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Teachers, parents and chaperones are encouraged to participate or even to lead an onsite activity. A variety of habitat types - pond, stream, field and forest - as well as an informative, self-interpretive Discovery Room allow for unlimited educational opportunities.
   
Learning Adventures:  SCHEDULING NOW FOR 2007-2008 SCHOOL YEAR

We offer grade specific programs correlated to the Georgia Performance Standards.  Click on your grade level for a list of activities.

 
Kindergarten
     The MEEC curriculum for Kindergarten focuses on the use of the five senses to explore nature at the center.
  • Discovery Room - GPS SKCS1, SKL1, & SKL2 - Students will explore nature by rotating through various learning centers and displays.
  • Computer Lab - GPS ELAKR1, ELAKR6 - The students will utilize the MEEC computer lab by listening to assorted nature bases Discus books.
  • Senses Lab* - GPS SKCS1 - Students will use their senses of smell and touch while participating in two activities:  Find Your Mama and Touch Cans.
  • I Spy Nature (Longleaf Pine Trail) - GPS SKCS1, MKN1 - Back by popular demand, the Longleaf Trail will serve as a test for the sense of sight.  One hundred plastic critters have been hidden along the trail waiting for observant student to spy them.
  • Learning to Look, Looking to See* - GPS SKCS1, SKCS3, SKCS6 - In this activity adapted from Project Wild, students will use hand lenses and binoculars to enhance their sense of sight as they practice making careful observations.
  • Scavenger Hunt - GPS SKCS1 - Students will gather items from the center by recognizing their physical characteristics.
  • Art - As requested by teachers, the MEEC will provide an art station as part of the MEEC experience.

  
Grade 1 ~ Living Things and Their Needs
     The first grade students will focus on the needs of living things and their habitats. 
  • Discovery Room -GPS S1CS1, S1CS7 - Students will explore nature by rotating through various learning centers and displays.
  • Computer Lab - GPS ELA1LSV1 - The students will utilize the MEEC computer lab by listening to assorted nature based Discus books.
  • Cricket Observations* - GPS S1L1, S1CS7 - Students will make observations of crickets by using magnifying boxes.  The needs of animals will be stressed.  At the end of the session, students will release their crickets in a cricket race.  (This activity is seasonal depending on cricket availability.)
  • Counting on Nature - GPS S1CS1, M1N1 - Once again, the Longleaf Pine Trail and its hidden "critters" will assist students in practicing their observation skills.  Students will be give small whiteboards and markers where they can tally the critters as they walk the trail.  A classroom area (seats 30) is available for a short math lesson or rest stop at the midpoint of the trail.  (A larger whiteboard on an easel is available for use in the classroom area upon request.)
  • Habitracks* - GPS S1L1 -  Students will enjoy this adapted Project Wild Activity where they must "track" down the components of an animal's habitat and complete a graphic organizer on their assigned animal's needs.
  • Art - As requested by teachers, the MEEC will provide an art station as part of the MEEC experience.
  • Scavenger Hunt - GPS S1CS1- Students will gather items from the center by recognizing their physical characteristics.
Second Grade
     Through this series of lessons, students will study the life cycle and ecology of butterflies.  Each student will receive a MEEC Booklet that includes tasks to be completed through selected activities.
  • Life Cycle of a Butterfly* - GPS S2L1, S2CS1, S2CS3, S2CS7 - The MEEC will supply butterfly eggs, caterpillars and adult butterflies for student observation using hand lenses and microscopes. Time will also be spent in the new MEEC butterfly garden observing butterflies and discussing their needs.
  • Monarch Migration Game* - GPS S2L1, S2CS1 - This Monarchs In the Classroom activity gives students the chance to pretend they are monarch butterflies migrating to Mexico.  It teachers students some of the hazards butterflies face on this migration, and  introduces them to concepts of tradeoffs for animals.
  • Computer Lab - GPS S2L1 - Students will utilize the MEEC computer lab by listening to assorted nature based Discus books beginning with the Butterflies book.
  • Discovery Room - GPS S2CS1- Students will explore nature by rotating through various learning centers and displays.
  • Scavenger Hunt - GPS S2CS1, ELA2R1 - Students will gather items from the center after identifying them based on written clues in their MEEC booklet.
  • Art - GPS M1G1 - This art activity will stress the symmetry of butterflies using triangles, circles, ovals, and rectangles.

