 minutes. Call Susan at 303-344-1649 to schedule both your field trip and the pre-trip classroom visit. Please have email addresses and phone numbers for all teachers on your team. Registration begins on August 16 for all schools within 5 miles of Bluff Lake. Low-income public schools (50% or higher enrollment in the free and reduced lunch program) may begin registering on August 23. All other schools may register on August 30.
click here to find your school's registration date
For more information call Susan at 303-344-1649. |
