Spring Valley Outreach Program Guide

Spring Valley

To Schedule:

Call 847/985-2100 at least two weeks in advance. Visit www.parkfun.com for more information. Outreach is available during non-peak program times.

Fees:

One Hour Two Hours 1st Class....................................$85................ $170 2nd Class..................................$75................ $150 3rd Class...................................$65................ $130

environmental education

There is an additional charge for owl pellets.

Learn by doing!

Topics are aligned to Common Core and NGSS. Creation of materials was made possible, in part, by an education grant from the U.S. EPA.

There’s something new in Outreach!

New programs can be created to meet your needs.

Whether bats, frogs, or a new topic for your class, a Spring Valley naturalist will bring the Outreach Program to you.

Mike Daniels Sharon DiMaria David Johnson

George Longmeyer Robert Schmidt

Executive Director - Tony LaFrenere

Printed on recycled and recyclable paper.

Outreach Board of Commissioners

Spring Valley

1111 E. Schaumburg Road

Schaumburg, IL 60194 847/985-2100

Outreach Program

Wonderful Worms!

Have fun learning about this recycler and decomposer!

Observe live worms, participate with your students in experiments that teach about worms, then play an exciting game to find out what it’s like to BE a worm!

Spectacular Spiders!

Marvelous Mammals!

Go on a mammal hunt and discover the mammals that live 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, omnivores, and the habitats in which they can be found.

Fabulous Forests!

Learn the lifestyle of this remarkable creature by experiencing the spider sensation game, making your own spider web, playing bingo, and piecing together a spider.

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

Owls, Predators of the Night 2

hrs

This 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 predator/prey simulation.

Fantastic Food Chains!

Where does all that energy come from and where does it go? Everything in nature needs energy to exist. Learn just how interconnected we really are. Experience the flow of energy through simple food chains.

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 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.

Fantastic Food Webs

Not only does energy travel from the sun through plants to animals making a food chain, but it also travels between different animals. Food webs can become very complicated. Through interactive simulations, students will discover the difference between food chains and food webs.