We can't WAIT to explore the Preserve with your child in this drop off after school program for elementary age students! In this twice-monthly afterschool class, your child(ren) will lead the way to discovery, showing us their interests and guiding the learning with their questions. We'll provide tools and expertise to go deep into a variety of topics. 

While they will always learn something, the focus of this class is fostering a love of nature and creating young scientists.

Here are the topics for this winter/spring:

• Feb 3 - Egg-stravaganza! Part 1: Students will go on a hunt for spotted salamander eggs and observe great blue herons in the nest. What other nesting species might we see?
• Feb 17 - Egg-stravaganza! Part 2: How have the eggs we have found progressed? How have embryos developed? We will magnify them in magiscopes and observe changes.
• Mar 3 - From Dusk till Fawn: Baby deer are being born (and hidden) in the Preserve! How do these babies stay safe? Find food? Grow? We'll explore through games and go on a walk to see if we can find active deer in the Preserve.
• Mar 17 - It's Not Easy Being Green: Frogs are calling, and we must go! Kids will get introduced to Frog Watch, a community science program that trains participants to listen for frog calls and then monitors them in locations like Conestee Nature Preserve. Your child will learn what the adults learn, and do a sample monitoring session!
• Apr 7 - Turtley Awesome: If you love turtles, you can almost always find them in the Preserve if you know where to look, and we do! We'll go on a turtle hunt, and learn about these amazing reptiles!
• Apr 21 - It IS Easy Being Green: In celebration of Earth Day, we'll explore easy ways to save this planet we all love! Kids will take part in a project to improve Conestee Nature Preserve.
• May 5 - Mad about May: We'll have a celebration of all things spring, complete with games and exploration!

Ideally, we would like for students to attend multiple sessions of the Nature Discovery Program, which is from 3:00-4:30 1st and 3rd Thursdays. We will vary the meetup location each session. This will allow us to explore as many different locations within the Preserve as possible! If the group size warrants, we will split by age group. 

REGISTRATION CLOSES AT MIDNIGHT THE TUESDAY BEFORE CLASS. This allows us time to plan. If you miss the deadline, you may email erin@conesteepreserve.org or jim@conesteepreserve.org to determine if there is still space for your child. CLASS SHOWING FULL? Our registration software requires we set aside a certain number of "first child" tickets and a certain number of "additional children" tickets since they are different prices, rather than letting us set a grand total. So there may be room when it appears full! Please write Erin and ask! Also, we can start a wait list if we are full. We want to make room for as many children as we can!

Every parent must fill out this form for their child/children once each season of Nature Discovery prior to their first class.

WHO

K5-5th graders

COST

1st child is $10, additional children are $8 each.

WHERE

Meetup locations will change each session. Registered participants will be emailed prior to the event to let you know where we are meeting. Please add erin@conesteepreserve.org and jim@conesteepreserve.org to your contact list so that the event emails do not get lost in your spam folder.

WHAT TO BRING
Please bring a water bottle. Sunscreen and bug spray should be applied before class if needed.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

These classes will be capped at 13 participants per instructor. All of our classes are taught entirely outdoors, where the chances of COVID-19 transmission are drastically reduced.

Our fully vaccinated staff will make every effort to maintain distance, and when that cannot be achieved, to reduce the amount of time children are in close proximity to less than 15 minutes, per guidelines.

Anyone who wants to wear a mask is encouraged to do so.

CANCELLATIONS

We will cancel if we have less than 6 participants, so encourage your friends to sign up with you! We will notify participants by noon the day of the class if we are cancelling due to weather. Cancellations by participants must be made 1 week prior to the event for a full refund. If the event is cancelled by CNP or due to COVID related concerns, full refunds will be issued.