
| 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. |
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Learning Adventures: SCHEDULING NOW
FOR 2007-2008 SCHOOL YEARWe 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. |
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