Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Program description: Students investigate ecosystem interactions and explore the water cycle.
Curriculum connections: Students analyze and describe how plants and animals interact with each other and within environments; Students investigate and analyze how materials have the potential to be changed; Students relate investigation to building knowledge.
Landscape changes and human history on the land
Program description: Students observe and learn how Calgary’s landscape has changed over time and how humans have influenced some of those changes using the Weaselhead as an example.
Curriculum connections: Students analyze changes in Earth’s surface and explain how its layers hold stories of the past; Students investigate natural and created features of Alberta; Students explore how diverse people contribute to the identity of Alberta.
Waste and Recycling
Program description: Students investigate how waste is disposed of both by people and nature. They learn about the impacts of different waste management practices and how they can use materials to make simple machines.
Curriculum connections: Students investigate and analyze how materials have the potential to be changed; Students investigate and explain how forces affect the movement of objects.
Rivers and Wetlands
Program description: Students investigate ecosystem interactions in rivers and wetlands. They observe and learn how the Earth’s surface changed over time with a focus on the Weaselhead using aerial images of the Elbow River over time.
Curriculum connections: Students analyze and describe how plants and animals interact with each other and within environments; Students analyze changes in Earth’s surface and explain how its layers hold stories of the past as seen through changing river courses; Students analyze and describe how plants and animals interact with each other and within environments; Students relate investigation to building knowledge.
Beavers
Program description: Students learn how beavers shape the land and contribute to healthy ecosystems. They explore some of the adaptations beavers have that make them successful semi aquatic organisms and learn how some of these adaptations created demand for trade, shaping Canada as we know it today.
Curriculum connections: Students investigate and analyze how materials have the potential to be changed; Students analyze and describe how plants and animals interact with each other and within environments; Students investigate natural and created features of Alberta; Students relate diversity to Alberta’s western identity.
Dark Skies and Storytelling
Program description: Students investigate natural and artificial light and learn how each affects plants and animals (including themselves!). They explore the importance of dark skies for connecting cultures to the land and each other. Students learn how they can make a difference through small actions.
Curriculum connections: Students analyze and describe how plants and animals interact with each other and within environments; Students relate investigation to building knowledge; Students investigate natural and created features of Alberta; Students explore how diverse people contribute to the identity of Alberta.