Note: Half-day options can also be combined with the Biomes of Minnesota hike to make a full-day trip.
Water Water Everywhere
Time: 4 hours
Season: year-round
Learn about the importance of water to people through a game, an observational hike and a hands-on demo. Students will experience the water cycle through stories and a game of water cycle tag. They will then visit either a wetland or a swamp, and spend some time observing and drawing what they see. They will also get to get their hands wet using our stream table, where a naturalist will demonstrate the way water shapes landscapes through processes like erosion and deposition. Students will be tasked with building houses along the watershed and making real-world engineering decisions related to flood control, development and landscaping.
Outrageous Insects
Time: 4 hours
Season: June – September
Hone your observation skills, use some scientific equipment, and create a bar graph! Students will go on a hike through a variety of ecosystems and discuss how different habitats support different types of insects. Back in the classroom, they'll learn the basics of structure and function, as well as how to classify insects into broad categories. Then, armed with sweep nets, they will work in teams to sample insects in the prairie and the woods. The day wraps up with teams sorting their insects by type, then collectively building a bar graph using their physical samples and discussing patterns in what insects live where.
One Small Square
Time: 4 hours
Season: April – October
Learn to collect data and observe in a focused way in this kid-friendly exploration of ecosystems! Students will go on a hike through a variety of ecosystems and talk about the living and non-living things they see, and then work with a partner to conduct an investigation of their own “small square” of the landscape. Armed with a PVC quadrat (their personal square) and a backpack of tools, they will collect, measure, document and observe what’s going on above and below the soil. Round out the day with an art project to capture some of the nature each pair observed!
Forest Ecology
Time: 4 hours
Season: April – October
Students explore and investigate two of Minnesota’s three biomes – the coniferous and deciduous forests. Go on a hike that passes through several forest types, learn how to identify trees, and discuss the importance of trees and forests for humans. Collect a leaf of your own, and then learn how the shape a leaf tells you something about its function as well as the type of tree it came from. Visit our brand-new Forests and Biodiversity experiment and test out your tree identification skills with a dichotomous key.
Focus on Food Webs
Time: 4 hours
Season: April – October
Did you know that the first scientist to study how energy moved through food webs worked here at Cedar Creek? Expose your students to Lindeman’s legacy through food web tag, a hike out to his research site (~1 mile total), and an investigation of adaptations in either animal skulls or pinned insects.
Animal Adaptations
Time: 4 hours
Season: year-round
What animals live in Minnesota, and what makes them unique? Students will learn how to reconstruct the story of our local wildlife by looking for clues on a nature hike, and will investigate some of the adaptations found in Minnesotan animals. We'll play games, design our own adapted animals, look at skulls and pelts, go tracking and more!
Biomes of Minnesota
Time: 2 hours
Season: year-round
The Cedar Bog Lake trail is a unique experience that lets students walk through representations of all three biomes present in Minnesota before emerging at the shores of Cedar Bog Lake. Deciduous forest, tallgrass prairie and boreal coniferous forest, as well as swamps and a lake – they all contribute to make this a “Walk Across Minnesota!” Younger students do this hike as a “color walk”, finding natural items that match paint chips as they traverse the trail, or as a purely observational walk with hand lenses and basic field guides. Older students discuss the natural and scientific history of Minnesota and Cedar Creek. There are lots of opportunities along the way to stop and ask questions about the different types of nature the students are exploring. Total distance is ~1 mile.
Sort like a Scientist: The Importance and Power of Classification
Time: 2 hours
Season: year-round
Students observe and/or collect a variety of items from around Cedar Creek and use their observational skills to sort them and come up with a basic classification scheme (dichotomous key). They then test out their key with a handful of surprise items or a visit to a novel area. Older groups can refine existing keys or create their own key, and learn why and how to identify specific groups of plants like trees or grasses in our experimental plots.
Animal Adaptations
Time: 2 hours
Season: year-round
What animals live in Minnesota, and what makes them unique? Through a game, a hands-on investigation and lots of items to touch and explore, students will learn about adaptations our local animals use to make it through to spring. Most of the program will be indoors, but we will be going outside as part of our investigation - dress for the weather!
Visit to Biodiversity Experiment (bus required)
Time: 2 hours
Season: April – November
Dr. Dave Tilman’s Big Biodiversity experiment is known worldwide for its insights into the way plant communities function and its role in helping scientists, policy makers, and the general public understand and appreciate biodiversity. Explore this enormous experiment using a guided scavenger hunt that encourages students to figure out Dr. Tilman’s main results on their own. They’ll leave with an appreciation for biodiversity and science that’s hard to replicate anywhere else!
The Power of Observation
Time: 2 hours
Season: April - November
The most important tool in a scientist's toolkit is their ability to look closely at the world around you. Hone your students' observation skills with a color-based scavenger hunt in nature! We will read a story, then go on a nature hike armed with paint chips and work together to see how many different shades and colors we can find. Once we are expert observers, we'll turn our attention to the plants and animals found around Cedar Creek's main campus building.
Our capacity to do in-school visits is limited, particularly in September, October, and May. However, if you would like one of our scientists or naturalists to speak to your students at a career panel or event, assist with judging at a science fair, or provide input in a similar capacity, please let us know. Contact Kara Baldwin (baldwink@umn.edu) and we'll see what we can arrange.