Elementary School Programs at Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area

School groups learn about different habitats by hands-on exploration during the CRCA's conservation education programs.

The Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority offers a wide range of quality curriculum based environmental education programs to classroom teachers and their students.

Information about our 2012-2013 elementary school programs at Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area in Kingston is provided below.

If you don't see what you are looking for check our other education pages. See our sidebar for links to other programs

Location

Times

Fees

• $7.00 per student attending for all regular half-day programs.
• $4.00 per student attending from the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board or the Limestone District School Board. (These boards pay a $3.00 per student subsidy).
• A minimum fee of $100.00 applies to all groups.
• Please bring cash or a cheque made payable to the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority on the day of your visit.

Booking Instructions

Please send a detailed message including your name, school, grade, class size, proposed dates and choice of program. We will confirm by phone or e-mail. Note the dates of availability for each program.

We can accept two classes for most of our programs. We encourage schools to bring two classes to save on bussing costs and reduce greenhouse gases.

Cancellation

Education staff will contact your school by 8:00 a.m. if we need to adapt the program in case of inclement weather or cancel due to severe weather. There will be no charge for a cancellation made due to severe weather conditions. Please dress in comfortable, weather appropriate clothing.

If you have any questions please call our office at (613) 546-4228 ext. 251 or toll-free (613 area code) 1-877-956-CRCA (2722) ext. 251.

Program Dates

Links to the Curriculum

Our programs accommodate various grade levels and are designed to be a springboard for action and understanding. Many of our programs are adaptable to different grade levels or to a different focus. The programs offered strive to be relevant to learners so that they can connect to the natural world through their head, heart and hands.

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Program Descriptions

Our programs can accommodate split grades and two classes except where indicated.

Programs are listed here in alphabetical order. If you have any questions, please call us at (613) 546-4228 ext. 251.

Primary (Kindergarten to Grade 3) Programs

Awesome Animals (Grade 2) Science and Technology - fall, winter or spring
Make your choice to have your animal focus on either cool local birds or mysterious local mammals. We’ll provide a fun, introductory puppet show and a chance to get up close and personal to true taxidermied animals. Students will take part in hands-on activities about animal growth and changes as well as the adaptations that animals experience. Your class will leave with a greater awareness of human impacts and our role to take care of all living things.

Featuring Fall (Grades 1 - 3) Science and Technology - fall
Students will go on a fall adventure where they have the opportunity to discover the fall changes taking place as animals and plants prepare for winter. They will learn about all of the adaptations and changes through a variety of sensory and hands-on activities as we hike through fields and forests.

Insects Alive (Grades K- 2) Science and Technology - fall and spring
Grades K to 2 begin with an introductory puppet show. Through live capture and release, students identify and classify common insects and various adaptations, life cycles, and food chains. Students will have the opportunity to come to appreciate the valuable role insects play in the environment.

Kinderscience - Fall, Winter or Spring (Junior and Senior Kindergarten) Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
Students will be introduced to the concepts of living and non-living things, life cycles, habitats, and the basic needs of plants and animals through an interactive puppet show and hands-on exploration activities and games that promote befriending nature in various natural habitats.

Kinder Treasure Hunt (Junior and Senior Kindergarten) Mathematics, Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
Puppets introduce the idea of a special treasure map where students use spatial awareness of their surroundings and their senses to go on a great treasure hunt. Students will discover nature treasures and leave with a greater understanding of and connections to the rhythms of the season that they are visiting in.

Leaves, Roots and Beyond (Grade 3) Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
Your grade three students will focus on the growth and changes in plants and how soils in the environment are connected to them. Through hands-on activities and exploration, your class will come to understand the basic requirements of plants, physical characteristics and special adaptations of plants and beyond.

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Maple Madness (Grades K - 3) Social Studies, Science and Technology - March 4 to April 5
The visit begins with an introduction to the sugar bush by our famous puppet friends. Students ride back in time to the bush in tractor-drawn wagons, where they are guided through an age appropriate discovery of historic and modern methods of making maple syrup with interactive activities to make the tour exciting. The trip is completed with a taste of liquid gold!

Mapping it Out (Grades 1 - 3) Social Studies, Health and Physical Education - fall, winter and spring
Students will learn all about map reading through an indoor map building activity, and two outdoor map reading activities. Each activity allows students to use their new skills to discover some of the Conservation Area’s secrets.

Marsh Mysteries (Grades K - 3) Science and Technology - fall and spring
Puppets introduce students to the members of the wetland community and the basic roles they play. As gentle giants, students are introduced to aquatic food chains and the wide range of wetland plants and animals through a visit to the pond and a hands-on pond-dipping excursion.

Nature in Winter (Grades 1 - 3) Science and Technology - winter
Students go on a winter hike where they explore the winter world using their senses and imaginations. Students will also learn about animal adaptations and activities by looking for signs of tracks, scat and nibbled twigs which all tell the stories of how plants and animals survive the winter.

Secrets of Spring (Grades 1 - 3) Science and Technology - spring
Students go on a spring hike where they explore reawakenings of both plants and animals such as wildflowers and frogs, and the return of birds. They will learn about all of the adaptations and changes through a variety of sensory and hands-on activities as we hike through fields and forests.

Snowshoe Excursion (Grade 3) Health and Physical Education - winter
Your class will enjoy a snowshoe lesson and tour over marshes and through fields and forests. Learn about snowshoeing techniques, the history of snowshoeing and look for signs of winter plants and animals. Snowshoe rental fee is $6.00 per person in addition to the regular program fee. (Limited to one class per visit due to equipment. A rental fee is charged to teachers and parent volunteers.)

