Thistle, Utah

What grabs a young student's attention more rapidly than tales of a Ghost Town?

In 1983 Thistle, Utah was eliminated by the most costly landslide in United States history. It is estimated that the disaster cost over $200 million dollars.

This is an incredibly interesting piece of Utah history. The Thistle Landslide is a great opportunity to show children the impacts that nature can have in a direct light. There are many photos available of the remains of Thistle, and it is treated in several documentaries, including the one below. Additionally, Thistle is fairly close to home for most Utah Valley students, so while it may not be worth a class trip, students could certainly visit the ghost town with their families. 

This video is just part of a documentary. This portion focuses on Thistle, Utah and the landslide of 1983. The original documentary is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNkJoifqcLM

Tracy Aviary Nature Programs

Tracy Aviary has a wide variety of programs in place to help connect kids with nature. Today we want to focus on their Nature Programs. These activities focus on teaching children to interact and connect with the environment. Due to the large number of programs offered, it is easy to find things that can be tied in to core lessons already being taught in class.

“In these nature programs Tracy Aviary educators bring activities to school yards or local parks to help participants explore and discover the nature right in their backyards. Programs are 60 minutes long, and are limited to groups up to 30 participants. ”

— Tracy Aviary Website

Activities currently offered include:

• Mapping Your Park: Learn to create and read maps in a local setting.

• Eco-Art: Creating art out of natural elements.

• Biodiversity Celebration: Explore local living things and learn about their specific adaptations.

• Soundscape: Use sense of sound to learn about the world around us.

• Nature Storytime: Nature-oriented story, games, activities, and free play outside (designed for younger children).

• Details Detective: Become a details detective and represent discoveries and experiences in a nature journal.

• Sensing the Seasons: Learn about how our senses enhance outdoor exploration and participate in Nature Show & Tell.

• Insect Safari: Hunt for local insects and learn about the role that they play in our environment.

• Stream Exploration: Explore water quality and learn about the plants and animals that depend on our local streams and rivers.

The cost is $60 for the first program and $25 additional dollars per program added on top of that. 

Staff from Tracy Aviary take students on a nature walk through a local park.

Air Quality Lesson

Everyone knows that the air quality in Utah (County) is one of the worst. Teaching children about this problem and potential solutions is one of the best ways that we can make sure our air improves in the future.

This website gives information about the air quality in Utah. It shows past and present air conditions, discusses particulate matter in the air, ozone, temperature, and wind It also has an air quality index with a table that shows what actions should be taken when our air dips below a certain quality. This website includes several children's activities to help them become more aware of our air.

Ozone and Air Quality Index on June 22, 2016 at 8:00pm.

Lakeside Learning

One of the truly unique things about living in Utah is our Great Salt Lake. The Lakeside Learning Field Trip is an awesome 2.5 hour educational tour at Antelope Island State Park. The website states that "the trips combine informal environmental education strategies while incorporating science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) to reinforce the Utah Common Core State Science Standards."

Field trips are offered August-October and April-June. The trip includes exploration around the wetlands, wading in the Great Salt Lake, and bird watching. 

The instructional fee is free for public schools, the park entrance fee is paid for by Friends of Great Salt Lake, and there is even a transportation grant of $150 available per field trip. 

“Our typical field trip program starts off with a visit to the playa, where we talk about wetlands, adaptations, the water cycle, and the unique features of Great Salt Lake. Next, students learn how to use binoculars and we travel over the causeway for birding activities. Our trips conclude with a visit to the beach at Ladyfinger Point where students learn about oolitic sand and wade in the Lake for a hands-on experience with brine shrimp and brine flies.”

— Friends of Great Salt Lake

Pop Bottle Ecosystem

One of the most important things that anyone can understand about nature is how everything is connected. Once this fundamental concept is established, it creates a perfect environment for children to act in a mindful way in the environment, and in contact with other people.

Although there are many methods for teaching about natural connectivity, small ecosystems tend to be a favorite. This particular project hails from a homeschooling website.  The site outlines the entire process necessary for building a pop bottle ecosystem, including step-by-step instructions (with photographs), and excerpts on how to teach about the ecosystem. There is also an "additional layers" section that discusses methods of tying this project in with other subjects such as writing, reading, and responsibility.

Also, the example ecosystem includes goldfish! Who doesn't love goldfish?

Botany Bins

The University of Utah's Red Butte Garden offers the Botany Bin Program to all Utah public school teachers free of charge. 

Each kit comes with 16 bins, core-aligned lesson plans, related literature, real plant specimens, and reproducible materials. They also contain visual aides and background information, which makes the kits easy for both teachers and students to explore plants and study the fascinating science of botany.

Kits change throughout the year, but current offerings include Ethnobotany: People and Plants, and Conserving Water in the Desert. The bins can be picked up at the University of Utah or at one of 8 convenient locations throughout Utah. 

        Ethnobotany Bin

Red Butte Gardens

This eight-lesson curriculum is designed to teach segments of Utah’s new integrated core curriculum in science, language art, math, and visual arts. Activities are for inquiry based, hands-on teaching and learning.

The curriculum is given to the teachers at the teacher workshop. Every teacher who attends the workshop and arranges for a classroom visit will receive all the supplies and materials needed to teach the lessons the first year. Most of the original materials can be used year after year. A Red Butte Garden staff member comes to your classroom, teaches the first lesson on seed structure and germination, and plants the Wisconsin Fast Plant seeds with the students. The lesson is 90 minutes long.

Timpanogos Cave

This link takes you to Timpanogos Cave's fee waiver/tours/classroom visit options. An educational presentation from a park ranger in your classroom may also be possible, whether your school is able to visit the cave or not. Ranger presentations emphasize grade-level state science core. Call BJ Cluff at (801) 756-5239 ext. 301 or e-mail to see about scheduling a classroom visit.