Program Topics
We can design programs to reinforce your curriculum. If a subject of interest to you does not appear below, please contact the Education Director for more information!
Animal Tracks and Tales: Learn how to investigate the lives of animals through the signs they leave behind. Study basic track identification through puzzles, games, and a nature hike for local animal species.
Apple Cider Making: Students investigate simple machines and the differences in plant parts, as they use an old-fashioned screw press to make and sample fresh apple cider. In the process, they learn about the history of the cider making from colonial times to the present.
Bird is the Word: Students learn what makes a bird unlike any other animal. Through activities, games, and a visit with a live bird, groups will learn what attributes birds share with other animals and which adaptations set them apart from the various avian species. Students will see and touch artifacts before they go outdoors to search for our resident species.
Endangered NJ: Learn about the many factors that threaten animals with endangerment or extinction worldwide. Students will use artifacts and live animals to learn how to distinguish between these classifications. Activities are designed to help students understand a little more about NJ’s over 60 endangered species, and learn how they can help prevent the threats to local wildlife.
Forest Ecology: Students explore the local forest to learn about the ecology of the plants and animals that live there. Learning to deduce the history of a woodland by “reading the landscape”, students uncover some of the differences between deciduous and coniferous forests by field-testing forest plots, studying the flora and fauna, and making field observations. Students will discover the cultural and natural history of plants, particularly trees, as we examine a tree’s life stages, following it’s growth from seed to maturity, finally, to decomposition.
Geology of the Palisades: Students will discover how the Palisades were formed, where it’s rocks and fossils come from, and what they can tell us. Students will learn to identify some household products that come from rocks and minerals, and will practice identifying common NJ rocks. We will discuss examples of erosion and deposition caused by the forces of nature and will reinforce concepts of glaciations, soil formation and landforms.
Group Challenges: Through problem-solving challenges and cooperative work, this program will help your group recognize their strengths and practice their listening skills. Using both their physical and mental abilities, students will learn how to communicate effectively with each other and cultivate supportive skills.
Have to Have a Habitat: Students discover what animals, plants, and people need to survive and what makes a habitat a “home”. Venturing into the forest, your class will investigate wildlife homes and diets, and learn to identify signs of various species and how an assortment of factors control wildlife populations.
Heavenly Herps: “Herps” (reptiles and amphibians) are among the most under-appreciated and misunderstood species of the animal world. This program will introduce students to live snakes, frogs, salamanders and turtles and highlight the characteristics which distinguish between reptiles and amphibians.
Insect Safari: Students examine live insects in an introduction to the vast array of insect life. They will be taught where to find insects outside and how to identify them. By observing life stages and adaptations, students will learn to identify different insects in a variety of aquatic and terrestrial habitats.
It’s a Spore World: Students learn why algae, lichen, moss, and fungi are important as they explore the differences between flowering plants and non-flowering organisms. Your group will explore how these non-flowering, plant-like organisms reproduce, discover their roles in succession and decomposition and investigate examples of symbiotic relationships.
It's a worms world (decomposing and composting): A worms work is never done even if their are over 2700 different species of them. Explore the underground world of these beneficial creatures and learn about other remarkable creatures that keep our environment clean and healthy.
Leaf Shapes: Students get an up-close look at all the colors and patterns nature has to offer. We’ll review an assortment of leaf shapes and discover ways to identify some of NJ’s common trees, during a walk through the woods.
Lenni-Lenape: Students learn how early Native Americans utilized the natural resources in New Jersey. Your group will journey into the past, listening to a Lenape story, learning to play classic Lenape games of skill, examining wild edibles and medicines, and learning how Lenape's used the animals they hunted.
Map & Compass: Students learn the different parts of a compass, and how to use it to locate directions. Classes will apply this knowledge outdoors on the trails as they learn all about orienteering, map reading different kinds of maps, and wayfinding techniques.
