A number of topics and standards are covered in the Curriculum offered by Pottawattamie Conservation's Environmental Education team. Filter by grade level below to quickly find options for your classroom.
In School
3rd Grade
30 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Adaptation Station
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: foundational to 3-LS3-2, 3-LS4-2, 3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-4
- Core Ideas: supports LS3.A, LS3.B, SL4.B, LS4.C, LS2.C, LS4.D
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 3rd Grade
- Length: 30 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will explore the habitats of Iowa and figure out how animals have adapted to live here.
Program Request Form
Field Trip
4th Grade
2 Hours
Curriculum Details
Crunchy Outside; Gooey Inside
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: 4-LS1-1, 4-LS1-2
- Core Ideas: Plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): 4th Grade
- Length: 2 Hours
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will investigate the features that plants and animals have to help them survive with a focus on insects.
Program Request Form
In School
5th Grade
45 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Cyclical Matter
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: supports LS2.A, LS2.B
- Core Ideas: LS2.A, LS2.B
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 5th Grade
- Length: 45 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will explore food webs to discover how energy and matter cycle through ecosystems.
Program Request Form
Field Trip
2nd Grade
2 Hours
Curriculum Details
Diversity University
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: 2-LS4-1
- Core Ideas: There are many different kinds of living things
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): 2nd Grade
- Length: 2 Hours
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Through hands-on activities, students will define biodiversity, learn about its importance, and take a biodiversity inventory in the park.
Program Request Form
Field Trip
6th, 7th, 8th Grades
2 Hours
Curriculum Details
Dump Busters
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: MS-ESS3-1
- Core Ideas:
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): 6th, 7th, 8th Grades
- Length: 2 Hours
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Learn how a community came together to save Hitchcock Nature Center from becoming a dump.
Program Request Form
In School
5th Grade
45 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Eco Town
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: supports 5-ESS3-1
- Core Ideas: supports ESS3.C
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 5th Grade
- Length: 45 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Equipped with science facts, students will come up with ways their community can protect the Earth’s resources and environments.
Program Request Form
In School
4th Grade
45 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Fossils
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: supports 4-ESS1-1
- Core Ideas: supports ESS1.C
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 4th Grade
- Length: 45 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will examine fossils and discover what they can tell us as well as investigate changes in landscape over time as we dive into the world of fossils.
Program Request Form
In School
1st Grade
30 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Growing Up Wild
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: supports 1-LS1-2, 1-LS3-1
- Core Ideas: supports LS1.B, LS3.A, LS3.B
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 1st Grade
- Length: 30 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will investigate differences and similarities between adult and young animals. We will observe animal characteristics and behaviors as we figure out how animals grow up.
Program Request Form
In School
3rd Grade
30 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Life Cycles
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: foundational to 3-LS1-1
- Core Ideas: supports LS1.B
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 3rd Grade
- Length: 30 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will partake in a clue game where they will discover what all living things have in common.
Program Request Form
Field Trip
Pre-K, Kindergarten
90 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Little Explorers
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): Pre-K, Kindergarten
- Length: 90 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Using our senses and natural curiosity, we'll hike the trails and explore our wild interconnected world.
Program Request Form
In School
4th Grade
45 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Natural Resources
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: foundational to 4-ESS3-1
- Core Ideas: supports ESS3.A
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 4th Grade
- Length: 45 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will identify natural resources, learn how those resources are used for energy, and make connections between their use and the effect on the environment.
Program Request Form
Field Trip
3rd Grade
2 Hours
Curriculum Details
Plant Adaptation Investigation
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: 3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-4
- Core Ideas: Some organisms survive better in certain habitats
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): 3rd Grade
- Length: 2 Hours
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Using scientific instruments, students will compare habitats to learn about the adaptations of plants.
Program Request Form
Field Trip
6th, 7th, 8th Grades
2 Hours
Curriculum Details
Population Dynamics
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): 6th, 7th, 8th Grades
- Length: 2 Hours
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Let's t-hawk about how changes in the ecosystems have effected population dynamics using data from our HawkWatch program.
Program Request Form
In School
2nd Grade
30 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Seed Mechanics
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: foundational to 2-LS2-2
- Core Ideas: supports LS2.A
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 2nd Grade
- Length: 30 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will figure out the mechanics of seeds that aid in their dispersal.
Program Request Form
Field Trip
Kindergarten
90 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Survivor Styles
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: NGSS K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-2
- Core Ideas: All plants and animals need certain things in order to survive
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): Kindergarten
- Length: 90 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
What do plants and animals need to survive? Students will discover the many ways habitats support these needs.
Program Request Form
In School
1st Grade
30 Minutes
Curriculum Details
The Sky Above Us
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: supports 1-ESS1-1, 1-ESS1-2
- Core Ideas: supports ESS1.A, ESS1.B
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 1st Grade
- Length: 30 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
What’s going on in the sky above us? Students will identify the patterns of the sky throughout the year.
Program Request Form
Field Trip
5th Grade
2 Hours
Curriculum Details
What's For Lunch?
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: 5-LS2-1
- Core Ideas: There are interdependent relationships in ecosystems
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): 5th Grade
- Length: 2 Hours
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will identify producers, consumers, and decomposers and their role in the transfer of energy to create a food web
Program Request Form
Field Trip
6th, 7th, 8th Grades
2 Hours
Curriculum Details
What's the Fuss About Loess?
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: MS-ESS2-2
- Core Ideas:
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): 6th, 7th, 8th Grades
- Length: 2 Hours
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will learn about the geoscience processes first hand as they explore our unique geological landform, the Loess Hills.
Program Request Form
Field Trip
1st Grade
2 Hours
Curriculum Details
What's Your Function?
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: NGSS 1-LS1-1
- Core Ideas: Structure and Function
- Offered: Field Trip
- Grade(s): 1st Grade
- Length: 2 Hours
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Why do some plants have thorns? Through observation, students will discover the functions of plant and animal parts.
Program Request Form
In School
2nd Grade
30 Minutes
Curriculum Details
Who Goes There?
- Program Type: Next Generation Science Standard
- NGSS: supports 2-LS4-1
- Core Ideas: supports LS4.D
- Offered: In School
- Grade(s): 2nd Grade
- Length: 30 Minutes
- Dates Offered: Year-Round
Students will explore different habitats to figure out who lives where.
Program Request Form
Curriculum for field trips is under development. Please complete our
Program Request Form to request a field trip, and the Environmental Education team will reach out with information on available topics.
