NatureTracks, a mobile outreach vehicle, brings the parks to the people. This unique outreach experience offers free environmental educational programs to residents of Cuyahoga County with an emphasis on the City of Cleveland and populations with limited access to Cleveland Metroparks.
What is so special about this nature-based program?
- Free nature-based interactive programs
- Interactive exhibits simulating a temperate forest habitat
- Mounted native animals species
- 38-foot vehicle with classroom setting
- Hands-on technology
- Accessible for students with mobility needs
- Programs that align with current Ohio Department of Education science standards
- Multiple program options: off-site, virtual, and community groups
Program Offerings
On-site school programs
- Grade 1: Physical Needs- Students will learn that animals have basic needs which are met by obtaining materials from their physical environment. They will recognize that seasonal changes impact the availability of certain resources.
- Grade 2: Environmental Interactions- In this lesson, students will explore simple interactions between the biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) parts of an ecosystem. They will discover how living things change their environment and how these changes happen quickly or slowly.
- Grade 3: Animal Forms & Functions- Through observation of life cycles, students will discover how animal physical traits allow it to function in its environment. Students will also discover how an animal physical trait determines the environment it lives in.
- Grade 4: Instincts & Behavior- Animals migrate for many reasons, in this lesson students will identify environmental changes that can affect an animal’s behavior. Some can be beneficial for survival and others harmful.
- Grade 5: Food Chain/Food Web: Energy Flow- Living things use energy every day. Students will trace the sun’s energy as it flows through an ecosystem from producer to decomposer.
Call 216.341.1707 for more information