First & Second Grade Programs
All school programs are offered at no cost. These free programs are designed to support Michigan academic standards.
School Field Learning Sequence
Wild Neighbors
New to our program offerings for the 2026–2027 school year are School Field Learning Sequences. Each sequence is three visits across fall, winter, and spring, designed as a single experience rather than three separate field trips. Winter programs are built to be flexible, taking place in the field on snowshoes or in the classroom, to allow for uncertain weather or for groups without winter gear. By the third visit students stop managing the newness and start paying attention to their surroundings. They recognize what they found in the fall and connect it to what is in front of them now.
Students in a program sequence design a wood cookie name tag on the first visit. We hold them between visits and hand them back each time the group returns, and students keep theirs at the end of the spring program.
Booking a sequence means one conversation and a set of dates held for your year.
Fall: Animal Homes and Habitats
Winter: Winter Animal Survival
Spring: Buggin’ Out
Standard: 2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
First and second graders are drawn to animals as fellow creatures. They want to know where something lives, what it eats, and whether it gets cold. Wild Neighbors works with that instinct rather than around it. Students examine real animal homes in the fall, ask how those same animals survive a northern Michigan winter, and finish in spring among the insects the rest of the food web depends on. They return with a working sense that animals have needs like their own, and language to describe how those needs get met.
One-off programs
These programs can also be booked as single visits.
This program aims to engage young children’s interest in animals and their natural habitats exploring the four essential elements for a healthy habitat: food, water, shelter, and space. Students will use observation skills during a guided hike to investigate and compare different habitats and what thrives in them.
2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
Using sweep nets and bug jars, students will gather specimens from a variety of habitats and compare the organisms they find. As a group, students will share observations, identify external structures, and discuss how specific traits (such as camouflage, hard shells, or grouping behaviors) help these animals meet their needs and survive in different environments.
2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
In To Be a Tree, students explore the fascinating world of trees through hands-on activities and guided observation. They learn about the structure and functions of different tree parts, compare deciduous and coniferous species, and practice tree identification using leaves and bark. Students engage in a guided tree hike, games, art and scientific tools to gain a deeper appreciation for the importance of trees in ecosystems and everyday life.
2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
The land is always changing, and northern Michigan is a good place to catch it in the act. Students start with the glaciers that built this landscape, then go looking for the forces still at work on it today, from the wind moving loose material to the water shaping the ground it runs against. Along the way they find the plants holding the ground in place, and work out for themselves what slows the land from washing away.
2-ESS2-1 Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.
2-ESS1-1 Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly.
A northern Michigan winter is hard on animals, and every one that stays has a way through it. On snowshoes, students visit several different spots on the preserve to find where animals shelter when it turns cold: under the snow, inside a hollow tree, beneath the low branches of a conifer. Students handle real furs to see how some animals grow thicker coats or change color to match the snow, and hunt for the tracks and signs of the ones still awake and moving.
2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.