Science Technology Enrichment Program (STEP) Information Sheet

South Carolina 2015 – 2016 Calendar

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Teacher’s Name:________________________________________Birthdate (mm/dd): ______________ Home Phone: _________________Cell Phone: _________________Last Four Digits of SS#: ________ Home Address: ______________________________________________________________________ School: _______________________________ Grade: _______ District/County: __________________ School Phone: ___________________________ E-mail Address: ______________________________ Total Number of Students: ______Name of Teacher(s) Attending: ______________________________ Theme Request: ________________________ What time can you visit? __________ to ___________

Months Requested (1st and 2nd choice):____________ ___________ Location: SRS Silver Bluff Are there any dates (during requested months) you CANNOT visit? _____________________________

Kindergarten First Second Third Fourth Fifth

Sept

.

Audubon Jr. Explorers

Feathered Friends

Birds Alive! **EcoHike in Woods

Dazzling Diversity

Oh, A Tangled Web!

Oct

.

Audubon Jr. Explorers

Green With Envy

Feathered Friends

Birds Alive! **EcoHike

The Water Dance

By Land and By Sea

Nov

.

Audubon Jr. Explorers

The Dirt on Dirt

Cycling Through Life

The Earth Beneath Our Feet

Dazzling Diversity

Oh, A Tangled Web!

Mar

.

Audubon Jr. Explorers

The Dirt on Dirt

Cycling Through Life

The Earth Beneath Our Feet

Dazzling Diversity

Oh, A Tangled Web!

Apr

.

Audubon Jr. Explorers

Green With Envy

Feathered Friends

Birds Alive!

The Water Dance

By Land and By Sea

May

Audubon Jr. Explorers

Green With Envy

Cycling Through Life

Birds Alive!

Dazzling Diversity

Oh, A Tangled Web!

Office Use Only Scheduled Day/Time: _____________________ Database:______________

Science Technology Enrichment Program (STEP) Information Sheet

South Carolina 2015 – 2016 Calendar

Sixth Seventh Eighth High School

The Sparrow and the Woodpecker

It’s a Tough World!

Sept.

Creepy Critters

Go With the Flow!

Protecting Our Planet

A Wet World O

ct. The Sparrow and the Woodpecker

Diggin’ The Dirt

Our Shared Past It’s a Tough World!

Nov.

Diggin’ The Dirt

Our Shared Past It’s a Tough World!

Mar.

Roots and Shoots

Go With the Flow!

Protecting Our Planet

A Wet World A

pr.

The Sparrow and the Woodpecker Roots and Shoots

It’s a Tough World!

May

Visit Requirements Participants to either location should bring a drink & lunch. Silver Bluff Audubon Center requires a $3.00 charge per student. There is no charge for teachers & chaperones. Savannah River Site (SRS) has no charge for participants. All adult visitors to SRS, including teachers, bus drivers and chaperones must be US citizens and must submit paperwork including Social Security numbers 1 week before the visit to be badged. SRS requires a minimum of 1 adult chaperone per 7 children. Visits to SRS may include a “Homeland Security 101” orientation with a K-9 Unit (subject to availability).

Field Trip Logistics and Additional Information All themed programs are aligned with state academic standards. Themes can be chosen for different grade levels at the teacher’s discretion. Requests for different topics and months will be honored if possible. All themed programs are available at both the Silver Bluff Audubon Center (SBAC) and Savannah River Site (SRS) and consist of 3 one-hour programs – usually an indoor program, outdoor program and hike, unless otherwise specified. We can accommodate up to 90 students at SBAC and 70 at SRS per day (typically 9:15 AM-1:00 PM). Accommodations can be made for shorter visits. For standards correlations and online reservations, please visit our website at http://repec.usca.edu/step/. Requests may be mailed to Ruth Patrick Science Education Center, 471 University Parkway, Box 3, Aiken, SC or faxed to (804) 641-3615. Reservation requests for STEP field trips must be received by June 12th at 5:00 pm. Reservation request received after the deadline will be placed on a waiting list. For questions, special requests or required accommodations, please contact Shannon Unger, STEP Program Director, at shannonu@usca.edu or (803) 641-2843.

