Three Head Start groups recently visited Spruce Ridge Farm on a CLC sponsored field trip. The 3 and 4 year olds fed alpacas. Plus, they saw cows, guinea hens, chickens, and pigs. They learned all about how alpaca fiber (fur) is made into yarn and used to make sweaters, hats, mittens, and scarves. Thanks to Spruce Ridge Farm owners, Jeff and Steve, for being such wonderful hosts! CONTINUE READING
How can you tell a raccoon’s footprint from a fox’s? Or pinpoint a deer’s path by following his tracks? 85 Hudson Junior High students recently found out by participating in CLC’s Animal Tracks & Traces Program.
The kids began by making plaster casts of local animal tracks. Our intrepid explorers then strapped on snowshoes and took to the area behind their school to put their knowledge to the test. For many of the students, it was their first time snowshoeing and judging by how quickly they got the hang of it – and the amount of fun they had – certainly not their last. CONTINUE READING
Over three days in early 2013, Columbia Land Conservancy led Ichabod Crane Elementary’s 4th grade class in animal tracking and snowshoe programs. Approximately 120 students learned about the different signs and traces (not just tracks!) that one can use to identify which animals live in our own backyards. Tracks of coyotes, fox, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, fishers, and other animals were spotted and identified. Being outdoors in nature provides an experiential and fun way to learn about habitats, food chains, adaptations, and how the ecosystem operates as whole. These lessons foster a connection between the participants and the natural world. CLC’s environmental education work in local schools prepares the next generation of leaders to value land conservation. CONTINUE READING
Jenny Brinker, CLC’s Education Coordinator, discusses wildlife while leading a hike of the Stockport-Greenport Trail.
On a rainy October day, 32 science students from Hudson High School braved the weather and spent the day at Lasher Memorial Park in Germantown to participate in a “Day in the Life of the Hudson River” environmental education program. Using the banks of the Hudson River as an outdoor classroom the students worked with educators from the Columbia Land Conservancy to learn about the estuary and its unique characteristics. Rotating through three testing stations to collect data and capture a “snapshot” of the Hudson River on October 4, 2012. CONTINUE READING
This fall, as in past years, the Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC) sponsors apple orchard visits for Head Start groups in Chatham, Valatie, and Hudson. The children meet the farmer. Then, they go on a tractor ride to the orchard. They pick a bag full of apples, plus one to eat on the tractor ride back!
CLC educator, Jenny Brinker, reads “Apple Farmer Annie” to the group and talks about colors, shapes, and sizes of apples, as well as products that can be made from apples. Then, there are apple activities, including consuming apple products – apple cider and apple cider donuts. CONTINUE READING
View photos from the June Wednesday Wandering at the Schor Conservation Area.
