Kindergarten Programs

The Lilly Center’s K-12 programs aspire to a high goal: develop water literacy in the children who will eventually lead our community. Students who engage with one or several of our programs leave with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for local water resources, as well as practical ways to care for them on their own.

Outdoor Field Trip Lessons

Join us for a hike! Outdoor programs start at the Lilly Center and include hikes to the outdoor classroom and along the wetland trails. Students will experience nature up close as they learn about caring for our local water resources. Outdoor programs are offered in September, October, April and May. Students should dress for the weather and wear closed-toed shoes.

Essential Question: How can we use our senses to explore a wetland environment?

Description: This lesson will be a scavenger hunt where the students will use their senses to see, hear, and feel things in nature. They will begin their scavenger hunt by listening to a book called The Listening Walk by Paul Showers. Next they will go on a hike through the woods using their senses to complete their scavenger hunt checklist. To end the activity there will be a chart of all the things students saw, heard, or felt so they can review how they used their senses in nature.

Standards: K.PS.1

Indoor Field Trip Lessons

Our most popular learning experience! Students rotate through all of the following stations during their 2-hour visit to the Lilly Center. They will interact with live animals, the Virtual Aquarium and the Augmented Reality Sand Tables while learning about local water quality impacts.

Essential Question: Why do fish have different body parts? What is the function of each part?

Description: Using a taxidermy model of a fish, students will learn about the different parts of a fish and their functions. This will allow the students to get close and make real life observations. Once the students know their fish parts, they will play a game to see how fast they can put together a fish. Each table will get a bag that has a picture of a fish cut up into its different parts and they will race each other to put their fish together. Lastly they will get to create their own fish which will go into the Virtual Aquarium.

Standards: SCI.K.3.1 2010 Observe and draw physical features of common plants and animals. 1.LS.2 Develop a model mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. Explore how those external parts could solve a human problem.

TURTLE

Essential Question: What do turtles look like? What do turtles eat and where do they live?

Description: The student will start by trying to guess what animal is going to be discussed based on some hints. Then for their activity they will go through their petting zoo booklet coloring and answering questions about turtles. Lastly students will be able to get close and touch a painted turtle.

Standards: SCI.K.3.1 2010 Observe and draw physical features of common plants and animals.

CRAYFISH

Essential Questions: What are the parts of a crayfish?

Description: Students will learn what a crayfish is and what it looks like. Students will go through a diagram of a crayfish and work together to place the name of the crayfish body part to the picture. They will then go through each body part and talk about why crayfish have it. Then students will fill out their petting zoo booklet with the knowledge they just learned. Lastly students will see and touch a real crayfish.

Standards: SCI.K.3.1 2010 Observe and draw physical features of common plants and animals. SCI.K.3.2 2010 Describe and compare living animals in terms of shape, texture of body covering, size, weight, color and the way they move.

FROG

Essential Question: What is the frog life cycle?

Description: Students will act like scientists and make predictions of the stages of a frog life cycle. Using a frog life cycle diagram the students will be walked through each stage and what happens to the frog. Then they will run through it on their own and see if they can help each other create a correct cycle. Then the students will fill out the frog section in their petting zoo booklet with what they learned. Lastly the students will be able to touch a real frog and get a close real life interaction.

Standards: SCI.K.3.2 2010 Describe and compare living animals in terms of shape, texture of body covering, size, weight, color and the way they move.

CATFISH

Essential Question: What does a catfish look like? How is a catfish different from other fish?

Description: The catfish will be the mystery animal in this petting zoo. They will have to draw what they think the animal is based on some hints given. They will use their petting zoo journal to make their drawings. Then they will see the catfish and will write a descriptive sentence about what the catfish looks like after seeing it. Lastly they will be able to get closer to the catfish and touch it.

Virtual Visit Lessons

Let us bring a field trip to you! These 45-minute virtual programs feature STEM-friendly and standards-aligned learning. After you book your visit, a meeting link and a kit of materials will be delivered to your classroom. All you have to do is join via Zoom and follow along with your students!

Essential Questions: What is an ecosystem? What is a habitat? What are some examples of plants and animals that live together in a river/stream ecosystem?

Description: This lesson will focus on learning what an ecosystem is and how it’s connected as a community. To start their activity students will get to see real aquatic animals from a video that shows animals we have at the Lilly Center. This will give them a reference of animals they might see and what they look like. For the activity the class will be creating their own ecosystem with cutouts of animals and plants. Each student will get an animal and plant cutout that they color and place on the ecosystem background.

Standards: K.LS.1, K.LS.2, K.LS.3, SEPS.2, K.RN.1, K.RN.2.1

Ready to book a field trip?

Reach out to Sarah, our education program specialist: baiersr@grace.edu.