School Programs at Fairfield Nature Center

Students will compare characteristics of different animals and discover how they use their body parts to move from place to place, find food, water, and shelter. Students will observe the similarities and differences of each animal’s characteristics with an up-close look. Program includes live animals, mounted specimens, and other educational tools.

Get your feathers ruffled as we uncover the unique characteristics of birds. Explore different beaks, feathers, feet, and behaviors to determine how these features help birds survive in different habitats. Program includes live bird,, feathers, bones, and other props. In fair weather at the Fairfield Nature Center, this program will include observing birds outdoors.

Students learn about the special adaptations of raptors and the role they play om the ecosystem. Includes 2 to 3 raptors and props.

Students will discuss the term weather and describe different types of weather using their five senses. Students will observe their local weather conditions and record their findings. Additionally, students will conduct an observation and experiment on how clouds “make” rain.

Students will:
• Observe and predict what happens to the natural elements of their local habitat
• Learn the process of setting up and carrying out an experiment

Students make observations of plants and animals in different woodland habitats while investigating the interdependence of living organisms in the woodland.

Their reliance and respect for natural resources in every day life long ago. Hands-on activities include daily life skills such as food preparation, wigwam building, and wampum bracelet making. Students will experience the forest as a traditional resource for daily needs.

Students will observe a local area seasonally (fall, winter, spring) throughout the school year and record observable changes to their surroundings (what happens to the plants/animals). Students will make predictions as to what will happen or make discoveries about life cycles by exploring 2 to 3 habitats.

Students explore the idea of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

While studying our center animals and those we find on our sanctuary, students observe their external structures and learn about their functions.
Students see the patterns that all organisms have similarities and differences

Let’s explore how some living things change forms throughout the year in our local environment! Students will have a hands-on experience exploring the life cycles of the plants and animals that we discover in different habitats.

Students engage in the scientific method as they conduct hands-on investigations about water erosion. Students make predictions, run experimental trials, record their observations, and draw conclusions about the impact of water on land.

Students look at the diversity of life in each different habitat using a variety of science tools. Students will understand that organisms have basic needs and need to live in a particular habitat to meet those needs.

Students investigate natural spaces and make observations of plants and signs of animals. Students discuss and identify different seed dispersal techniques with a focus on how animals assist in this process.

Students analyze weather phenomena of at least two habitats, seek evidence of specific weather conditions and use their data to make inferences about animal abundance and behavior.

Students collect and analyze data on at least two habitats an look for evidence of human impact. Students discuss the implications of how humans may have changed the habitat in positive and negative ways and propose solutions to habitat degradation.

Students observe how different factors (e.g.. water, wind, vegetation, slope) affect weathering and erosion, that different habitats experience different rates and forms of weathering and erosion, and the impact of these phenomena on natural and built environments.

Students explore at least 3 habitats on site and investigate animal and plant external structures that support survival, growth, behavior and reproduction.

Students develop their understanding of water as a natural resource, the source and impacts of water pollution, water’s locations and movements on Earth, and as a molecule through the water cycle. Students examine at least two habitats to investigate the presence of water in each habitat.

Students witness and identify adaptations of various organisms in their natural habitats, which helps them understand the relationship between adaptations of an organism and the characteristics of their surrounding environment. Students explore how energy moves through an ecosystem, how organism’s adaptations helps them obtain energy, and how all organisms are interdependent.

Students observe, collect data, and use models to examine various geological phenomena. They “solve” the puzzle of the shape of our land via weathering, erosion, and deposition of sediments. Students gain a broader understanding of geologic processes and how they influence our daily lives.