STEP Themes/Programs Summaries Kindergarten

Theme: Audubon Jr. Explorers (Sept, Oct, Nov, Mar, April, May) Programs: Come to your Senses!, Our Leafy Friends, Explorers Hike Young explorers will go on an adventure of the living world around them! Through the use of their senses and simple tools, students will observe live and taxidermy animals close-up and become detectives searching for animals and their clues in the forest. The learning continues as students decorate and take-home a plant to care for and watch grow through its life cycle!

1st Grade • Theme: The Dirt on Dirt (Nov, Mar)

Programs: Claytastrophie, Into the Pit!, Young Archaeologists What is better than digging in the dirt? In this program, students will learn just how important soil is to all of us! Through simple experimentation with different soils, students will practice observation, investigation, and classification skills. Building on these skills in the field, students will use a variety of tools to discover different soils and materials that make up what we call dirt. A possible third session may be done at Silver Bluff – archaeology with Dr. Chris Moore.

• Theme: Green with Envy (Oct, Apr, May) Program: Cycling Plants Get to Know a Tree!, Plant Parts Hike Students will dive head long into all that is green and blooming! Through observation, investigation, and experimentation, students will gain a better understanding of the structures, functions, and life cycles of plants. A short plant hike will be followed by a seed dispersal experiment, take-home planting, and an “adoption” of their very own tree!

2nd Grade • Theme: Feathered Friends (Sept, Oct, Mar, Apr)

Programs: Feathered Taxidermy, Fantastic Beaks, Young Birders Hike Students will enter the fantastic world of our feathered friends found right here in their own backyards! Through careful observations of taxidermy birds, students will infer behavior, diet and habitat according to their physical characteristics. Next, students will become different birds to investigate the necessity of this diversity. This wildlife adventure will conclude with students going where the birds go; becoming animal detectives hunting for birds and the clues they leave in the forest.

• Theme: Cycling Through Life (Nov, Mar, May) Programs: Taxidermy Critters, Life Cycle Mix-up, Taxidermy Critters, Life Cycle Hike Students will discover how living things amazingly cycle through life beginning with careful observations of life cycle models and through a hands-on classifying and sequencing activity. A life cycle hike and scavenger hunt will enhance his or her understanding and appreciation for the uniqueness of each organism’s life journey!

3rd Grade • Theme: Birds Alive! (Sept, Oct, Apr, May)

Programs: Bird Taxonomy, Operation: Bird Survival Jr., Ornithology Hike Have you ever thought about how birds survive around the world? Students will first make careful observations of taxidermy birds looking for ways that each animal can defend itself, move, obtain food, and camouflage from predators. Followed by a scavenger hunt of local birds and the clues they leave behind and a simulated game of survival in a natural disaster, students will have a better appreciation of the challenges presented by an intricate and dynamic environment on our feathered friends!

• Theme: The Earth Beneath Our Feet (Nov, Mar) Programs: Wonderful Worms, Dirty Hands’ Investigations, Archaeology Adventure There is so much going on just below our feet! Students will go on an underground adventure exploring the varieties and functions of soils. Following an experimental session at our soil pit, students will investigate the creepy critters that play a vital role as nature’s recyclers and make a habitat to take home their very own little decomposer friend! A possible third session may be done at Silver Bluff – archaeology with Dr. Chris Moore.

4th Grade • Theme: Dazzling Diversity (Sept, Nov, Feb, Mar, May)

Programs: Taxonomic Diversity, Mini-Ecosystems, Jr. Animal Detectives Students will immerse themselves into the dazzling diversity of organisms that live in their own backyard! Close-up investigations of native taxidermy and live animals will allow for observation, hypothesis and inference of just how each critter is adapted to its individual habitat. Students will then become nature explorers searching for a wide diversity of animals and their clues in the forest. Finally they will identify the diversity of life in their own mini-ecosystem.

• Theme: The Water Dance (Oct, Apr) Programs: Cycling Around the Water Cycle, Watershed Wonder, Jr. Pond Investigators Students will investigate the water cycle and the role it plays in a watershed. Through the creation of watershed models and water cycle bracelets, students will be immersed in the movement of water.. Finally, through an analysis of an aquatic system, students will explore the world of macroinvertebrates and the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on water systems.

5th Grade • Theme: Oh, a Tangled Web! (Sept, Nov, Mar, May)

Programs: Tangled Taxidermy, Operation: Survive, Animal Detective

How is it possible for organisms to survive without trips to the grocery store? Students will observe taxidermy animals inferring their mode of energy consumption and play a food web game showing just how connected we really are! They will then go on a hike looking for evidence of all types of niches in the forest and wrap up with a game of true survival!

