School Programs for Grades 4 & 5

Life on a Pioneer Farm

Grade: 1st - 5th grade

When:  Fall/Spring at KNC 

Travel back in time to a historic 1850’s homestead to learn how settlers used domesticated animals and natural resources to make a life. From cabin to farmhouse, help with seasonal chores, use 19th-century tools, and take part in living history! 

Activities vary based on both season and grade level, but this program is broken down into four main seasonal themes: Fall Harvest (Sept-October), Preparing for Winter (November-December), Spring’s First Crop: Maple Sugaring (Feb-April), and Spring/Summer Farming (April-June).

Topics: Chronological thinking, family life in the past, historical narrative, use of environment, Natural Resources, Lifestyles over time, environmental impact, Culture, Michigan and US History

At KNC: $140, 2 hour indoor/outdoor program

Michigan’s First People: Living Lightly with the Earth

Grade: 3rd - 5th Grade 

When:  Fall: September - November at KNC

Step into the past and visit an indigenous 1700’s camp. Get a glimpse of daily life and learn how a close connection with the environment provided for the family without a grocery store or pharmacy. Explore the camp from the wigwam to the garden, hear a traditional legend, help with the family chores, and play with traditional toys and games! This program takes place completely outside! Please be sure to dress for the weather! 

Topics: Traditional stories, use of environment, European contacts, impact on resources, earth materials, Lifestyles over time, environmental impact, Culture, Michigan and US History

At KNC: $140, 2 hour outdoor program

Rocks to Soil 

Grade: 4th - 5th Grade

When: Anytime at KNC, Anytime at Your Place 

Take a close look at soil and be surprised by what you find there!  Identify and learn about the components of soil; how do they get there and what do they do? Experiments, activities and games give students a better understanding of human impact on the soil and the importance of maintaining healthy soil.

Topics:  Weathering, erosion, forces that change the surface of the Earth.

At KNC: $140, 2 hour program

At Your Place:  $180, 1 hour indoor program 

Space Station Earth

Grade: 4th–5th Grade

When:  Fall/Winter/Spring at KNC, Anytime at Your Place

Blast off into astronomy through hands-on activities and dramatics. Learn about the planets in our solar system and what makes our Planet Earth one of a kind! 

Topics: Earth, sun and moon, orbit, 

movement, day/night, moon phases, constellations

At KNC: $115, 1 hour indoor program 

At Your Place: $180, 1 hour indoor program

Who Done It? 

Grade: 4th-5th Grade 

When: Anytime at KNC 

Become involved in the mystery of a missing woodland critter.  You and your classmates find clues to the mystery as you explore the scene.  Then use skills of observation, investigation, and deductive reasoning to determine “Who Done It?”

Topics:  Predator/prey, animal characteristics, herbivor, omnivore, carnivore, producer, consumer, decomposer

At KNC: $140, 2 hour outdoor program

Who Eats Whom?

Grade:  4th–5th Grade

When:  Fall/Winter/Spring at KNC, Anytime at Your Place

Build a food chain from the ground up and follow the flow of energy from producers to consumers and from sunlight into soil. Get active, meet a live animal and discover who eats whom in the forest. 

Topics: Flow of energy, trophic levels, food chain components, habitat characteristics, environmental changes, animal traits & survival

at KNC: $130, 1.5 hour indoor/outdoor program – includes a guided hike!

at Your Place: $180, 1 hour indoor program – hands on activities and a live animal encounter!

Wildlife Neighbors

Grade: 1st-5th Grade
When:  Fall/Spring @ KNC, Anytime @ Your Place

Animals are our neighbors in the Community of Life and they have important jobs to do! Meet some of our wild neighbors, learn the work they do that benefits our community, and learn about the adaptations that help them do their part. Call to discuss the availability of our animal educators (birds of prey, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and invertebrates) for your program.

Topics: Niches, adaptations, individual traits, habitats, communities

@ KNC: $155, 1 hour indoor/outdoor, live animals program
@ Your Place: $205, 1 hour indoor, live animals program

Guided Hike

Grade: All 

When:  Fall/Winter/Spring @ KNC, Anytime @ Your Place

Rent one of our naturalists to explore a Kalamazoo Nature Center trail. Our educators will help your students engage with our trails, guiding them to use their senses to make observations, build connections, and investigate the natural phenomena they discover on their hike. Choose between forest, prairie, or wetland!

Topics: Earth materials, Living and non-living, plant parts

At KNC: $75, .75-1 hour outdoor, time dependent on selected trail.

Maple Sugaring: Sap to Syrup

Grade: All

When:  March at KNC

Hike to the sugar bush and learn how a maple forest helps us make liquid gold! Visit the sugar house, smell the sap boiling and taste real Michigan maple syrup. Activities vary based on age.

Topics: Plant needs, parts and life cycle, solar energy & seasons, biotic/abiotic components, Michigan history and natural resources.

At KNC: $130, 1.5 hour indoor/outdoor program – includes a guided hike!

Once Upon A Raptor

Grade: All Ages

When: Anytime at KNC, Anytime at Your Place

Experience the living stories of three Michigan raptors in our Birds of Prey special. Our animal handlers and educators will take the audience into the minds and habits of four unique birds, and explore how their stories are not so separate from our own. This one hour program is appropriate for both classrooms and auditoriums.

Topics: animal needs, adaptations, habitats, human impact

At KNC: $155, 1 hour indoor program, live animals program

At Your Place: $205, 1 hour indoor classroom program, live animals program, auditorium pricing will vary

Custom Program

Grade: All Grades

When:  Anytime

Not finding exactly what you are looking for? Give us a call to design a custom program to meet your timeframe and educational needs! 

Time & Price will vary.