McDuffie Environmental Education Center

Beavers

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Learning Adventures
Scheduling a Visit
Tips for a Good Visit
Driving Directions

In the end we will conserve that which we love, we will love only that which we understand and we will understand only that which we are taught."
Baba Dioum

Welcome

The McDuffie Environmental Education Center (MEEC) is a collaboration between the McDuffie County Board of Education, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Educational Technology Training Center - Fort Discovery, National Science Center - Fort Discovery, CSRA Resource Conservation and Development Council (RC & D), the Watson-Brown Foundation and CSRA RESA. This project provides teachers a unique site to take students for a hands-on outdoor experience. Lessons are tied to the Georgia Performance Standards in this diverse biologically and technologically rich site.

The McDuffie Environmental Education Center provides students with stimulating, outdoor learning experiences about the ecology of our wildlife, water, soils, and forests and the stewardship of these important natural resources.

The MEEC offers three diverse habitats and trails, a hands-on self-directed discovery room, and several outdoor classroom areas. Two certified teachers are on hand to coordinate instruction.

Moving From Good to Great

The MEEC is working to move from "good to great" by adapting our program to better meet a learning focused curriculum aligned with the Georgia Performance Standards. The search for new activities is ongoing.

Learning Adventures

Grade Level Appropriate Programs
- Kindergarten - Discovering Nature through the Senses
- 1st grade - Living Things and Their Needs
- 2nd grade - Butterflies
- 3rd grade - Beavers
- 4th grade - Birds
- 5th grade - General Science
- 6th grade - Earth Science
- 7th grade - Life Science
- 8th grade - Same as 6th grade until GPS changes with Casting Off on Math added
Scheduling Visits

Teachers should plan to schedule field trips during fair weather months (Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., March, April and May) of each school year; however, December, January and February are open if you desire cold months. It is recommended that dates be booked 3-6 months in advance in order to secure desired dates.

Sign of the Beaver
Why do you think a tree felled by a beaver always falls toward the water?

Nature's Builder

The beaver's ability to change the landscape is only second to humans. At the MEEC, the beaver is a keystone species. A keystone species is one that changes the natural environment in such a way that the whole ecosystem builds upon the change. The wetland, formed as a result of beaver dams, increases biodiversity by creating new wetland environments for other species. Their dams help to slow the flow of flood-waters, prevent erosion, raise the water table and help to purify ground water.