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Grades 3 - 8
Wild Kingdom
This class is an introduction to wildlife study; components of habitat, predator-prey relationships, and food chains are the basics of understanding wildlife needs and survival. We will use games/activities to teach these concepts. We also have the taxidermied animals in Creation Station to point students to the God who created these animals with a variety of "adaptations" so they could survive in a wonderfully complex world.
Grades 3 - 8 Animals Fall Spring Winter
Wet and Wild
This hands-on exploration of the edges of Little James Lake is one of our favorite classes. Students will see a wide variety of plants and animals as we collect and observe frogs, minnows, crayfish, and aquatic insects. We will begin with discussion about the values of these "riparian" communities and why the Creator made them. Then we'll go outdoors and use the hip waders and aquatic nets. This class is especially fun in spring when the frogs are abundant.
Grades 3 - 8 Animals Fall Spring
Behold the Birds of the Air
An introductory study of birds will teach us something about intelligent design in creation. Students will learn about the incredible features of birds. Using binoculars, we will observe birds at the bird feeders and out in the woods, and learn to identify common species by sound and sight.
Grades 3 - 8 Animals Spring
Animal Tracks and Signs
We can have a pretty good idea of what is happening with wildlife around us if we learn to “read” animal tracks and other signs. Students will use rubber-mold animal feet and plaster of paris to make "take home" track casts. Then they will go outdoors to hunt for some real tracks.
Grades 3 - 8 Animals Fall Spring
Mysteries of the Bog
What is it about bogs that fascinates us, causing students to react with exclamations like, “awesome,” “gross,” and “may we go to the bog again?” We will hike to Blueberry Bog, a glacially-formed kettle bog that features a large mass of sphagnum peat moss to walk on and two kinds of carnivorous plants to observe. Stay on the boardwalk to keep your feet dry or take your shoes off and feel the wet sphagnum with your bare feet!
Grades 3 - 8 General Ecology Fall Spring