K-5 Activities

Cool Springs offers many activities for kindergarten through 5th-grade children to have fun while learning!

Tree Treasures

A discussion of various products made from wood, including the obvious and the not-so-obvious. Discuss trees as a raw material that is renewable, recyclable and biodegradable. This session takes 15–20 minutes at the shelter. Audience participation is encouraged.

Tree Cookies

A discussion of how to determine the age of a tree, and how well it is growing, from looking at it's annual growth rings. First, age is determined from tree cross sections (cookies) and then by actually helping to bore a tree with an increment borer. This session takes 15-20 minutes at the main shelter and the plantation.

Wildlife Tracks

Students walk to various locations with the possibility of finding animal tracks. They learn to identify tracks, determine direction of travel and discuss the reasons the animal visited the location. The students make plaster casts of tracks found. This session takes about three hours and requires walking between sites.

Project Learning Tree and Project WILD Activities

A number of activities from these award-winning environmental education programs are available. You tell us what you are studying or areas of interest. We also offer Project Learning Tree and Project WET training for teachers which may be applied toward re-certification credits and toward the North Carolina Environmental Education Certification program.

Live Animal Program Featuring Snakes

This program focuses on dispelling the myths and dispensing the facts about snakes. The biology and lifestyle of several local snakes are discussed as well as venomous snakes found in North Carolina. Corn snakes and a Rat snake are used in the program to highlight specific points. No live venomous animals are used in this program. This session is only available during warmer months and for groups of about 30 students or less.

WETLAND METAPHORS

This is a program that uses metaphors (i.e.: a sponge soaks up water like a wetland which helps prevent flooding) to teach students about the important jobs wetlands provide that not only help wildlife, but also help us. This encourages critical thinking and is appropriate for grades 3-5. This program is done on the Swamp Boardwalk and takes 10-15 minutes.

Beaver Activity

Beavers are very active at Cool Springs. They have many adaptations to allow them to survive in a swampy environment. In this activity, a student takes on these adaptations as we "build a beaver" out of the student, dressing them up with many items. Each of the items represents an adaptation for a beaver. Examples include goggles for clear eyelids, a comb for a split toenail, a paddle for a tail, etc. An actual stuffed beaver is also used for comparison. The activity is conducted in a habitat that beavers once occupied along the trail.