Ski Lessons (Grades 3) Health and Physical Education - winter
Bring your class out for cross-country ski lessons! The ski rental cost is $9.00 per student in addition to the regular program fee. (Limited to one class per visit due to equipmen availability. A rental fee is charged to teachers and parent volunteers.)

Water Cycle Journey (Grade 2) Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
The program begins with an introduction to the main components of the water cycle: the sun, clouds, wind, and rain. Disguised as water droplets, your class will go on a water cycle hike through field and forest. Through a game, drama, weather stories, and exploration, your students will come to understand the importance of the water cycle and the seasonal effects of weather on plants and animals.

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Junior and Intermediate Programs

Biodiversity Bonanza (Grade 6) Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
Make your choice to have your animal focus on either local birds, insects or mammals. Your class will experience a visual presentation and an opportunity to get up close and personal to taxidermied animals. Through various outdoor activities, students will come away with an understanding of basic classification systems and the importance of the biodiversity of animals. The insect focus will involve live capture and release. Your students will also leave feeling better connected and ready to act in ways to help protect the biodiversity around us.

Ecosystem Interactions (Grade 7) Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
Students will be introduced to the importance of ecosystems and defining such terms as biotic, abiotic, niche and the levels within food chains. Through exploration, they will identify examples of these within a marsh, field and forest ecosystem. By role-playing, they will experience an example of a food chain from an ecosystem. Students will leave with a better understanding of their connections to ecosystems and the positive impacts they can have as humans within them.

Habitats and Communities (Grade 4) Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
Make your choice to focus on the habitats and communities of either local birds, insects or mammals. The various habitats and communities will be introduced using taxidermied animals. Depending on the animal focus, students will use different hands-on methods to gain a better awareness of local animals and their food chain connections. The insect focus will provide students with a live capture and release opportunity in a field and marsh habitats. Overall, students will learn how to help protect animals large and small.

Home Sweet Home (Grade 4) Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
Through role-playing either a plant or an animal, each student explores marsh, field, and forest habitats in this program developed by the Institute for Earth Education. Students are introduced to the basic needs of the plant or animal they become, why they are important, and some interesting facts about their adaptations. This habitat exploration wraps up with an exciting dramatized twist where students apply information learned.

Instincts for Survival (Grades 4 - 8) Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
This physically active simulation game helps students to understand environmental niches, animal adaptations, energy flow, and predator-prey relationships by role-playing the life of a herbivore, omnivore or carnivore. This game is completed with a discussion of how people and limiting factors, such as disease, impact on natural ecosystems.

Leaves, Roots and Beyond - fall, winter and spring
Part 1 - Habitats and Communities (Grade 4) Science and Technology
Discover the marvelous world of plants and the species connected to them through hands-on activities and exploration.

Part 2 - Biodiversity (Grade 6) Science and Technology
Appreciate the diversity right in your own backyard and your local conservation area. Come to learn key methods of identification of plants, and even the secret lives of fungi and how the protection of them is vital.

Maple Math (Grades 5 -8) Mathematics, Social Studies, History and Geography, Science and Technology - March 4 to April 5
Our Maple Madness program with an added mathematics component. Students become forest resource managers, learning about the history of the sugar bush and basic forest resource management by collecting basic data to determine diameter, height, number of taps, sap yield, and maple syrup production.

Map and Compass (Grades 4 - 8) Social Studies, Geography, Health and Physical Education - fall, winter and spring
Junior and Intermediate students learn the basic parts of a compass and how to find north and to orient their map. The students are put to the age-appropriate challenge of using their map and compass to find their way on the trails.

Snowshoe Excursion (Grades 4 -8) Health and Physical Education - winter
Your class will enjoy a snowshoe lesson and tour over marshes and through fields and forests. Learn about snowshoeing techniques, the history of snowshoeing and look for signs of winter plants and animals. Snowshoe rental fee is $6.00 per person in addition to the regular program fee. (Limited to one class per visit due to equipment. A rental fee is charged to teachers and parent volunteers.)

Ski Lessons (Grades 4 - 8) Health and Physical Education - winter
Bring your class out for cross-country ski lessons! The ski rental cost is $9.00 per student in addition to the regular program fee. (Limited to one class per visit due to equipmen availability. A rental fee is charged to teachers and parent volunteers.)

Wet and Wild Water Systems (Grade 8) Science and Technology - fall, winter and spring
Students will become familiar with the use and importance of water within the watershed they live in. Through water activities, a game, and outdoor exploration, students will leave with a greater awareness of human impacts on water.

Make a Day of It

There are also great recreation facilities including picnic areas and a 14 km trail system which is groomed for cross-country skiing during the winter. There are two warming huts, a bonfire pit and privies located beside the reservoir. The entrance fee for groups to use our facilities is $3.00 per person. There is an additional charge for equipment rentals.

You must make a group booking to use our facilities by calling (613) 546-4228 ext. 222. To book an education program, please call (613) 546-4228 ext. 251.

Acknowledgments

The CRCA would like to thank the Cataraqui Conservation Foundation for their generous contributions to the cost of operating our education programs. Please consider becoming a Foundation member or making a donation to the Partners in Outdoor Education fund. For more information call (613) 546-4228 ext. 221.

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Contact Us:
P.O. Box 160, Glenburnie, Ontario, Canada K0H 1S0
Telephone: (613) 546-4228
E-mail: crca@cataraquiregion.on.ca

©2013 Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority