OUTREACH

Students will explore skins, skulls, scat, and tracks of Georgian mammals, reptiles, and birds. The students will count how many teeth an alligator has or admire the various colors of a bobcat’s fur. They will learn how these animals use their unique skins and skulls to survive in Georgia. Lastly, they will play an animal “concentration game” matching up skins, skulls, tracks, and scat to various animals.

What makes turtles and snakes reptiles? How are they different from amphibians or mammals? Students will learn these differences through a hands-on comparison of skulls, skins, and scat from various reptiles and mammals. Lastly, the students will enjoy an encounter with our resident corn snake and learn about its unique characteristics.

Did you know that butterflies were caterpillars when they were babies? Learning the stages of butterfly metamorphosis is a perfect introduction to learning about life cycles for young students. Students will learn the parts of a butterfly and discover how butterflies survive and reproduce.

Students discover how plants, trees, animals, and even creeks change as the seasons change. Through counting, matching, and sorting, the students focus on the differences between fall, winter, spring, and summer. If the school allows, we will take your students on a nature scavenger hunt around your school!

Animals use all five of their senses to survive in the wild. Through games and hikes, students will turn into animals to better understand how they use these senses to survive.

Meets GSE SKP1, SKL1, SKL2.

Do you know what Milkweed plants need to survive? Students will discover through a game what Milkweed plants and other pollinator plants need to survive. The Milkweed plant is a very important plant for the Monarch butterfly. Students will tour our Butterfly Garden understanding the needs of both the Milkweed plant and the Monarch butterfly.

Meets GSE S1L1.

What makes a plant a plant? What is the inner structure of a tree? Complement your classroom learning with this hands-on, STEM-based field study of plants in Dunwoody Park. Students will learn about the needs of all plants, identify plant parts and their functions, and review photosynthesis.

Meets GSE S1L1.

Did you know that butterflies and frogs begin their lives as eggs? Learning the stages of butterfly and frog metamorphosis is a perfect introduction to learning about life cycles. Students will enjoy a discovery-based nature hike as they visit a pollinator garden and a tadpole pond. Most importantly the students will learn how these little creatures survive in Georgia.

Meets GSE S2L1

Every year 100 million monarch butterflies make an extraordinary journey, some of them traveling all the way from Canada to Mexico, where they will spend the winter. Students undergo metamorphosis, turning into butterflies as they migrate to their overwintering habitat in Mexico. They experience firsthand the challenges that Monarch butterflies face journeying south.

Meets GSE S3L1, S3L2

Through hands-on exploration, your Junior Geologists can learn the basics of minerals, rocks and soil types. Students will compare rocks and minerals and use the Mohs Hardness Scale to determine mineral hardness.

Meets GSE S3E1

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, right? The same is true of nature’s fragile food webs and food chains. Discover the producers, consumers, and decomposers in the four habitats of Dunwoody Park: meadow, forest, wetlands, and stream. Students will engage in STEM-based activities to learn how changes in the environment can affect an ecosystem.

Meets GSE S4L1

Students turn into water drops and simulate the movement of water within the water cycle. Some will get stuck in the clouds, while others will float all the way to the ocean! Students will utilize tools such as a parachute to create energy and to see how water molecules change from solid to liquid to gas in this STEM-based activity.

Meets GSE S4E3

Plants, trees, and animals are all classified in a unique way. Students will learn about this classification system and work together to sort out animal skulls, skins, and scat. Then they’ll match the biofacts to common Georgia reptiles, birds, and mammals. We’ll also take a hike around our 22 acres to look at different trees and practice classification.

Meets GSE S5L1, S5L2