Elementary Outreach Programs

Do you have the skills to be a lumberjack? Follow the seasons of the year and explore how the conditions of each helped lumberjacks get the job done! Engage in hands-on activities for each season that highlight the work done in spring, summer, fall, and winter.

Discover the answers to five questions of early Adirondack logging. Explore maps of the region and uncover how lumberjacks worked in the dense north woods. A basic compass activity rounds out this lesson on work in the middle of nowhere.

Looking closely at an important natural resource, students will learn to identify evergreens that make up the Adirondack forest. They will use a microscope to take an up-close look at nature’s patterns and discover historic uses for conifer trees.

After using your senses of sight and touch, or not, to explore our pelt collection, challenge your ears to identify the sounds made by these animals.

Use your sense of sight and touch to explore various objects from our nocturnal critter collection. Make observations about what makes these wild animals unique. Then challenge your ears to identify the sounds made by wildlife during nighttime.

Become wildlife detectives by studying the “ins and outs” of several mammals. Search for clues about the size and shapes of the pelt, skulls, tracks, food and scat samples to figure out which belong to what animal.

Learn what makes Adirondack mammals uniquely suited to surviving in our forests with an in-depth look at the specialized body and skull structures of our study specimens.

Creativity, critical thinking and many laughs come together in this student-centered program. We will analyze and interpret a primary source. Then students will synthesize the information gathered to create a short skit based on prompts and characters provided to them.

This program uses pelts, artifacts and primary source material to teach students about the fur trade. Students will also practice bartering skills with a trade simulation activity.

What’s the buzz about bees? This program begins with a short presentation that introduces students to life inside the beehive with a look at the honeybee lifecycle and the social structure of a bee colony. After a discussion of beekeeping past and present, we launch into a discussion about the importance of bees and pollination. Students put their understanding of pollination to the test with a high energy relay race competition that challenges each “beehive” team to be the best group of pollinators they can be. This program requires a large space; it is great for a gymnasium or playground.