Excitement for new experiences

Whether they are building forts or identifying fossils, students in our programs are always exploring the nature around us in every season!

A few anticipated highlights include:

• Native aquatic animal lessons that include river exploration
• Butterfly life cycle lessons that include monarch tagging, and
• Physical education that includes sledding.

 “A-ha!” in real time

We have the wonderful opportunity to see nature “a-ha!” moments in real-time. That moment often arises as students explore outside and suddenly there’s excitement, teamwork and curiosity bubbling through the class as they find connections to the world and the program content. It’s the wonder on a student’s face when they discover an animal under a log. Their joy as they hold a caterpillar. And their surprise at finding a bird in the forest in the middle of January.

While many students expect to be outside in fall and spring, it’s easy to forget winter is a great time for outdoor exploration too. We look forward to the cold-weather adventures and more of those “a-ha!” moments even when teeth might be chattering and heavy jackets, hats, mittens and boots are in fashion.

Check out the video below to see NEEP in action.

Thanks to you, we’re ready

Thanks to your support of the Urban Ecology Center, our professional NEEP educators are prepared to facilitate learning, exploration and connection to the outdoors. Your help allows us to have over 30,000 student visits per year! THANK YOU!

If you’d like to contribute to our efforts to bring every student into nature, please click here and become a member.