What’s Underfoot? • Winter (We come to you!) Time for Wonder • Fall/Spring Winter Nature Detectives • Winter Maple Syrup Harvest • Early March Heller’s naturalists travel to your classroom and lead in an Illinois geologic journey. Students travel through time to Enter the forest and discover all it has to offer. Students use How do things change in winter? Are animals active? What Visit a grove of maple trees to take part in the age-old discover and describe geological eras and their relationship to their five senses to develop a sense of wonder about the do they eat? How do they survive? As nature detectives, your tradition of tapping trees and collecting sap. End the program the rocks and minerals found in Illinois. As geologists, students natural world. • 45 minutes • $3.50/$5.00 students will search for clues to answer these and many more by sampling some delicious maple sap and syrup. Program questions. • 60 minutes • $3.50/$5.00 includes identifying sugar maple trees, learning nature’s will describe characteristics, record observations, scientifically Home Sweet Home • Fall/Spring ingredients for sap and discussing the process by which trees test and identify a variety of sedimentary, igneous and Join in a woodland exploration as students discover the Sun, Seeds and Salads • Spring create sap. This program alternates between Rosewood and metamorphic rocks found in Illinois. Please divide class into 6 homes of many animals living at Heller. Students will find Search for roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds. Discover a Sunset Woods Parks. • 60 minutes • $4.50/$6.00 groups prior to the program. • 90 minutes • $4.50/$6.00 clues that reveal critters in a variety of areas of the forest and plant’s four basic needs of life and stop at the garden to snack have the opportunity to discover many more animal homes on roots, stems and flowers. Then plant your very own seeds Plant-astic • Spring/Fall FIFTH GRADE themselves! Engaging activities encourage students to look to take home. • 75 minutes • $4.50/$6.00 What makes a plant plant-astic? Discover basic functions of Outdoor • Fall/Spring more closely at the world surrounding them. • 45 minutes • plant components, how plants work together as a system and Is it hard to get away? Outdoor Ed is a valuable exciting $3.50/$5.00 Busy as a Bee • Fall adaptations that help them survive. Students will participate Visit Heller’s apiary to take a glimpse into the life of honey- experience that students don’t want to miss. Join Heller’s staff in an active game about photosynthesis and a plant’s need for a full, action-packed day of team-building and ecology. Growing Up Flowers • Spring (We come to bees. Where does honey come from? What does it taste like? for survival. Students will also have the opportunity to dissect you!) How do bees live? Your students will have these questions Half the day will be spent triumphing over challenging team flowers and use microscopes to explore their findings. activities and half will be spent delving into the world of Heller’s naturalists travel to your classroom and help students and more answered as they get a close-up look inside Heller’s 120 minutes • $5.25/$7.00 discover what plants need to grow. Beginning as a seed, beehives. • 75 minutes • $4.50/$6.00 • max 2 classes honeybee ecology at Heller’s apiary. • 1 day • $14.00/$20.00 students will take an active roll growing flowers and develop Prairie • Early Fall an understanding of their basic needs and body structures. Insects • Late Spring/Fall Astronomy • Availability Varies Discover why Illinois is known as the Prairie State. Explore Join us at Heller or let our trained naturalist bring the Starlab Students will also have the opportunity to plant individual Insects are an amazing group of animals, loaded with our native tall grass prairie to uncover its hidden wonders. Portable planetarium to you. We will begin the program with seeds to grow at school or take home! • 45 minutes • fascinating adaptations. What makes an insect an insect? Students will learn the components of a prairie and examine a discussion of the movement patterns of the sun, moon and $5.25/$6.00 • max 1 class What is metamorphosis? Students will use nets to catch and its plants and animals. Prairie cultural history will also be stars. Inside the Starlab, students learn to identify circumpolar release insects for a close-up view of the incredible diversity discussed. • 90 minutes • $4.50/$6.00 right here at Heller. • 60 minutes • $3.50/$5.00 and seasonal constellations. This program is offered to Earth Magic • Fall/Winter/Spring District 112 schools only. • 90 minutes • $100.00/class, Honeybee Basics • Fall $50.00/additional class during the same day • max 1 class Students will discover the magic of the season through fun, Honeybees are born to work and there is a lot of work to barrier-breaking activities. They will use some very important do. Examine the life of a honeybee up close. Visit the hives, tools…their senses…to explore the natural world. Activities participate in a honey extraction demonstration and use OTHER focus on listening, smelling, looking, and touching. Habitat • Fall/Spring microscopes to get a larger than life perspective on these Speciality Programs • Subjects, Ages and 45 minutes • $3.50/$5.00 By using clues to solve riddles, participants discover the four amazing insects and the flowers they pollinate. basic components of all habitats and how they are important 95 minutes • $4.75/$6.00 • max 2 classes Availability Varies Groundhog’s Great Tale • February to the survival of living things. This activity identifies water, Join us at Heller or let our trained naturalists bring a program Knock on the door of our resident groundhog’s den to shelter, food and space as the components of the habitat and to you! All programs utilize the Starlab and projection film discover what the life of a true hibernator is really like. illustrates how they work together as a system. Students also to bring your