Search for School Programs at Habitat

Explore field, forest, or wetland habitats to discover the amazing ways plants and animals use their unique adaptations to thrive—from behaviors to deal with changing seasons to structures to disperse seeds or body parts to hunt underwater—and more. Program can focus on animals, plants, or both and explore in different seasons.

Choose either a single school-based program or field trip, or combine the two into a series.
Explore evidence of the short-term and long-term changes in the landscape around your school by examining signs of erosion and weathering, and glacial features if present.
On a field trip to a wildlife sanctuary, explore evidence of the short-term and long-term changes in the landscape by examining signs of erosion and weathering, glacial features, and soil composition.
Locations: Your school and/or any Metro West wildlife sanctuary

New program created by Dan McCullough 2015-04-13 10:21:41

Through observation and asking questions, investigate field, forest, and wetland habitats searching for the sources of food, water, shelter, and space that plants and animals need in order to successfully live there.

Meet live wildlife as you compare their physical and behavioral adaptations and how these relate to their roles within an ecosystem. Learn where it lives and how climate change may be affecting it. Can focus on an animal group, habitat, energy flow, or winter adaptations.

Explore field, forest, and wetland habitats as you look for tracks and other signs of native wildlife. Search for food, water, shelter, and space that supports the basic needs of the plants and animals that live here.

Observe biological artifacts for similarities and differences in body parts, structures, behaviors, and functions as you investigate what it means for plants and animals to be adapted to their home. This session is a great pre-visit to combine with the Life in the Water or Habitat Explorations field trips.
Locations: Your classroom or schoolyard

Join Mass Audubon educators as we learn how energy from the sun powers life on Earth, both living processes and the technologies we use to power our communities. Each lesson explores one aspect of the energy cycle within biotic and abiotic systems; including photosynthesis, consumers, decomposers, renewable, and non-renewable energies.

Trees provide much more than shade or pretty additions to city streets and neighborhood parks. This unit explores habitats, adaptations, and life cycles, with trees as a unifying theme. With accessibility to all learners as a priority, lessons highlight the diversity of trees across various Massachusetts habitats, including suburban, urban and rural areas. Nature journaling assignments highlight observation and other science skills and encourage students to choose a tree near their home or school to chronicle throughout the unit.

Are trees the solution to climate change? Through place-based, inquiry driven investigation, students will study the role of trees in the carbon cycle, and expand their investigation to find out whether forest sequestration, or indeed any one nature-based solution, is enough to fight climate change. Finally, students will explore their own role as a changemaker by planning a collective, climate-positive action.

In this unit we will explore different types of "minibeasts", or invertebrates, like worms, pill bugs, and more. Students will engage in outdoor investigations to find out where the best place is for a minibeast to live. Students will document their observations in field journals as they explore different habitats in their schoolyard and use models to explain how these habitats may or may not support the needs of invertebrates. Finally, students will expand their investigation to explore the role invertebrates play to enrich the soil, and understand how humans can learn from them to reduce their footprint and protect their local environment.

In this unit, students will get outside and investigate the ways stronger storms impact their communities, specifically through rain and snow. They will identify places of vulnerability and places of resilience in their schoolyard or neighborhood. As a culminating project, they will design solutions to help reduce the impacts of stronger storms in their area and communicate it with members of their community.

Choose either a single school-based program or field trip, or combine the two into a series.
What is soil made of? Compare different soil samples and investigate their properties using scientific tools. We can bring soil samples to you or we can explore soil near your school.
In the field, learn about how healthy soil supports healthy food and a healthy planet at Drumlin Farm or learn how soil holds secrets to the past at Broadmoor and Habitat.
Locations: Your school and/or any Metro West wildlife sanctuary (field trip theme varies by location)

Dig into a classroom soil-lab with samples brought by our staff, analyzing the composition and properties to understand soil's function in local ecosystems and determine its health. Learn how healthy soil can support a resilient climate.
On a trip to a wildlife sanctuary, compare soil from field, forest, and wetland habitats, analyzing the composition and properties to understand its function in local ecosystems and determine its health. Learn how healthy soil can support resilient climate, and (at Drumlin Farm only) how it supports healthy food too.
Locations: Your school and/or any Metro West wildlife sanctuary (field trip theme varies by location)

Choose either a single school-based program or field trip, or combine the two into a series.
Use scientific tools to investigate samples of aquatic life in a classroom wet-lab. Add a live wildlife visit to complete your exploration of wetland energy flow or adaptations. In the schoolyard or your community, use dip-nets and other tools as you explore the unique life cycles of the organisms that live in a water body in your community.
Field Trip: Use dip-nets and other scientific tools to explore wetland animals and their unique adaptations for living in water. Learn to identify specific organisms and understand the special characteristics of different water bodies and ecosystems.
Locations: Your school and/or any Metro West wildlife sanctuary