4th Grade

Autumn Nature Adventure: (October)
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Combine classic autumn fun with hands-on learning:

• Participate in a traditional hayride through the sights, sounds and scents of autumn
• Observe and discuss how native plants and wildlife are adapting to seasonal changes
• Finish with the always fun selection of the perfect "take home" pumpkin
• Remember to plan for pumpkin transport!
• Cost: $9/person, $100.00 minimum/class.
• Limit:  3 classes or 75 students per visit.
• Due to the up-front expenses, this program must be paid in full in advance; no refunds

Fossil Study (September through March)
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This program is a good review or introduction to fossil study:

• Review fossil formation
• Discuss what fossils might be found in Middle Tennessee and why
• Examine specimens in the Owl's Hill collection
• Search the Owl's Hill trails for fossils
• Use a field guide to identify your finds
• Cost: $5/person, $50.00 minimum/class

Interpretive Habitat Hike: (August through May)
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Designed to encourage observation, stimulate curiosity and increase sensory awareness in the natural world:

• Focus on evidence of the season
  • Autumn hikes abound with fruit, seeds, spiders and insects
  • Winter provides burrows, fossils and tracks
  • Spring offers nesting birds, mating amphibians, and paths of wildflowers
• Visit varied habitats, including old orchard, pond and forest
• Consider the adaptations needed to survive in each  habitat.
• Look for signs of herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, decomposers
• Listen for bird and amphibian sounds
• Cost: $5/person, $50.00 minimum/class

Forest Ecology: (August through May)
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Explore forest habitats in different stages of succession:

• Learn to identify common Middle Tennessee trees, using bark, leaves, twigs, shape, location
• Understand the relationship between plants and animals in an ecosystem
• Visit the old trees
• Discuss the effects of fire in the forest,  both positive and negative
• Make a simple leaf press during autumn visits
• Includes a simple field guide
• Cost: $5/person, $50.00 minimum/class
• Limit three classes per visit

Owls: Top of the Food Chain: (August through May)
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Hike through owl territory and learn how owls affect and are affected by the food chain:

• Meet the non-releasable owls Owl's Hill
  • Bubo virginianus,  the Great Horned Owl;
  • Strix varia, the Barred Owl
  • Megascops asio, the Screech Owl. 
• See first hand the adaptations of each to its habitat
• Participate in a discussion of the concerns, both practical and legal, involved in caring for injured and orphaned animals. 
• Cost: $5/person, $50.00 minimum/class. 
• Limit of 2 classes per visit

Pond Ecology: (August, September, after April 15)
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Participate in a feet-wet, hands-on study of an aquatic habitat:

• Wade into the pond to collect specimens for identification
• Observe the life cycles of amphibians and aquatic insects
• Study basic insect classification
• Build and test a simple watershed
• Perform basic water chemistry tests
• Wear old clothes and shoes; bring a change of clothes and shoes to wear home
• Cost: $5/student, $50.00 minimum.
• Limit one class per visit.

What do Bees Make? (August, September, March, April, May)
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• Observe stages in the life cycle of honeybees
• Consider the link between these animals and humans
• Investigate pollination and seed production
• Learn how the introduction of honeybees affects native pollinators
• Search for different kinds of bees and other pollinators.
• Cost: $5/person, $50 minimum/class.
• Limit two classes per visit.

Tennessee Standards (Science GLE 0407) 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2 (Social Studies) 4.1.02a

• English GLE 0401:  2.1, 2.2, 5.2
• Physical Education: 1, 3, 5, 6