Roaring Brook Nature Center has a small interpretive building and five miles of trails on a 100-acre wildlife preserve. The Nature Center offers a wide variety of educational programs including field trips to the Center as well as assembly or in-class programs at your school, including a Naturalist In-Residence program .

Programs held at Roaring Brook Nature Center explore the wide variety of habitats in the refuge. Participants must come dressed to go outdoors.

Our programs are aligned with the Connecticut Core Science Curriculum Framework.

Programs can be tailored to fit your curriculum, including urban-suburban partnership programs.

Preschool programs focusing on seasonal topics are offered at the Nature Center or at your school. A “3 Times Around” series is available for four and five-year olds.

REGISTRATION

• Call the Nature Center (860-693-0263) between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Tuesday through Friday.
• Reservations should be made as early in the year as possible.

SCHOOL GROUP RATES

Rates per student:

• $5.00 for 1 hour program ($50.00 minimum program fee)
• $7.00 for 2 hour program ($70.00 minimum program fee)

Teachers /Drivers admitted free. One adult chaperone per 10 students. Additional chaperones pay the student rate.

CANCELLATIONS

• Two week cancellation notice required to avoid being billed the minimum program fee.
• There is no charge for groups cancelling due to inclement weather. Every effort is made to reschedule.

PICNIC FACILITIES

• Limited; reservations required.

PROGRAM SCHEDULING

• 9:30 AM or 9:45 PM
• 11:00 AM
• 1 :00 PM or 1:15 PM
• Tuesday and Wednesday (October through April).
• Tuesday through Thursday (May and June).
• Programs are approximately one hour, except where noted.
• Schedule times may vary for two-hour programs.

Discover Nature Through Your Senses - Grades K-3
Increase your powers of observation by discovering the sights, sounds, smells, and textures found in the natural world.

Preparing for Winter - Grades K-3
How do plants and animals prepare for Conecticut's harshest season?

Signs of Winter Life - Grades K-3
Who braves Connecticut's winters? Learn to read the clues left by our winter residents and see how animals and plants survive the long winter season.

Spring Is Here! - Grades K-3
Nature makes gradual but continuous changes from spring buds to ladybugs. Hands-on exploration brings these changes alive.

Insects and Their Relatives - Grades K-6
(before October 15; after May 1)
Explore different insect habitats and learn what special adaptations insects have developed to help them survive.

Eastern Woodland Indians - Grade K-2: 1 hour program;Grade 3-6: 2 hour program
Discover how Native Americans relied on their natural environment for all their survival needs including shelter, clothing and food. Trip includes tour of longhouse replica.

From Seed to Seed - Grades 1-2
Explore how flowering plants change throughout their life cycle s in order to survive.

It's Not Just Dirt! - Grades 2-6
Part animal, vegetable and mineral – find out how soil is made, who lives in it, and why it is important to us.

Changing Land, Changing Animals - Grades 3-5
Connecticut's landscape has changed from one of forests to fams and back to forests. Learn how some animals have survived these changes to our landscape and how natural phenomena and human activities impact animal populations.

Adaptations - Grades 3-6
Discover how each living creature meets its survival needs in their own unique ways. The program includes live animal observations.
Program can be modified for grades 1 and 2

Who's For Dinner? - Grades 3-6
Explore the basic concepts of food chains and webs to understand how energy cycles through the ecosystem.

Rocks and Water - Grades 3-8
What are the geologic forces that have shaped and reshaped our Connecticut landscape? The program includes a discussion of rocks and minerals as well as an outdoor examination of basic rock types and the forces that affect them.

Flowers, Thorns & Poisons: The Secret World of Plants - Grades 4-8
Plants are not as defenseless as they seem. Learn the clever strategies that plants use to win, or sometimes lose, the battle for survival.

Bedrock to Stone Walls- Grades 4-8
(2 hours program - spring and fall only)
Geology, ecology, and human history have combined to create the landscape as it is now. This program combines aspects of “Rocks and Water.”

Orienteering - Grades 4-8
(2 hour program)
Students learn basic map and compass skills then put them to use finding their way by means of a compass and observations.

Winter Survival Skills - Grades 4-8
(December through March) Dress for cold weather!
Time required: 2 hours
Examine basic survival skills including reading a map and compass, fire building, food, clothing, and shelter building.

From Our Lawns to the Sound - Grades 5-6
(two hour program) - limited to groups of 40 students)
Learn how our human activities affect our ponds, rivers, and Long Island Sound. We'll seek answers through hands-on Enviroscape (TM) and groundwater models as well as a site walk to a vernal pool, Jim Brook and Werner Pond.

