|
PRE-TRIPS
To maximize your students’ learning experience, each field trip is preceded by an introductory in-class session known as a pre-trip. Our trained environmental educators will introduce your students, through age-appropriate hands-on activities, to the concepts that will be the focus of each field trip. Each pre-trip is approximately one class period in length (45 minutes).
CLASS FIELD TRIPS
Every field trip is geared to the grade level of your students and includes explorations and hands-on activities relating to ecological concepts. The concepts correlate with the N.Y. State Standards. Each field trip is led by a trained environmental educator and is 1 hour in length.
We offer field trips to three local areas. You choose the location and theme for your trip.
Please choose from one of the following 3 locations:
1.Sheldrake Environmental Center - (Entrance at 687 Weaver Street)
The Larchmont Reservoir – James G. Johnson, Jr. Conservancy is a 60-acre oasis of land and water that provides a sanctuary for wildlife and people. The Conservancy includes Sheldrake Lake, Goodliffe Pond, a meadow, a river and woodland paths.
2.Sheldrake River Trail - (Entrance on Rockland Avenue)
This 23-acre conservation area features forest trails with towering trees, the Sheldrake River, wooden boardwalks over swampland, vernal pools and wetland areas. The history of the landscape can be read in the rock formations and on the old farm trail.
3.Dog Beach - (Entrance at the foot of Beach Avenue in Larchmont Manor)
A beautiful stretch of Long Island Sound shoreline nestled at the edge of Manor Park, where a rich ecosystem includes an abundance of life in its intertidal zones and tidal pools. Barnacles, crabs, snails, and mussels abound, as well as a variety of shorebirds, ducks, geese and swans.
Please choose from the following field trip themes:
1. Habitats - (Sheldrake Environmental Center or Sheldrake River Trail)
Discover what animals need to survive, what they eat, where they live, their interrelationships, adaptations and life cycles. Children will use their senses to explore the habitats and ecosystems of field and forest and will learn what makes each of these unique.
2. Woodland Ecology - (Sheldrake Environmental Center or Sheldrake River Trail)
Develop observation and interpretation skills, search for animal homes in different levels of the forest, explore the leaf litter, look under rotting logs, find animals in their special habitats, discover how soil is made and look for the decomposers and nutrient recyclers of the forest floor.
3. Seasonal Changes – (Sheldrake Environmental Center or Sheldrake River Trail)
Explore the “happenings” in our ever-changing local ecosystems, become nature detectives, find out how plants and animals adapt in order to survive seasonal changes, observe life cycles of plants and animals and discover interrelationships. Your sense of smell, sight, hearing and touch will sharpen as we go.
4. Long Island Sound Shoreline Exploration – (Dog Beach)
Observe marine life, learn the origins of Long Island Sound, measure the tide, discover the relationships and adaptations of plants and animals in the harsh and ever-changing environment of the inter-tidal zones.
5. Freshwater Ecology – (Sheldrake’s Goodliffe Pond)
Join us on an adventure to explore a pond, observe and investigate plant and animal life cycles, discover the food chains and webs of aquatic ecosystems, compare different pond creatures and how they move, eat and breathe. This interactive program will introduce students to the amazing adaptations that enable plants and animals to survive in their watery habitat.
6. Freshwater Ecology Plus – (Sheldrake’s Goodliffe Pond and On-site Laboratory Classroom at Sheldrake Environmental Center)
This 1½ hour program augments our ponding field trips and is being offered as a natural complement to Microworld, the fifth grade microscope study unit, or to anyone wanting to take a closer look at their finds through microscopes. Students will bring living samples of freshwater life encountered in their explorations of the pond in to the Sheldrake laboratory, where our educators will guide them in their use of microscope observations, recording their observations and making detailed sketches.
7. NEW! How the Winter Season Influences Life in the Natural World
The weather gets colder, days get shorter, and leaves fall off the trees. We live in warm houses, wear heavy jackets and boots and buy our food at the store. But what do the animals do to find food and stay warm? Find out how plants and animals spend the winter. Do they hibernate, migrate, or adapt? Learn about their survival strategies and the marvels of their adaptability to the stresses of winter. Search for clues…Who’s awake and who’s asleep? Some animals stay active in winter. How do they adapt? Find winter birds, insects, egg cases, even butterflies. Look for signs of rabbits, deer, mice, chipmunks and squirrels. Observe their tracks in snow or mud. Find their winter homes.
PROGRAM RESERVATION INFORMATION
Reservation Information
To schedule your field trip, call Sheldrake Center at (914) 834-1443 or email us at scheduling@sheldrakecenter.org. We recommend scheduling at least one month in advance. NOTE: Teachers are responsible for scheduling the bus transportation to/from the field trip site.
Program Fee
The field trip fee (which includes the pre-trip) is $175, except for Freshwater Ecology Plus, for which the fee is $263.
Trip Information
Please wear sturdy walking shoes and dress for the weather. Please bring only 2 adults per class, except for ponding programs for which 3 adults per class are required. Please provide name tags for each child in order to help environmental educators work with your students smoothly.
Please have your class divided into two groups before arriving for the field trip in order to facilitate a better student/teacher ratio.
If school is closed due to weather conditions, programs will be rescheduled. Trips take place rain or shine unless weather conditions are unsafe. We will attempt to accommodate any special needs if notified in advance.
NOTE: All plants and animals at these sites are protected and collecting is prohibited.
For more info please contact Amy Bisignani at (914) 834-1443 or scheduling@sheldrakecenter.org.
|
