Environmental Education Field Trips

$10 off School Programs booked for February, 2012! See right sidebar for details. Bidwell Park provides an excellent and accessible opportunity to teach valuable lessons on the natural world and the need for stewardship of the environment. For over thirty years, the Chico Creek Nature Center has provided quality environmental education programs on the natural systems of Bidwell Park to elementary school students and the general public, using the Park as a classroom. Our staff naturalists bring academic backgrounds in life sciences to programs aligned with standards established by the California public school system. These popular and informative programs draw classes from five surrounding school districts and provide an excellent opportunity for teachers to add value to their curriculum.

Our Environmental Education Program Guide features our core programs aimed at K-6 classes. Scroll down this page for new additions. We now have a new program brochure for a variety of Kindergarten and Preschool programs that can be booked by teachers for their classes. The Preschool Form features our current programs for families. Please download the program brochures on the right sidebar for details on costs and program content. Interested groups should call the Nature Center to reserve programs (891-4671). Bookings for late spring programs should be made well in advance.

Kristie's Nature Lab opened in March 2010 to serve our education programs.

New Programs! Call for details and scheduling. Let us know if there’s something you would like to see! Scroll down for a list of new Preschool and Kindergarten offerings.

Skull ID Lab (45 min.) Using our collection of skulls and replicas, including mountain lion, bobcat, raccoon, opossum, squirrel, and more, younger grades can identify skulls by looking at eye placement and tooth shape. Older grades can take it a step further by using measurements and keying to sort out similar skulls.

Introduction to Birding (60-90 min.) Students will spend time in the lab learning how to identify some common birds of Lower Bidwell Park’s rich creekside habitat by identifying marks and voice. Each student will have a pair of full sized binoculars, which we will learn how to use. Then we’ll go into the field and search for about 10 or so “target birds,” in various habitats. This is a great trip year-round, especially for the winter with fewer leaves on the trees.

Scat ID Lab- The scoop on poop (45 min.) In our new lab, we’ll learn about the many uses of scat in nature, for marking territory, house building, and even food. Since many animals are nocturnal and shy of people, scat can give you an idea of what goes on in the forest when people aren’t around. By looking at specimens, we'll learn how to identify animal scat and see what they eat. Students in older grades can practice measuring, keying skills.

Wildflower Identification (March-May) (60 min.) Students will learn the parts of the flower and basic flower keying technique. We’ll see flower structures under the microscope projected on the big screen. Then we’ll practice our keying and id skills with our magnifying loupes (each student will have one) and identify the blooms.

Tree Leaf Identification Lab/Walk (Spring-Fall) (60 min.) In the lab, we'll look at leaf specimens, talk about the differences in leaf kinds (deciduous and evergreen) and shapes and make our own mini leaf guides. Then we'll go into the Riparian forest surrounding Big Chico Creek to identify these trees in the field and talk about their natural histories and ecological roles in the food web, habitat creation and more.

Groundwater Lab (45 min.) By looking at a model of a geologic cross section of the earth, students understand how drinking water is obtained from wells, how ground pollution gets into drinking water and learn about a hidden part of the water cycle. The demonstration is paired with an "aquifer in a cup activity" where students make their own models that demonstrate concepts like porosity and permeability.

Erosion Lab (45 min.) Starting with the clean slate of the sand stream table, students learn how rivers and streams form and shape the landscape into valleys, cliffs and deltas. Changing volume and force of water is discussed and related to flood control efforts. Students use critical thinking skills to choose where to build houses and plant trees in the model.