At Home Education Resources

Environmental Education at Home

Are you looking for weekend activities? Are you trying to limit screen time, and get outside more often? Are you looking for a way to make learning fun, engaging, and inspiring?

At the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust, we want environmental education to extend beyond our after-school education, events, and programs into the classroom of your homes. We hope you find these resources useful for extending the outdoor classroom to your backyard – and beyond – and inspire others to enjoy nature everyday.

Inspirations from our after-school program, Lowell Leaders in Stewardship …

LP&CT partners with Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm to offer STEM-based after-school environmental education at ten of Lowell’s public schools. Below are some of our lesson plans for you to enjoy.

• Everything You Need to Know To Start Maple Sugaring (How to tap a Tree, ID a Tree, and Where Sap Comes from) – Elementary & Up – video
  

• Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall? – Elementary & Up – Two Part Video

  • Part 1: Seasonal Tree Adaptations, Leaf Coloration, Photosynthesis

  • Part 2: An Experiment – What colors are in a tree’s leaves?

• Flower Dissection – Elementary & Up – video

• Parasitic Plants in Massachusetts – Middle School & Up –video

• Make Your own Rain Gauge – All Ages – video

• Make Your own Birdfeeder – All Ages – video

• DIY Nature Journals – Activity for all ages – video

• Nature Scavenger Hunt – Elementary – PDF

• Exploring with the Lorax –  Ages 5-10 – Lesson plan

  • A free family program offered as a part of Lowell National Historical Park’s “April PLAYcation” week.

• Gardening for a Healthier Planet – Lesson Plan for 1-4th Grade

  • Developed from a workshop on integrating climate change into the classroom.

    • Supplemental materials : Pollinator Chart

• Recording Temperature Over Time – Lesson Plan for K-5th Grade (Can be expanded upon for higher grade levels)

  • Recording Temperature Template

• Snow Science – Lesson / Activities for all ages

• The Role of Soil in the Fight Against Climate Change – Lesson Plan for Grades 4 & 5

  • Developed from a workshop on integrating climate change into the classroom

• Climate Change Education – Middle School – High School Resources

Our Partners at Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm have an additional selection of activities:

• • Community Science Activities

  • Explore Nature at Home

We’ve collected a few other sources of inspiration:

Activities to get outside:

• Winter See, Sight, Feel, & Smell Scavenger Hunt

• National Trust list of 50 things to do before you are 11

• Lowell Public School Home Learning activities – Pre-K through High School

• Bird watching Bingo

• Go bird watching and complete these checklists

  • Hawk Valley Farm birding List

  • Concord River Greenway birding list

• Complete this Walking Challenge in your neighborhood

Nature journal in your neighborhood

Activities for Home:

• National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) – Environmental Education At Home

• Revision Student Webinars

• Live webcams from all over the world

• Science experiments for all ages

• How to draw animals

• WMEAC Activity Calendar

• “Activities and Lessons” with Kennebunkport Conservation Trust

Mindfulness with Dr. Mark:

Dr. Mark Romanowsky’s Mindfulness Videos

• Introduction to Mindfulness

• Releasing Tension & Better Sleep

• Mindfulness Breathing Exercises

• Continuing Mindfulness Breathing
  

• Yoga & Stretching for Mindfulness
  

Donate to LP&CT

As a part of our mission to create community through conservation, we would love to offer these materials for free.  As we are a non-profit organization, you could help continue this mission by making a tax deductible donation.