Outreach
Bring the fun of a Nature Center Field Trip to your school!
If you can’t make it to the Dunwoody Nature Center for a field trip, let the Nature Center come to your school for an outreach program. Our naturalists travel to your school with a variety of natural teaching materials that will educate students in an experiential manner. Each of our environmental programs is tailored to a specific grade and is correlated to the Georgia Standards of Excellence. Expect the program to be packed full of interactive games and hands-on, STEM-based activities that supplement the student’s classroom learning.
To book your field trip, call the program office at 770-394-3322, or email holly@dunwoodynature.org
Programs
Adaptable for Every Grade Level
Skulls, Skins, and Scat (60 min)
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.
Reptile Roundup (60 min)
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.
Preschool and Headstart
Butterfly Beginnings (30 min)
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.
Discover Nature (30 min)
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!
Kindergarten
Nature Makes Sense (30 min)
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.
First Grade
Milkweed to Monarchs (60 min)
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 Monarch butterfly.
Meets GSE S1L1.
Plant Parts (60 min)
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.
Second Grade
Metamorphosis Magic (60 min)
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
Third Grade
Monarch Migration (60 min)
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
Rocks and Minerals (60 min)
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
Fourth Grade
Food Webs and Chains (60 min)
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
Water, Water Everywhere (60 min)
Students turn into water drops and simulate the movement of water within the water cycle. Some will get stuck in the clouds, while other 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
Fifth Grade
Sorting It Out (60 min)
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
REGISTRATION POLICY
Outreach programs for Pre-school and Kindergarten classes are 30 minutes long. The cost is $100 ($75 for each additional program). 30 students maximum per program. Outreach programs for 1st-5th grade classes are approximately 1 hour long. The cost is $200 ($100 for each additional program). 30 students maximum per program.
No travel fee for 0-20 miles from Dunwoody Nature Center.
$30 for 21-30 miles from Dunwoody Nature Center
$40 for 31-40 miles from Dunwoody Nature Center
$50 for 41-50 miles from Dunwoody Nature Center
A deposit of $50 is required to secure your outreach program. The deposit will be applied to the balance of your program. You may pay via credit card by phone or you may mail a check for the deposit. If you need an invoice prior to paying the deposit, call the Nature Center and one will be provided to you. All deposits are non-refundable, but may be applied to a future program if you cancel our visit. The balance will be due on the day of the program.
Financial support may be available for Title 1 funded schools. Please inquire by emailing the program office at programs@dunwoodynature.org or calling 770-394-3322.
Outreach requests are taken by email (programs@dunwoodynature.org) or by calling our program office at 770-394-3322.