• Theme: By Land and By Sea (Oct, Apr) Programs: Ecosystem Explorers, Wonderful Watersheds, Pond Investigators Students will investigate and compare terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Through invertebrate collection of both pond and grassland ecosystems, students will be immersed in the scientific method and technique. In addition, watershed modeling and problem solving will enhance student understanding of the land-water-human connection.

6th Grade • Theme: The Sparrow and the Woodpecker (Sept, Nov, May)

Programs: Taxidermy Adaptations, Operation: Bird Survival, Habitat Assessment Hike Students will explore the challenges of avian survival. Through observation, inference and use of a key, students will use taxidermy birds to investigate adaptations that allow for success of birds in diverse and changing environments. Students will engage in a true game of survival to see if they have what it takes to endure a natural disaster! Finally, students will hike the area to investigate the habitat challenges and formulate strategies to help protect some of our most rare native birds.

• Theme: Creepy Critters (Oct) Programs: Watershed Investigators, Water Cycle Game, Creepy Critters The creepy critters that live amongst us, miniature alien-looking aquatic invertebrates, will be collected and identified using dichotomous keys to assess water quality. The water cycle will also be examined, demonstrated and played with in this higher-level watershed investigation.

• Theme: Roots and Shoots (Apr, May) Programs: Come to your Senses!, Our Leafy Friends, Explorers Hike Students will investigate the roots, shoots and all other structures that allow success in the plant world. Through creation and use of dichotomous keys, students will gain a better understanding of the great diversity of plants and clever modes of seed dispersal. Finally, a more complete picture of plants within their environment will be examined as we focus on the importance of decomposition in their survival and take home a little decomposer friend in a student-designed habitat.

7th Grade • Theme: Go With the Flow! (Oct, Apr) Programs: Advanced Watershed Investigators, Water Cycle Game, Creepy Critters

All living things require water and students will investigate the factors of its quality and quantity. Through observation, data collecting, modeling, experimentation and craft, students will have a better understanding of the biotic and abiotic factors that affect this planet’s water and movement and its effect on all of us!

• Theme: Diggin’ the Dirt (Nov, Mar) Programs: Sand, Silt and Clay, Oh My!, Soil Scientists in the Field, Archaeology Time to get our hands dirty! Students will investigate many factors of soil through use of tests and tools in both our soil pit and our soils lab. Through these hands-on, minds-on activities, a better understanding will be gained of the importance of healthy soil to plants, animals and all living things in our ecosystem. A possible third session may be done at Silver Bluff – archaeology with Dr. Chris Moore.

8th Grade • Theme: Protecting Our Planet (Oct, Apr)

Programs: Watershed Modeling, Water Chemistry, Biological Aquatic Assessment Students will investigate how humans have positive and negative effects on the environment and wildlife through a focus on our role in the water cycle within our watershed. Students will experiment with the creation of a watershed model and the dynamic nature of water and complete biotic and abiotic tests on a local pond.

• Theme: Our Shared Past (Nov, Mar) Programs: The Story of the Land, Advanced Soil Investigations, Advanced Archaeology

Students will go on a historical and place-based adventure looking at how our local environment has changed and how life has changed as a result. The effects of geological and climatic change will be examined on the land, humans and wildlife. A possible third session may be done at the Silver Bluff site – archaeology with Dr. Chris Moore, professional archaeologist!

9th-12th Grade • Theme: It’s a Tough World! (Sept, Nov, Mar, May) Programs: Advanced Taxidermy Studies, Survival of the Fittest Challenge, Advanced Habitat Assessment

This program will focus on just how crucial it is to be fit in an intricate and dynamic world! Through a game of survival and interaction with live and taxidermy animals, students will investigate what adaptations allow for survival of the individual and the stability, extinction or evolution of a species. Finally, students will investigate, record data and conclude upon the health of a forest ecosystem and its inhabitants.

• Theme: A Wet World (Oct, Apr) Programs: Advanced Watershed Modeling, Advanced Biological Aquatic Assessment, Advanced Water Chemistry On our blue planet, humans play a vital role in the protection and preservation of our watery resources. Students will learn more about these effects through experimenting with human behaviors that influences the location, quality and quantity of water within a watershed. Chemical and biological analysis will reveal the quality of a local pond.