School & Group Programs

Grade:  All ages, but specifically well-suited for PreK-First grade 

When: Fall/Winter/Spring at KNC or anytime at your site  

Investigate many of nature’s wonders with your five senses and gain a new perspective. Meet one of KNC’s ambassador animals and see how they use their 5 senses. Observe the colors, shapes, patterns and textures of natural objects and get curious about the world around you! 

Topics: Living & non-living, observations, questions & patterns, senses 

Grade:  1st-3rd grade 

When: Fall/Winter/Spring at KNC or Anytime at Your Site 

Insects may be small, but they can be found thriving in diverse and amazing habitats. Learn what sets insects apart from other creepy crawlies by learning about their different characteristics and the life cycle of an insect. Meet a live insect brought by the educator. Head outside to go on a bug hunt and compare it to what you have learned about insects!

Topics: insects, insect body parts, life cycle, adaptations, metamorphosis  

Grades: 3rd – 5th grade

When: Fall/Winter/Spring at KNC or Anytime at Your Site 

Learn about carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores using actual animal artifacts. Meet one of KNC’s ambassador animals and figure out how to prove if they are, or are not, a mammal.  Students will also get the opportunity to observe and feel various animal furs and skulls to identify and differentiate various mammals in Michigan.
Topics: carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, animal adaptations 

Grade: 4th-6th grade
When: Fall/Spring at KNC or Anytime at Your Site
Discover some of our most important natural resources from water and timber to rocks and minerals. Learn where they come from and how we depend on them. Onsite, focus on how our landscape was formed long ago by glaciers, and what clues to our past we can find in the very rocks around us!
Topics: Local geography, maps, identification of natural resources, human use of natural resources, renewable vs nonrenewable resources, Michigan history 

Grade:  4th–5th grade or 1st–3rd grade (2 versions) 

When: Fall/Winter/Spring at KNC or anytime at your site 

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 

Grade:  All ages 

When: Fall/Winter/Spring at KNC or Anytime at Your Site 

Learn how the practice of paying attention to the present moment can train your brain to focus. Learn how nature can help you be mindful.  Practice breathing and noticing outdoors while making mindful art. Show off your mindfulness skills while meeting one of KNC’s ambassador animals.   

Topics:  Mindfulness, brain function/focus, calming techniques, benefits of nature on nervous system 

Grades: All ages 

When: Anytime at KNC 

Travel back in time to a historic homestead to learn how people lived here in Kalamazoo Michigan before the 1900s. Discuss Pottawatomi history, learn about the Delano family, and participate in farm chores of the 1850s in this blast from the past field trip!

Grade: All ages 

When: Anytime at KNC or Anytime at Your Site 

• 30 Minutes: Meet an ambassador animal
• 60 Minutes: Meet two ambassador animals
• 90 Minutes: Meet three ambassador animals

• Snakes: Corn snake, Milk snake
• Turtles: Eastern box turtle, Painted turtle, Map turtle
• Amphibians: Gray tree frog, American toad
• Invertebrates: Dubia roaches, Curlyhair tarantula
• Check out more information about our ambassador animals here: Ambassador Animals

Grade: All Ages

Where: at KNC

When: March

Walking tour on the Fern Valley trail ending at the Sugar Shack with syrup tasting.

Grades: 6th – 12th 

When: September – October, May 

Wade into the waters at the Kalamazoo Nature Center and search for the macroinvertebrate residents living beneath the surface.  Explore KNC’s Trout Run stream’s aquatic health through analysis of the creatures found.