School Enrichment Projects

How does the shape of a bird's beak affect the type of food it can eat? As any "birder" will tell you, watching birds is an exceptional way to teach awareness of the natural world. During this project your students will learn about bird adaptions and bird behavior. Lessons include: Bird Behavior, Bird Family Life, Migration, Bird Watching Field Trip. Special activities include constructing bird houses and feeders. This project is suited best for grades fourth through sixth. Materials in kit: student manuals; teacher guide; video tapes on "The Family Life of Birds," "The Bob White Quail," "The Canada Goose" & "The Mourning Dove."

Discovering Electricity

When man first discovered electricity, he had no idea it would become as useful as it is today. This curriculum helps students discover the mysteries of electricity and how to use electrical energy to make light and heat and to power things. Students will learn how to make a simple electrical circuit board. This is a great addition to your science curriculum.

Objectives:
 

• To learn what electricity is.
• To understand how simple electrical circuits work.
• To learn how to use electricity safely.
• To understand how electricity is related to magnets and magnetism.

The embryology project gives youth a chance to witness the miracle of life in the classroom. It involves the actual hatching of approximately 12 - 24 chicks. The project requires about 21 days for the chicks to hatch and fits well into any classroom situation. Candling the eggs has been an exciting part of this project. The students actually get to see how the chicks develop in the eggs during the incubation period. This project is designed for second through sixth grades. Resources include teacher's guides, poster & specimen jars.

 Teachers must provide:

• A brooder or holding container for the hatched chicks, no smaller than three feet in diameter - (a tot swimming pool works well)
• Wood chips to cover the bottom of the brooder
• Heat lamp (unless one is available from the extension office)

If all that is needed are the two dozen eggs, the cost is $5.00.

Make checks payable to Lincoln /McPherson County Extension.

Go to the Lancaster County Extension Embrology Web site for the following terrific resources:

• Incubation directions
• Information about candling eggs
• Photos and movie clips
• Links to other helpful resources (including how-to for coloring chicks)

UNL Extension - Progressive Agriculture Safety Day

This project is for third grade classrooms. Youth spend a morning or afternoon visiting activity centers where they participate in activities to learn the importance of safety in areas such as the following: ATVs (3 or 4 wheelers), animals, electricity, firearms, first aid, flowing grain / grain bins, and lawn mowers. 300 to 400 children attend the camp each year. Registrations are on a first-come, first-served basis. Please choose either the morning session or afternoon session. See a videoclip of the 2005 camp. (Windows Media Player file, streaming at 150 kps. Clip length is 4 minutes 45 seconds.) 2005 UNL Extension - Progressive Farmer Farm Safety Day Camp movie This program is sponsored by Progressive Agriculture Foundation, including a number of national sponsors; along with local donors, local agencies and volunteers.

THE NEXT SAFETY DAY, ON APRIL 3, 2008, IS FULL.

Teachers: Each child must have the 2008 Release and Consent Form filled out and signed by parent or guardian, in order to attend the safety day. You will need to turn in the forms to Lincoln/McPherson Extension office in order receive the tee shirts and handouts for your class.

CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR SPONSORS:

Progressive Agriculture Safety Days and their national sponsors.

2008 North America Sponsors

2008 Sponsor Logos

2008 State Sponsors

What do your students throw away? Are they aware that waste doesn't magically disappear once it lands in a trash can? The Garbology program helps students become aware of the impact of their trash on the environment. Activities lead them to action and commitment. Topics include What is Waste, Where Does Waste Come From? Where Does It Go? and What Can We Do About Waste? Materials include a teacher's guide and activity sheets. A paper making demonstration is also available.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense.

By bringing GPS and GIS into your classroom, you introduce new dimensions of latitude, longitude, triangulation, treasure hunting and mapping skills.

Our GPS School Enrichment course includes a classroom session which introduces 25 hand held GPS devices and explains how to use them. The class will then move outside for a treasure hunt with rewards at every turn!

Due to satellite use, the treasure hunt must take place outside (a school yard or park). Class size is limited to 25 students.

The GIS - Geographic Information Systems is all about geospatial sciences and how things can affect situations surrounding them and changes made to an area or community. More information to follow after the ESRI training June 10 and 11, 2008.

Resource materials include:

See the Nebraska 4-H GPS Geocaching Program page. Check out the ESRI program for using GIS 'Geographic Information Systems' in your class today ESRI GIS for Schools page.

