Bus Reimbursement Available
Emmet County schools can seek reimbursement for busing costs through the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation. For more information, please call (231) 348-5820.
Schools within all other counties of the Conservancy’s service area (Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Mackinac, and Chippewa) can receive a $50 reimbursement for busing costs through a special fund held with the Conservancy.
Loanable Materials
DISCOVERY BOXES
The nine different theme-based discovery boxes are a fun, interactive way to involve your students in specific science-based lessons. Each pack includes hands-on materials such as animal furs, skulls, books, CDs, and videotapes for teachers to use at their discretion.
Each box comes with detailed lesson plans, activities, and background information on each topic. All of the boxes meet the Michigan Curriculum Framework Standards, which are listed on each lesson plan. The teacher can borrow the boxes for up to two weeks, or a Conservancy Naturalist can be scheduled to present a box to your classroom.
Suggestions are always welcome! Boxes are loaned at no charge.
Call one of our educators at (231) 347-0991 to reserve a Discovery Box or Program-to-Go. These resources are available for teachers throughout the Little Traverse Conservancy service area of Mackinac, Chippewa, Emmet, Charlevoix, and Cheboygan counties.
Five resource kits from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and additional materials make it easy for educators to integrate into their schedule. The kits include step-by-step instructions for completing each lesson and resource materials, which may consist of posters, DVDs, CD-ROMs, laminated cards, games, quizzes, scavenger hunts, trivia sheets, and more.
Also, several books, a DVD, feather examples, egg replicas, nest examples, field guides, and two pairs of binoculars are included. This Discovery Box is made possible through generous donations and assistance of LTC volunteer and bird enthusiast Mary Trout.
Our Knee-High Naturalist Programs’ popularity inspired the creation of a box of environmental education resource materials geared for the 3-6-year-old. Full of books, activities, and ideas to help boost your youngest naturalists, we are looking for feedback from educators who use it.
This box is truly a hands-on discovery. With rock samples from all around the globe and accessible to read displays, students will quickly begin to see the difference between igneous and sedimentary rock forms. Lots of activities and books will guide you and your students through the fascinating world of geology.
This box includes an extensive collection of pelts for students to touch and compare. Use them, along with the activities included, to explore adaptations for camouflage and communication.
This box comes equipped with pellets, skulls, life-size plaster tracks, books, CDs, a new IMAX video, and a massive variety of activities and information to learn from and use.
This box is sure to eliminate all of the myths and fears about wolves your students might have. Pelts and skulls of the red fox, coyote, and timber wolf will allow students to compare the striking size difference between these closely related canines. A deer skull is also included to give students an example of predator versus prey.
Students are introduced to the fantastic world of owls and their adaptations through an American Audubon Society film. A CD allows students to listen to the different sounds owls make and learn which ones might live in their backyard.
Several other activities help teachers tie owls into lesson plans, such as vertebrates and the food chain. Owl pellets are provided for a real “hands-on” study about what owls eat and how different their eating is from other animals.
Several large and small northern Michigan mammal skulls are packed into one large and one small box-to-go! Every small skull is bagged and labeled for easy teaching and learning.
A list of all the skulls is available to guide teachers through identification. This is an excellent box for introducing predator/prey and adaptation concepts to students of all ages.
This to-go-box is the perfect starter for life cycles. With three different life cycle models, several activities, and books, its a great way to introduce what life cycles are and how even different insects have different stages in their lives.
PROGRAMS-TO-GO
The Conservancy staff has made some of our most requested programs available for teachers to conduct independently by providing all materials needed for these programs.
Conservancy education staff have made their popular Dirt Makers program available in a “To-Go” form. Designed for teachers who feel confident conducting this program without an LTC naturalist present in your schoolyard or natural space, this kit is filled with everything you’ll need!
Supplies include Teacher’s Guide, log worksheet, magnifiers, collecting jars, identification guide, pencils, books, and clipboards. Give us a call at (231) 347-0991 for more information.
Now available for loan is the new Buggin’ Out “Program-to-Go” Kit for educators. This kit includes program information and materials for a teacher to conduct a Buggin’Out program both indoors and outdoors at their convenience.
A program guide, lesson plans, field guides, a monarch life cycle replica, collection jars, nets, and more are in the kit, making it easy to engage students in an interactive, fun, and informative activity. A backpack is provided to transport materials to be used outside.
This can be an excellent follow up to an LTC field trip. Call us at (231) 347-0991 to arrange to borrow this kit.
