Join us monthly for in depth Maine ecology lessons at Hidden Valley Nature Center. Each month will focus on a different theme in support of Maine Studies and science requirements. This program is intended for students ages 7-14. Younger siblings may tag along with a parent.
At the start of each visit, participants will meet their naturalist educator at the parking lot and walk ⅓ mile to the Bezon Barn, our rustic, woodstove heated classroom space. Students choose a tree to follow through its seasonal changes and engage in monthly nature journaling. Each month’s focus changes with the seasons, but includes interactive presentations, exploration on the trails, ecology games, nature journaling and sketching, and hands-on science activities.
October 9: Understanding Trees and Lichens Adopt a tree to journal at and follow through the year. Play the tree factory game, explore vital roles trees play in the ecosystem. Learn what lichens are, and hike to practice tree identification and search for the three types of lichen.
November 13: Hike and Beavers Check on and record changes at your adopted tree, 2 - 2.5 mile hike with journals looking at Beaver habitat, diet, family life, adaptations, housing, and dams. Tree identification practice and habitat exploration.
December 11: Skulls and Pelts Examine and sketch replica skulls, scat, and real pelts of Maine animals. Explore animal adaptations and differing diets, Bite This activity and the Oh Deer game. Create poetry at your adopted tree.
January 8: Animal Signs and Survival Strategies Learn how different animals walk and what they eat in winter. Search for animal signs in the woods. Discover how animals beat the cold and search for camouflage snowshoe hare cut outs along Warblers Way.
February 12: Animal Tracks and Winter Ecology Make track card necklaces, search for track stories in the snow, and examine plaster track casts. Join kick sled races around the Barn and make bark rubbings at your adopted tree.
March 13: All about Coyotes Compare coyotes and domesticated dogs, facts vs. fiction, their varied diet and their family habits. Become a coyote family member, set your territory, build your den and howl to communicate.
April 10: Vernal Pools What is a vernal pool and who lives there? Hike to different vernal pools counting frog and salamander egg masses, learn about amphibian life cycles, and identify the species you are finding. Journal about the changes spring has brought to your adopted tree.
May 8: Life in a Pond Explore the animals that live in a pond; amphibians, reptiles, and macroinvertebrates. Catch macroinvertebrates using nets and use a taxonomy key to identify your finds. Search for terrestrial invertebrates on and around your adopted tree.
June 11: Pond Hike and Paddle Hike 1.4 miles to Little Dyer Pond, take canoes and paddle boards out on the water enjoying your final visit of the school year.
While we encourage home schoolers to join each month, seeing the transformations on the landscape that each new season brings, we understand that is not always possible. Come when you can but be prepared to jump right in with learning once you arrive.
$15 per student. Registration is essential to our planning.