ALL DAY ECOLOGY PROGRAM - Grades 4–8
Limited to groups of 45 students.
This program includes study of adaptations, food webs, and general principles of ecology such as the carrying capacity of land, through field study, observation of live animals and co-operative games. We can plan a program to complement your curriculum.

Nature Center staff members can provide in-school programs which are adapted for specific grade levels and may be tailored to fit your curriculum and teaching needs. Most programs include the presentation of at least one live animal.

Programs should be booked as far in advance as possible.

Discounts available for multiple bookings of the same program on the same day.

Any topic can also be done as a classroom program .

Length: 1 hour for 30 or more students

Fee: $250 plus mileage

Animal Life Cycles - Grades K - 6
Animals develop in different ways. Learn about different types of life cycles and what environmental factors affect these cycles.

Adaptations - Grades K - 7
Learn how plants and animals meet their specific survival needs in unique ways.

Reptiles & Amphibians - Grades K - 8
Learn about the various reptiles and amphibians that live in Connecticut. What are the environmental threats they face here?

Snakes Alive! - Grades 1-8
Separate fact from fiction and learn to appreciate these fascinating creatures. This is a slide presentation followed by live specimens.

Endangered Species- Grades 3-8
What is an endangered species? Which ones live in Connecticut? What further environmental threats do they face?

Rainforests - Grades 3-8
Learn about one of the most diverse habitats on Earth and how its loss may affect ushere in Connecticut.

CT Wildlife Digest - Grades 4-8
Learn about the diversity of animals in our small state and how human activity impacts that diversity.

Length: 1 hour for up to 30 students/program

Fee: within 25 miles $150 plus mileage

beyond 25 miles $165 plus mileage

Insects and Their Relatives - Grades K-3
Insects are everywhere. Why are there so many different ones?

The Seasons (3 programs) Grades K-3
How do plants and animals deal with the changing seasons?
      Winter's Coming
      Signs of Winter Life
      Spring is Here!

Introduction to Plants - Grades 1-2
Take a close look at plants. How doe they survive and reproduce?

Butterflies - Grades 2-3
Caterpillars to Butterflies!

Frogs - Grades 2-4
Which kinds of frogs live in Connecticut? What do they tell us about the health of our environment?

It's Not Just Dirt - Grades 2-6
It's part animal, part vegetable and part mineral. How is soil made? Who lives in it? Why is it important to us?

CT Rocks and Minerals - Grades 3-4
What is Connecticut's geological history? What minerals can be found here?

Keeping Water Clean - Grades 4-8
Learn how we all have a role in keeping water clean. EnviroScape (TM) and ground water models are used to demonstrate concepts.

Living vs. Non-living - Grades K-1
What makes a living thing "living?"

What Kind of Animal Are You? - Grades K-2
How do we tell a snake from a worm, a bird from a butterfly?

The Age of Reptiles (includes dinosaurs) - Grades K-3
What's so special about reptiles? What happened to the dinosaurs?

Discover Your Senses - Grades K-3
Open your eyes and ears, nose and hands. There's a wonderful world out there!

Fruits & Flowers - Grades 1-2
How do flowers become fruits? Can animals help?

Snow & Ice Studies - Grades 1-2
How does water change into snow, or into ice? How do water and ice affect wildlife?

Food Chains & Webs - Grades 3-6
What's (and who's) for dinner?

Adaptations - Grades 3-7
All animals need air, water, food and shelter, no matter where they live. Discover why a puffin has hooks on its beak and other wonders.

Eastern Woodland Indians - Grades 3-6
Learn how the Eastern Woodland Indians used and cared for their environment to survive.

Rivers & Wetlands - Grades 3-6
Learn about the food web (seen and unseen) that exists in rivers and wetlands, and how our activities affect it. Call for optional related outdoor experience.

Using Microscopes - Grades 3-7
Observe up close and personal the building blocks of the food chain.

A Nature Center naturalist will visit your school for an entire day providing programs that may include slide presentations, mounted and live animals, and hand-on activities. You can choose the program topics listed for assembly and classroom presentations. A combination of several programs types, with a maximum of four , may be held during the course of a day. We can also assist teachers with curriculum development, enrichment programming, and in planning/taking a field trip to a natural area close to your school. Reserve early to ensure availability.

Cost : $500 plus mileage.