School Programs
Grades served: ECE
– 5th Grade
Site Program Length:
3 hours in the fall & spring
1.5 hours during the winter quarter
Pre-trip Classroom Presentations:
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 dip nets,
students experience special wildlife habitats
within an urban setting.
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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
small groups. Each group will have a BLNC
Instructor who will conduct a 3-hour hike.
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 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, K,
1): Use all of your senses to explore Bluff Lake
and discover how animals use their senses.
- Healthy Habitats (Grades 1-2): Discover the different habitats at Bluff Lake, which animals
live in each habitat and what they need to survive.
- 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.
- 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.
- Winter Wonders (ECE-5th, January
1 – March 15): Discover a winter world at
Bluff Lake and learn about the different winter adaptations
of Colorado animals.
2008/2009 School Year Registration: Teachers may register over the phone in about 10 minutes. Call Susan at 303-344-1649 to schedule both your field trip and the pre-trip classroom visit. Registration begins on August 25th 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 September 2nd. All other schools may being registering on September 8th.
For more information call Susan at 303-344-1649.
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