2009-10 School Programs

Abbott's Mill Nature Center - Milford
Ashland Nature Center - Hockessin
Coverdale Farm - Greenville

Abbott's Mill Nature Center Programs

Birds in Focus
2 hours, $5/student
Explore the unique and varied adaptations of native birds, including body shape, beaks and feet. Investigate how these adaptations help them survive in their habitats. See mounted specimens and study the diversity of species in the Delmarva region. Use binoculars on a guided bird survey through different habitats. Find out how birds are affected by seasonal changes.

Orienteering & Compass Reading
3 hours, $7/student
Experience firsthand how to navigate with a map and compass. Learn how to read a topographic map and interpret natural and human-made features. Measure your walking pace and take bearings. Combine all your navigation skills on a compass orienteering course.

Pond Biodiversity by Canoe
3 hours, $10/student
Explore Abbott's Pond by canoe! Learn canoe basics and examine what lives in and around the pond. Look for aquatic plant life, reptiles and amphibians, and birds that call Abbott's Pond home. Complete visual surveys, record data and drag a plankton net. Back at the nature center, examine the microscopic life found in the pond. This program qualifies your class to adopt a stream.

Stream Ecology & Stream Watch
3½ hours, $8/student
Learn about Delaware Stream Watch while studying the variables that indicate the health of a body of water. Collect macro-invertebrates and perform physical and chemical water quality testing, such as pH and dissolved oxygen. Examine water samples under a microscope, looking for the minute plants and animals that are the basis of the stream food chain. Emphasis is placed on the possible harmful effects of human activity in the watershed. This program qualifies your class to adopt a stream.

Ashland Nature Center Programs

Advanced Field Ornithology
3 hours, $8/student
Study, map, and compare and contrast bird populations at the Burrows Run Preserve. Use GPS systems and topographic maps to calculate area and estimate a variety of seasonal bird populations. Calculate differences in population densities for different habitats. You are able to continue the experience as you communicate and share information with students from Central America working on a similar study. This program utilizes binoculars, field guides, maps, GPS equipment, directional microphone, and a tape recorder. Program meets at the Burrows Run Preserve.

Air Alert
2 hours, $6/student
Predict air quality based on the types and sizes of lichens found in the environment. Learn how environmental contaminants affect air quality and influence the biodiversity and health of lichens which are sensitive to air pollutants.

Biodiversity at Burrows Run Preserve
2 hours, $6/student
Conduct a biodiversity survey at the Burrows Run Preserve. Identify plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates and use GPS technology to determine locations and make recordings on a topographical map. Contribute to the Delaware Nature Society's long-term data collection of the site as the biodiversity information collected is added to the Society's records. Program meets at the Burrows Run Preserve.

Bird Box Biology
2 hours, $6/student
Examine bird boxes to identify bird species and learn about their reproductive biology. Determine the population of four species at Ashland that use the boxes, count and note eggs, classify birds by choice of nesting materials, and count and handle nestlings. Make inferences about species habitat requirements and conservation history and record observations which are used to monitor Ashland's bird populations. May-June.

Exploring By Canoe
3 hours, $20/student
Take your class on an adventure as you canoe Dragon Run, a freshwater marsh near Delaware City, or the Brandywine Creek. Both sites are home to a tremendous diversity of wildlife. Learn basic paddling skills, hike along the shore to survey plant and animal life, and discover the functions and importance of streams and wetlands. Canoes, paddles and life preservers included in cost, no canoeing experience required. Program meeting site to be determined with staff.

NEW! Fall Raptor Migration
2 hours, $6/student
Visit the Ashland Hawk Watch to identify and count some of the 16 species of migrating raptors that pass overhead. Ashland Nature Center is one of the best locations in Delaware to view migrant hawks in the fall. Use maps to track the birds' migration routes. Learn about the ecology and habits of these hawks through taxidermy and take a walk to identify other bird species.

Forest Ecology at Flint Woods Preserve
2 hours, $6/student
Visit three distinct forest types in the Flint Woods Preserve to compare their landforms, forest layers, dominant tree species, soil classification, and leaf litter layer. Calculate the biodiversity index to compare each of the three sites. Program meets at the Flint Woods Preserve.

NEW! Orienteering & Compass Reading
2 hours, $6/student
Experience firsthand how to navigate with a map and compass. Learn to read a topographic map and interpret natural and human-made features. Measure your walking pace and take bearings. Combine all your navigation skills on a compass orienteering course on the Ashland property.

Springs & Streams
2 hours, $6/student
Visit three sites in a stream continuum at Burrows Run Preserve to test and compare them chemically, physically, and biologically. Follow the flow of water from a spring where it exits the ground downstream to the Burrows Run. On the way, test and record the changes in the water's chemical and physical properties and investigate the different forms of life that depend on the stream as the water flows over the land and is affected by the environment. This program qualifies your class to adopt a stream. Program meets at the Burrows Run Preserve.

Stream Ecology
2 hours, $6/student
Learn about Delaware Stream Watch and the variables that indicate the health of a body of water. Collect macro-invertebrates and perform physical and chemical water quality testing, such as pH and dissolved oxygen. Emphasis is placed on the possible harmful effects of human activity in the watershed. This program qualifies your class to adopt a stream.

Watersheds and Stream Quality
2 ½ hours, $7 per student
Discover land use in the Red Clay Creek watershed and hypothesize how human activities have impacted the water quality of the stream. Investigate the benefit of forested riparian buffers and conduct visual and biological assessments of the Red Clay Creek and one of its tributary streams. Use physical characteristics and biological indicator species to determine the water quality of the Red Clay and its tributary stream and compare findings. This program qualifies your class to adopt a stream.

Coverdale Farm Program

Coverdale Farm Pond Ecology
2 hours, $6/student
Sample the pond at Coverdale Farm for diversity of aquatic life and create a trophic level pyramid. Measure depth, nutrient and oxygen levels, determine the pond's successional state, and use microscopes to observe organisms. This program qualifies your class to adopt a stream.

NEW! Farm Photography
2 hours, $8/student (includes material fee)
Discover farm life through a camera lens! Use cameras to learn photography skills and compose digital photos. Create your own "Farmer's Almanac" calendar page to capture the month of your visit. The cost of this program includes photo paper, almanac matting page, and use of camera.

NEW! Springhouse Spies
3 hours, $9/student
Wanted! Eco-investigators needed to uncover the past, capture the present, and predict the future land uses of Coverdale Farm and the Burrows Run Preserve. Dig into the past with an archaeological exploration of a historic springhouse. Measure and assess the environmental quality of groundwater spring, stream, forest, and fields habitats, and create a scientific recommendation for the future use of the farm and nature preserve.