SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Anchorage Field Office, Phone: (907) 267-1246
School Bird Banding Demonstration
This program seeks to expand student knowledge and appreciation of birds. Students gain hands-on experience by mist netting and banding songbirds with a BLM biologist.
Songbirds in the Classroom
BLM biologists offer presentations in the classroom on mist netting and banding songbirds to promote student knowledge and appreciation of birds.
Trailside Discovery Earthdiggers
Interpretive presentations by a BLM archaeologist support the Trailside Discovery Camp “Earthdiggers” program for 4th and 5th graders. Sample activities include a mock dig in a box focusing on faunal analysis and a WWII walk and presentation.
Anchorage Field Office, Campbell Creek Science Center, Phone: (907) 267-1247
Alaska Outdoor Week
BLM and the Anchorage School District co-sponsor this program in May of each year. Federal agency staff and volunteers make presentations to 6th-grade students on a variety of natural and cultural resource topics. Students rotate through five different learning stations as they learn about gold panning, Leave No Trace ethics, tree identification, insects, fly tying, archaeology, orienteering, and other topics.
Project WET
Students from the Anchorage School District and local private schools attend a half-day water education festival at BLM's Campbell Tract along Campbell Creek. Students rotate through three stations to learn about stream macroinvertebrates, animal adaptations to life in fast-moving streams, and watersheds.
Earth Ranger Academy
The Earth Ranger Academy is the culminating life science experience for upper elementary students. The academy begins with pre-trip activities. Students then spend three days at the Science Center learning about ecological principles, exploring the outdoors, and collecting and analyzing scientific data. Back in school and at home, students practice and share what they've learned with family and friends.
Energy Education
Anchorage students rotate through four energy education stations in this half-day program hosted at Campbell Creek Science Center. Topics include: forms of energy (mechanical, heat, chemical, etc.); sources of energy (oil, coal, solar, etc.); energy conservation; and energy use around the world.
Standards-Based Programs
These programs teach the process skills and focus concepts of the Anchorage District’s elementary science program framework. The programs cover a range of topics, depending on the grade level: senses; fossils; insects; Alaska’s animals; plants, trees, and seeds; soils; salmon; forest ecology; geology; animal adaptations; creek studies; and ecosystems.
Design-a-Science Day
Design-a-Science Day (DASD) programs are custom-designed programs that meet the objectives and interests of the teacher, parent, or leader who books the program. Recent programs covered Alaskan animals, art of nature, birds, creek studies, earth science, ecosystems, insects, orienteering, plants, animal tracking, and winter skills.
Bird Academy
This two-day program (or one-day upon request) is a cooperative venture between Audubon Alaska and the BLM Campbell Creek Science Center. Students in 4th-6th grade learn about birds and the important role birds play in ecosystems. Field observations help students learn to identify birds by sight and sound. Other topics include bird adaptations and bird conservation.
Outdoor Survival Skills
Tailored to the interests of the teacher, this program may be either full-day or half-day. Avalanche awareness introduces students to avalanche prevention, evaluation, and safety; orienteering develops student skills with maps and compasses; and outdoor survival covers shelters, fire-starting, retention of body heat, and coping skills for survival situations.
Science Nights
Science Center staff host booths at area schools during science nights. Touchables such as skins and skulls of Alaskan animals and interactive activities highlight the fun and value of science. BLM staff also discuss other educational opportunities offered by the Campbell Creek Science Center with teachers and parents.
Teacher In-Service at the Science Center
As part of a teacher in-service training day, BLM Science Center instructors lead educational activities for teachers outdoors on Campbell Tract. Teachers learn basic orienteering skills and experience numerous sensory awareness activities. In addition, the program introduces teachers to programs and opportunities available at the Science Center.
Team Building/Challenge Course
Through a progression of fun, group-building activities, participants develop cooperation, communication, problem-solving, group support, and trust skills. With older students (6th grade and up) and adults, the low-ropes elements of the Challenge Course are included.
University Introduction & Orientation Programs
Working in cooperation with local university professors, Science Center staff conduct orientations to the work of the Center for pre-service teachers and students in environmental education and outdoor studies classes.
Glenallen Field Office, Phone: (907) 822-3217
Changing Seasons
Changing Seasons is a culminating experience for students taking elementary life sciences. Program activities reinforce students’ knowledge of ecological principles, heighten their observation skills and comfort level in natural settings, and engage them in the collection and analysis of scientific data.
Earth Discovery Day
This program develops 4th-6th grade student skills in outdoor survival, leadership, and ethics.
Alaska State Office, Phone: (907) 271-5960
Bats
BLM staff make classroom presentations to elementary students on the life cycle of bats, their adaptations and benefits.
BEYOND SCHOOL
Anchorage Field Office, Phone: (907) 267-1246
Bird Banding Demonstration
This program seeks to expand knowledge and appreciation of birds. Youth and adult participants gain hands-on experience by mist netting and banding songbirds with a BLM biologist.
Anchorage Field Office, Campbell Creek Science Center, Phone: (907) 267-1247
Astronomy Lecture Series
The Science Center offers a monthly slide lecture series (November through March) on a variety of astronomy topics, followed by stargazing.
Fireside Chat Lecture Series
The Science Center offers a monthly slide lecture series (October through May) on a variety of science and natural resource topics. Guest lecturers come from a variety of organizations and agencies. Recent topics have included chickadees, porcupines, an Alaskan shipwreck, glaciers and climate change, and the cultural and historical geography of Campbell Creek.
Midsummer Night’s Science Series
The Science Center offers a weekly science series (June, July, and August) on a variety of natural resource management topics. Professionals teach participants about natural resource management techniques and methods through hands-on activities.
A Naturalist’s Introduction
The Science Center hosts a five-week class designed to teach adults basic naturalist skills. Each class focuses on a different group of organisms (insects, birds, mammals, plants, mushrooms) and is taught by a local content expert.
Classes and Special Programs
The Science Center hosts a variety of adult and family programs throughout the year. Recent programs have included a watercolor class taught by a local professional artist and a snowshoeing program.
Early Morning Bird Walks
Once a week, during the month of May, a BLM biologist and volunteer from a local non-profit lead interested people on bird walks on Campbell Tract for approximately two hours. Over the course of the month, the group witnesses the progression of song bird migration.
Boy and Girl Scout Programs
BLM staff design custom programs for Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops to meet individual troop needs. Topics include orienteering, birds, forestry, and winter fun.
Alaska Renewable Energy Fair Exhibit and Activities
The Science Center hosts a booth at the annual Alaska Renewable Energy Fair on the Delaney Park Strip in downtown Anchorage. A spinner game on energy topics, a Get Energized! CD-Rom interactive program, and a variety of energy-related print materials are offered at the booth. An estimated 3000 people attend the fair each year.
Alaska Forum on the Environment Exhibit
The Science Center hosts a booth at the annual Alaska Forum on the Environment in downtown Anchorage. This event draws together environmental and resource management professionals from across the state to discuss and learn about environmental topics in Alaska. The booth offers a variety of Science Center- and BLM-related print materials.
>