Outreach Programs

Fabulous Forests!
Come with us on a woodland adventure! We'll bring the forest to your class and use it to teach your students about the layers of the forest and the plants and animals that live there. Students will play a version of "Concentration" and then reconstruct the entire forest habitat. Watch the forest grow before your very eyes!

Fantastic Food Chains!
Where does all that energy come from? Everything in nature needs energy to exist. Learn just how interconnected we really are and experience the flow of energy through the entire community on earth.

Fantastic Food Webs!
Where does all that energy come from? Everything in nature needs energy to exist. Learn just how interconnected we really are and experience the flow of energy through the entire community on earth.

Marvelous Mammals!
Go on a mammal hunt and discover what is living in Illinois! Students will work in groups with dental formulas, skulls, and furs to decipher clues about their mammal. They will learn about carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores, and the habitats where they can be found.

Owls: Predators of the Night
This 2-hour venture into the habits of owls will involve all the senses! Students will examine owl pellets, identify bones and skulls, graph data, and analyze their results. They will hear owl calls and see actual owl specimens. They will learn how the owl is so extremely well adapted to its nocturnal niche and discover its role in the food chain. Students will even become an owl in a simulation predator/prey game.

Spectacular Spiders!
Learn the lifestyle of this remarkable creature by experiencing the spider sensation game, making your own spider web, putting on a puppet show, playing bingo, and piecing together a spider.

Water! Water!
Your students are familiar with the water cycle, but do they really understand it? Students will put together a giant jigsaw puzzle, then actually become water molecules trying to escape evaporation in an active simulation game. Catch some water vapor and boogie to the beat!

Wetland Investigations
No, we won't bring the pond to you, but we will bring a series of activities through which your students will learn about pH, the variation in oxygen demand of macroinvertebrates, and the role that water temperature plays in the types of animals that live in water. This program would be best used as a pre-visit before coming to Spring Valley , but it can also stand alone.

Wonderful Worms!
Have fun learning about this recycle and decomposer! Observe live worms and participate with your students in experiements designed to teach about worms, then play an exciting game to find out what its like to BE a worm!