Sample Lesson Plans
4-H has numerous environmental education resources for youth; please contact Megan Tifft to make an appointment for a personal consultation or to review these resources. Educational kits are available for your use as a volunteer with 4-H Environmental Appreciation Days. These contain lesson plans, background information and teaching materials. Several topic area kits are available including Stream Ecology, The Beauty of Bats, Leave it to Beaver, Animal Tracking and others. Samples of Lesson Plans follow.
Animal Tracks and Signs
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Look for clues that an animal has passed through an area -- tracks, chew marks, remnants of pine cones, antler rub marks. Hands-on identification will be followed by mapping the area and charting where the animal signs were found.
Beauty of Bats
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Students will learn that bats are an important part of the ecosystem and are beneficial, will understand that bats are nocturnal and list some ways they adapt to their lifestyle (e.g. echolocation, wings). Demonstration on how bats use echolocation to forage for their food and navigate in the dark.
Bug Safari
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Briefly talk about the 8 major orders (or kinds) of insects; demonstrate an aspect of each order; looking at bu piictures; and seeing how many we can find!
Composting
An interactive lesson on composting and recycling. Youth will build a compost layer cake and learn about basic composting principles, and meet worms and other creatures that live in compost.
Fishy Science
Learn how fish fit into aquatic ecosystems and their dependence on clean water. Real fish will be used to teach about fishy biology and identification.
Giant Beasts of the Ice Age
Student will learn that amazing and fantastic beasts lived right here in the Finger Lakes during the Ice age, not only in far away places. The geologic formation of the gorges to the conditions that caused the extinction of these beasts and to learn to appreciate the modern descendents of these strange creatures.
1830's Camp
Students will visit a simulated trapper's camp and meet a trapper from the 1830's. They will learn what a trapper's life was like, and see some handmade firearms.
How Did These Rocks Get Here?
We will play a game that illustrates the great length of geologic time, look at some rock outcrops to discover how sedimentary rocks were made, and discuss the environmental problems resulting from erosion.
How Many Bears Can Live in This Forest?
By playing a game where students are bears, we will learn about major components of habitat, limiting factors, and how those factors affect wildlife.
Insects
What makes an insect an insect? How and where do insects live? We will search for insects in the field, then create a new insect that fits into a particular niche.
Map and Compass Treasure Hunt
Students will use compasses and special maps to go through a simple orienteering course. Along the way they will find and stop at stations where they will do different environmental activities.
Meet a Tree
Students will meet and get to know a tree as a sum of many parts, each designed to perform a necessary function within the trees life and within its seasonal cycles. Activities will include a brief presentation, interactive games, sensory experiences, a tree questionnaire and a group poem.
Muskox Maneuvers
By playing a game where students are wolves and muskoxen, we will learn about predator-prey relationships, adaptations for survival, and predation as a limiting factor.
Nature Walk
We will go on a hike of the area while sharing some of the natural highlights of the area. These will include tree identification, and some basic geology .
Pond Ecology
This program is designed to introduce youngsters to the organisms and life in and around the pond site. Subjects include: water cycle, food webs, and sediment composition.
Stream Ecology
Just under the surface of the stream is another whole universe. Inhabitants must cope with constantly moving water, which they depend on for oxygen and food. We'll capture some of these creatures and learn how they give us clues to the health of the stream.
This House is for the Birds
The Eastern Bluebird is New York's State Bird. They are an example of a bird that needs a cavity to live in. People can help cavity dwellers by building and putting up nest boxes. Come be a part of the solution by putting up nest boxes at 4-H Acres!
Wildflower Walk
Come on a spring wildflower walk at Upper Buttermilk emphasizing plant identification, folklore, and natural history.