Germbusters

Microbes in Food: the Good the Bad and the Ugly!

Health Room mural at Andover Elementary School in Connecticut, used by permission. Painted by AES students.

By growing microorganisms in petri dishes, doing a yeast experiment or learning how to use microorganisms to make yogurt, students learn basic information about microorganisms. The project also ties in safe food handling and career awareness. Students see the importance of good handwashing through an activity with the use of the GloGerm kit. Experiments are based on sound science concepts and are fun to do!  Kit includes: Teacher Guide, incubator & petri dishes (50 cents per dish), GloGerm and UV Lamp, and student worksheets.

This project focuses on taking care of "the community forest" or the trees in our own backyard. Students learn how trees benefit people, the role of trees in our community, how a tree grows, obstacles to tree growth, and how to take care of the trees in the community or at school They learn what trees are native to the Great Plains and the importance of diversity in the community forest.  Materials include a teacher's guide and tree seeds, if available.

Celebrate Arbor Day, which originated in Nebraska, through this project. Youth learn about trees and their value to the community while collecting and categorizing tree seeds and fruit. They learn how to plant and care for seedlings; how seeds travel; and how to grow a tree from a seed. They gain appreciation for trees while learning about the importance of trees to our environment. Resources available: Plant A Tree student manuals, video tape, seeds and poster.

Enrolled third grade classes may attend the "TREE and NATURE STUDY." This year the study will be held at the nature trail at West Central Research & Extension Center south of North Platte. Students will identify a few different trees and shrubs observe the overstory and understory listen and look for signs of wildlife measure the trunk circumference and crown spread and estimate the height of a large tree observe tree decay and discuss the importance of decay organisms and wood eating insects observe lichen The study normally lasts 60 to 90 minutes, although the time can be adjusted to fit your schedule. We encourage teachers to discuss these concepts with students prior to the tree study at the nature trail. Enroll using the enrollment form and arrange a time with George Haws.

For high school junior and senior classes. Young adults have a lot to look forward to after graduation; a world of opportunities, along with many challenges. One challenge they may not be prepared to meet, is the financial challenge. Often, credit cards appear to be the answer. Unfortunately, many sign up for credit cards without understanding them well. Consequently, by the time they are 22 years old, a significant number of young adults are heavily in debt, singing the “credit card blues.” This program can teach your students what they need to know so they can sing a happier tune at the age of 22 and beyond.

What is hazardous waste? What is solid waste? How is water treated? What are the effects of waste on our environment? These are just a few questions that can be discovered in the Waste Stream. Students are taken through a fictional town of Sludge Falls to examine its waste problems. Through activities like building a compost column, and learning about recycling, students will better understand how to manage waste. Materials available: teacher guide, student manual, video tape.

Water Riches

There is also a Water Riches Field Day (in early May at Lake Ogallala) for fourth and fifth grade classes. For more information click on "Programs" in the black horizontal bar across the top of this page.

WATER EXPO

Site One: University of Nebraska West Central Research and Extension Center on State Farm Road and Highway 30 --- Planned main ideas and activities include: Putting together sprinkler heads, then hooking them up and testing them out - learning how sprinkler systems can help conserve water-- Participating in a fish rod casting contest that doubles as a quiz game, learning that common practices like using lead fishing weights and tossing old medicines into the toilet can harm water wildlife-- Walking through the Master Gardener demonstration garden and learning about water saving devices, such as mulch and soaker hoses-- Using soil probes to collect samples, such as would be done for laboratory analysis; getting water to flow through irrigation siphon tubes (hopefully without getting very wet!) - learning ways irrigation and fertilizer are managed to maximize crop yield and minimize groundwater contamination-- Touring rainfed corn research plots; learning how science is changing the way farmers plant their crops to increas yields on dry years-- Participating in role play to learn that allocating water, a scarce but vital resource, is not easy-- Taking a solution of brown sugar in water, through several dilutions, calculating the changes in concentration, in parts per million. etc.

Site Two: Nebraska Public Power District hydroelectric power plant on State Farm Road east of Highway 83 --- See the computerized control room, huge turbines, etc.

Groundwater Display Model

Available for checkout from the extension office. The model shows water table impermeable layers groundwater flow interaction between groundwater and surface water effect of pumping on neighboring wells and surface water movement of pollutants with groundwater The model comes with fill jar, pump, dye, stand, carrying case and instruction booklet. Click for more information about the Standard Model from University of Nebraska Department of Biological Systems Engineering