Learn all about the importance of rivers to wildlife and humans with Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory! This is an outdoor, activity and experimental based field trip focusing on salmon migration, river food webs, and engineering design with our favorite ecosystem engineers- beavers! Students will love going on a nature walk, building a river food web, learning about human impacts on salmon migration through our obstacle course, and putting their engineering skills to the test by designing and refining a beaver dam. This lesson is NGSS aligned and addresses the following concepts:
- Relationship between physical traits and survival strategies of animals
- Cycles of matter and energy transfer in ecosystems
- Relationship between habitat and food web structure
- Biodiversity and humans: human impacts on habitat and organism survival
- Ecosystem preservation and best practices for nature stewardship
- Engineering design: defining a problem, developing solutions, optimizing the design solution
Program Details and Logistics
- This program is geared toward homeschooled students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
- At least one adult chaperone is required per group. There is no fee for adult chaperones to attend.
- All tools and materials for program activities are provided.
- This program takes place indoors and outdoors. Students should wear sturdy footwear such as boots or sneakers, and dress for the weather.
- Please bring snacks and refillable water bottles.
Registration: $15/child; $10/additional child in family
Adult chaperones are free