Maple Sugaring (Only offered in late February through early March): Students learn about the history of maple sugaring in North America by observing a TNC educator tap our Sugar Maple trees. (We encourage sap tasting, if enough has been collected.) We demonstrate both Native American and colonial syrup-making techniques outdoors. We challenge students to try to distinguish between corn syrup and “real thing”, 100% maple syrup, by taste alone.
Oogling Owls: Students learn how these nocturnal raptors have adapted to night flight, as they observe our live resident owl. Your group will learn about NJ’s owls’ status by discussing the pros and cons of human interactions with these powerful and efficient predators.
Outdoor Survival: If your students were lost in the woods, would they know what to do? We will teach them to prepare for survival outdoors, using the “rules of three”. Students will have to cooperate and exercise group skills to construct a survival shelter.
Pond Ecology: Using a variety of tools (dip nets, magnifiers, etc.) students will discover aquatic ecosystems and food chains participating in hands-on pond exploration. They will study diversity, adaptations and interrelationships among the organisms they find in the water, and will discuss how human activity impacts aquatic habitats.
Rapp’n with Raptors: Students will observe several live raptors up close and learn about their behavior, physiology, adaptations, ecological importance and natural history. Hands-on artifacts and demonstrations will capture the imagination of young and old.
Seasonal Discovery: Students will explore the wonders each season brings to the forest. On a walk along the trails, your group will learn to observe and record seasonal changes while examining how plants and animals respond.
Seed Dispersal: Groups learn to identify and explain the function of different plant parts. Students will discover why plants put energy into producing flowers and seeds. Students explore the reasons plants send seeds on a long journey, and the different mechanisms such as “hitchhiking” and “parachuting” seeds use to travel.
Sensible Senses: The call of a bird, the scent of a tree, and the texture of bark are all ways to identify plants and animals. Students learn these and other techniques to improve their sensory observation skills and to use them to identify natural organisms. After learning how our fellow animals use their senses to survive, we’ll investigate how we can apply their sensual adaptations to enrich our own lives.
Sleep, Stay, Run Away: Students learn how animals know winter is on the way and how they prepare for it, Students will investigate winter strategies with hands-on activities, artifacts, and live animal observations. Discussions include adaptations, hibernation, migration and animal behavior.
Snakes of New Jersey: Students discover the differences between snakes and other species as they learn about the 21 species of snakes that reside in NJ. An interactive slide presentation emphasizes the importance of these legless reptiles by identifying and exploring their adaptations. Artifacts and up-close encounters with several live snakes make this a memorable educational experience.
Soil Ecology: Students discover that dirt is an important part of our natural life as they “dig-in” to an in-depth study of soil. Your group will delve into the world of the earth’s top-most layer and learn to identify the components of soil. Using samples from the Nature Center, students will compare different types of dirt and discover that soil is a habitat that supports many forms of life.
Water, Water Everywhere: Students help perform demonstrations, experiments and activities as your class is introduced to water molecules and the concepts of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, freezing, surface tension. They will learn how plants and animals recycle water and how some animals live in and on the water. During a guided hike along the Nature Center trails students will play a game are designed to help explain how water is vital to all life forms.
Weather or Not: Students learn how sun, air, land, and water each play a role in determining our weather, and how these elements can be used to predict weather patterns. Through demonstrations and experiments, your class will learn how to use several basic instruments to measure and hypothesize future weather patterns. Students will measure differences in air pressure, prove that air has weight, and investigate how and why weather changes.
Web of Life: Students will discover how energy flows from the sun through the food web. They will search for living examples of producers, consumers and decomposers in a variety of habitats. Your group will discuss the concept of food chains, population dynamics, adaptation and change. Activities include games to highlight predator and prey relationships and an interpretive hike.
What is a Tree? Through role-playing, songs, games and a journey into our woods, your class will discover the inner workings of a tree and the physical characteristics that define some of the common species found here in NJ. Students learn how animals and humans alike use the different parts of a tree, and who here at the Nature Center calls a tree home.
Wildflower/Plant Walk: During a walk, students draw plants, learn to distinguish between seed and non-seed plants, and learn the value of plants as living things that interconnect with other organisms.