speciality subject to life. Choose from any of This oversized sometimes grouchy groundhog will lead learn about a forest food chain. • 75 minutes • $3.75/$5.25 Ecosystems • Fall/Spring the following subjects: Mythology (Greek, African, Native participants into its den and role-play a groundhog’s life Choose a one-, two- or three-day experience focusing on American, Navajo, Ancient Egypt, Chinese, Lapp/Sami or through the seasons. This program is indoors. • 60 minutes • Pond Study • Late Spring ecosystems and the components that compromise them. Hindu), Plate Tectonics, Ocean Currents, Weather Patterns, $3.50/$5.00 Explore an underwater world teaming with life. With nets in One ecosystem may be studied per day (forest, prairie or Bird Migration or Cell Biology. These programs are offered to hand, students will capture micro and macro invertebrates; pond) and core content will include defining an ecosystem, District 112 schools only. • 90 minutes • $100/class, $50.00/ Tadpole to Frog • Late Spring everything from dragonfly nymphs to bullfrog tadpoles. Using its interdependency of living and non-living parts, food additional class during the same day • max 1 class Discover how gilled aquatic tadpoles turn into air breathing microscopes, students will then take a close-up look at this chains, food webs and adaptations. The remaining content frogs. Participants role-play the different stages of an wonderful diversity of creatures. • 75 minutes • $4.00/$5.50 is tailored to your school. Choose from additional activities amphibian’s life from egg, to tadpole, to adult. This such as dichotomous keys, soil or water testing, microscope program meets at Danny Cunniff Park on Trail Way in Exploring Winter Weather • Winter use, decomposition, camouflage, migration, journaling It’s more than just mittens and coats! Discover what makes Highland Park. • 60 minutes • $3.50/$5.00 activities and more. • 1-3 days • $12.00/$16.00 for 1 day • winter different than our other seasons. Join us as we $20.00/$24.00 for 2 days • $26.00/$30.00 for 3 days participate in hands-on, outdoor experiments to unravel a few of winter’s secrets. Using scientific instruments, students will observe, measure and record weather data to determine the forecast. • 60 minutes • $3.50/$5.00 WELCOME! ATTENTION ALL TEACHERS! School Heller’s educational programs offer school groups the Arrival opportunity to learn about the natural world through It is important to be prompt. Due to the abundance experiences in an outdoor setting. Our hands-on philosophy of programs at Heller Nature Center it is difficult to extend Program Guide encourages learners to heighten their awareness of the program times for late arrival. natural world, understand basic ecological concepts and Heller Nature Center increase concerns for the earth and all its life. Payment Upon arrival, all schools are asked to check in at the front Park District of Highland Park Please prepare your class for their outdoor desk with the total number of students in attendance. No learning experience. payment is necessary at the time of the program as 1. Dress appropriately. Long pants, closed shoes and socks all schools will be billed. Please note that no refunds are are necessities for students and adults. No sandals please. available for programs paid or overpaid in advance. There is Boots, warm clothing and rain gear may be appropriate no fee for teachers and adult chaperones. depending on the weather and/or program. 2. Students are coming to Heller to learn. Applied outdoor Group Sizes and Fees learning is fun, but following directions and listening are Program fees vary depending on program length and essential. Teachers are responsible for discipline. materials. There is a minimum charge of 15 students 3. All adults are expected to fully participate in the per class. Listed at the end of each program description are program! two per-participant fees. The first applies to Highland Park Schools; the second is for out-of-District schools. Registration Information Reservations are required for all group programs. We suggest Weather that you book all of your programs for the entire school year Please dress for the weather! We want your students to as early as possible as the schedule fills quickly. Program have a positive learning experience. Mild weather fluctuations Heller Nature Center registration for the following school year begins like a light drizzle do not interrupt the experience. We will 2821 Ridge Road • Highland Park, IL 60035 May 1st for Highland Park schools and August 1st for cancel a program if severe weather conditions occur, such as 847.433.6901 • www.hellernaturecenter.org • www.pdhp.org out-of-District schools. To schedule your experience, call heavy rain, lightning, extreme heat or cold. We will do our Heller Nature Center at 847.433.6901. best to reschedule your class, but cannot guarantee openings. General Information Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Lunch Saturday, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Bring your bag lunches and picnic in the great outdoors (designated picnic areas are available). Be sure to let us know, Heller Nature Center includes a 97-acre nature preserve with prior to your visit, if your group will be staying for lunch so three miles of walking trails. Two miles of trails are stroller we can avoid conflicts with other scheduled programs. All and wheelchair accessible. Heller provides programs in garbage must be cleaned up and placed in appropriate bins. environmental education and outdoor recreation for children, Recycling bins will be provided. adults, scouts and family groups. Recreation programs vary on a seasonal basis, from canoeing and camping to bird Online watching and cross-country skiing. Come visit our woods and Go to www.pdhp.org to view the School Program Guide prairies to enjoy the scenic beauty of Heller. online. Then click on ‘Parks & Facilities’ and go to ‘Heller Nature Center.’

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