 
Third Grade - The habitats of Georgia will be explored by centering on beavers.       Beavers are the only native mammal, other than man, that will construct their own habitat.  Animal adaptations necessary for survival will also be explored.  Each student will receive a MEEC booklet that included tasks to be completed through selected activities.
  • Beaver Trail - GPS S3L1 - Students will enjoy a hike along the Blackwater Creek Swamp Trail.  A guide included in the MEEC booklet will allow students to practice reading and listening to expository text.
  • Dress a Beaver - GPS S3L1 - This Project Wild activity provides a fun way to remember beaver adaptations as a teacher, student, or parent is "dressed" as a beaver.
  • Beaver Tracks* - GPS S3L1, S3E2 - Students will make a plaster cast of a beaver track.  Fossil formation and the importance of fossil evidence will be explored.
  • Build A Dam* - GPS S3CS1, S3CS5 - After observing a beaver dam as well as manmade dams, students will design and construct a dam that will hold a specific around of water using only natural components.
  • Art Activity- Students will construct a puppet showing the natural adaptations of the beaver.
  • Wheel of Nature - This game format will provide review of the day's activities and as well as CRCT review.
  • Scavenger Hunt -  GPS S3CS1, ELAR1 - Students will gather items from the center after identifying them based on written clues in their MEEC booklet.
  • Discovery Room - GPS S3CS1 - Students will explore nature by rotating through various learning centers and displays.     
Fourth Grade ~ Birds
     Fourth Grade students will engage in hands-on investigations stressing food chains, animal adaptations, and basic math skills.  Each student will  receive a MEEC booklet that includes tasks to be completed through selected activities.
  • Owl Pellet Lab* - GPS S4L1 - The MEEC will provide each student with a barn owl pellet to be dissected using toothpicks.  This lab is a excellent activity to enhance student learning about food chains as the bones of the prey are easily identified using a chart in the MEEC booklet.
  • Bird Brains Math - GPS M4N3, M4N4,M4N5,S4L2 -These fun activities have been adapted from Project Flying Wild and will involve students rotating through a series of math bases stations.
  • Quick Frozen Critters* - GPS S4L1- After this Project Wild Activity, students will be able to describe the relationship between predator and prey and how wildlife population is affected in this infinite cycle.
  • Busy Bird Motel - GPS S4CS2 - This activity simulated a bird monitoring station by creating a "Busy Bird Motel."  Students attempt to count the number of birds and record observations - but they have to work fast!
  • Camouflage Activity - GPS S4L2 - A discussion of the importance of camouflage in the animal world will precede a contest to find hidden colored toothpicks.
  • Scavenger Fact Hunt - GPS S4L2, ELA4R1 - Students will use their understanding of the four cardinal directions as clued to finding bird facts on the MEEC signage.     
Fifth Grade ~ The Environment
      The Fifth grade curriculum is a study of the environment from the past as well as the present and the future.  Each student will receive a MEEC booklet that includes tasks to be completed through selected activities.
  • Introduction to Archaeology* - GPS S5CS1, M5P4,M5D1 - Students will be exposed to the how and why of archaeology through the use of dig boxes (Activity from Watson-Brown Foundation)
  • Cell Structures - GPS S5L3, S5CS3 -  The use of hand lenses and microscopes will allow students to observe cells and their structure.
  • Water Quality Comparisons* - GPS S5P2, S5CS1, S5CS2,S5CS3 -Water quality test kits will be used to chemically compare water samples from wells, ponds and the Blackwater Creek.
  • Fish Sampling Simulations - GPS S5CS1, S5CS2, S5CS5, M5P4 - In this activity, students will simulate a fish survey to determine the population of bluegills in a hypothetical lake using a capture/recapture technique.
  • Creek Walk - GPS S5E1 - Students will hike down the creek trail and observe firsthand the natural erosion and deposition processes.
Sixth Grade ~ Earth Science
     The emphasis on earth science is stressed through the sixth grade curriculum at the MEEC.
  • Soils Lab* - GPS S6E5, S6CS1, S6CS2 - Students will learn first hand that soil consists of weathered rock and decomposed organic material through a series of soil activities.  comparisons of wetland and sandhill soils will be conducted.
  • Float Your Boat - GPS S6CS1, S6CS2, S6CS3, S6CS9 - Students will test their skills in this design contest to successfully build a boat from plastina clay that will support the most weight.
  • Solar Shadows - GPS S6E2,S6E3,S6CS1,S6CS3 - The concept of earth's rotation is easily seen by keeping track of solar shadows on a solar tracking board.  Students will also build a pocket sundial.  (This activity does require a sunny day!)
  • Fossils Lab - GPS S6E5 - Fossil molds will be made from plaster of paris as students discuss the rock cycle and the importance of fossil evidence in studying earth history.
  • Metric Olympics - GPS M6N1, M6N2, M6D1 - Students will enjoy this fun metric activity from AIMS as they compete is different metric events.
7th Grade ~ Life at the MEEC
Students will work through activities that stress the life sciences and math.
  • Microscope Lab - GPS S7CS2, S7L2 - Students will search samples of pond water for microscopic wildlife found at the MEEC.
  • Casting off on Math - GPS M7D1 -  Fishing is taken to a new level with this math activity!  Students will work in pairs to improve their casting skills with a rod and reel equipped with a casting plug.  Students will be casting at a target and will take turns keeping records of attempts and hits.  Information will then be graphed to show accuracy.
  • Potato Manatees:  A Language Arts Simulation* - GPS ELA6W1, ELA6W2,ELA6C1 - Students will test their observation and description abilities as they "capture" a potato manatee, describe it and then return it  to its' herd.  Students will then use the written descriptions to identify the "tagged" potato manatees.
  • Leaf Survey - GPS S7L1 - Students will develop and use a dichotomous key as they identify various trees and shrubs at the MEEC.
  • Oil Spill* - GPS S7L4, S7CS2 - Students will discuss how pollution can impact the environment.  This lab is designed to allow students to understand the difficulties involving oil spill cleanups.
8th Grade ~ Earth Science
     The curriculum for 8th grade will be the same as the sixth grade activities until the GPS changes.  An eighth grade version of Casting Off on Math will be added as well as an Archaeology session relating to GA's Native Americans.
 

 

 

  
       

McDuffie Environmental Education Center - Connecting the Classroom to the Environment through Technology