Rouge Valley Conservation Centre
Energy Efficient Kids
Grade Levels: Grade 3 to Grade 12
Length of program: Full Day (10am - 1:30pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: Year round
Curriculum links: Energy & Control; Earth & Space; Structures & Mechanisms; Matter & Materials; Life Systems; Geography: Natural Resources; Urban & Rural Communities
Participate in our energy challenge! Visit our new renewable energy display featuring a wind turbine, solar water collector tubes and solar panel array. Learn about renewable energy and why its so important for a sustainable future. Learn ways to conserve energy at home and school. Try some hands-on activities with wind and solar kits.
Then students take a guided hike through the Rouge Valley and learn how nature
uses energy.
Prior to your visit we will send you pledge forms for reducing your energy use. As a classroom, school, home or individual, participants must commit to making some or all of the changes listed on the pledge forms. Upon your visit you can tell us what commitments you have made. Then, periodically check in with us throughout the year and let us know how you’re doing!
Nature’s Calling
Grade Levels: Grade 1 to Grade 8
Length of program: Half Day (10am - 12pm, no lunch) or Full Day (10am - 1:30pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: Year round
Curriculum links: Life Systems; Oral & Visual Communication
Ever wonder how animals communicate? What sounds do they make and what are they saying? Learn some different animal calls and then see if you can identify them. Take a hike and investigate habitats for any signs or ‘sounds’ of animals. How else do animals communicate with each other besides making sound? Learn how animals use their senses to communicate and survive as you sharpen your own nature senses!
Take a Hike
Grade Levels: All Grades
Length of program: Half Day (10am - 12pm, no lunch)
Offered: Year Round
Curriculum links: Life Systems; Health & Physical Education; Relationships, Rules & Responsibilities
Get fit in the outdoors as nature intended! A healthy approach to living begins with taking care of our physical and mental health and what better way than to practice this by hiking in the outdoors! Learn to respect and care for the environment through trail conservation and wilderness survival tips.
Winter in the Valley
Grade Levels: Kindergarten to Grade 2
Length of program: Half Day (10am - 12pm, no lunch)
Offered: January - February
Curriculum links: Life Systems; Sensory Nature; Earth & Space Systems; Social Sciences: Relationships, Rules, & Responsibilities
Your students will enjoy a puppet show featuring animals in the Rouge Valley and their antics as they survive the harsh winter climate. Learn about winter birds in our area, and feed them with a special seed craft! Then hike the trails with our guides in search of animal signs and find out how plants survive the winter. Finally, cozy up around our outdoor fire-pit and enjoy a roasted marshmallow or three!
Winter Wonderland
Grade Levels: Grade 3 to Grade 12
Length of program: Half Day (10am - 12pm, no lunch)
Offered: January - February
Curriculum links: Life Systems; Earth & Space Systems
Ever wonder about nature in winter? Where do the animals go? Why are some plants still green? Search for clues or signs of animals on this guided hike that includes learning some bird calls, feeding the birds, study winter temperatures and hibernation.
Winter Birds
Grade Levels: Grade 3 to Grade 12
Length of program: Half Day (10am - 12pm, no lunch)
Offered: January - March
Curriculum links: Life Systems
Discover winter birds in Canada and learn some avian anatomy, why they stay and how they survive. Learn some bird calls and experience some bird watching on a guided hike through the Rouge Valley.
Animal Tracks
Grade Levels: Grade 2 to Grade 12
Length of program: Half Day (10am - 12pm, no lunch)
Offered: January - March
Curriculum links: Life Systems; Language/Writing; Observation & Investigation Techniques
Learn about different ways of tracking animals, the different foot prints animals leave behind and try making your own tracks in the snow (or mud). Take a hike and try to track animals and investigate their story: Where were they going? What were they doing? What were they eating? Teachers are asked to provide a writing assignment following their field trip in which students can write a story about their findings along the hike and send them in to us!
Species at Risk
Grade Levels: Grade 3 to Grade 8
Length of program: Extended Half Day (10am - 12:30pm or 1:00pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: January - March
Curriculum links: Life Systems; Language/Writing
Learn about species at risk including the Southern Flying Squirrel, Monarch Butterfly, Red-headed Woodpecker and Eastern Milk Snake through an enlightening puppet show featuring some animals in the Rouge Valley. Students will learn about some of these animals, their characteristics and what needs to be done to help them. Then students will take a guided hike to visit some of the habitats where these species would thrive and learn some important features of the Rouge Valley, and human impact on the environment. Following their visit to the Rouge Valley, students will be asked to research and report about a species at risk animal through a short story, essay, or poem.
Cavity Nesting
Grade Levels: Grade 3 to Grade 12
Length of program: Extended Half Day (10am - 12:30pm or 1:00pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: March - October
Curriculum links: Life Systems
Learn about all the different creatures that nest in cavities! Build a take-home nesting box. Then take a guided hike to visit various habitats and search for cavity nesting animals. Visit existing cavity nest boxes and learn some maintenance and monitoring techniques!
On the Forest Floor
Grade Levels: Kindergarten to Grade 3
Length of program: Extended Half Day (10am - 12:30pm or 1:00pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: March - October
Curriculum links: Life Systems; Sensory Nature; Characteristics and Needs of Living Things, Habitats, Plants; Social Sciences
Join us and our animal puppets for a delightful show featuring a story of animal survival in the Rouge Valley and their antics during the spring and summer seasons. A guided hike of the Rouge Valley will allow the students to explore and search for clues of animals. Along the way we will investigate the creatures and plants on the forest floor that we often ignore: mosses, fungi, insects, wildflowers, toads, earthworms and more.
Butterflies and Other Pollinators
Grade Levels: All Grade Levels
Length of program: Full Day (10am - 1:30pm, with time for lunch); Half Day (10am - 12pm, no lunch) for Preschoolers
Offered: March - October
Curriculum links: TBD
Learn about the importance of pollinating creatures, with an emphasis on butterflies. Activities will include planting native wildflower seeds or plants in the butterfly meadow in the spring and sumer or a sock-walk in the fall. Take a guided hike through the valley to search for butterflies, caterpillars and other creatures in the Rouge Valley.
Life in a Pond
Grade Levels: All Grade Levels
Length of program: Full Day (10am - 1:30pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: April - October
Curriculum links: TBD
Bring your rubber boots! Using dip nets, students will gently explore ponds and wetlands to discover aquatic species, and learn about growth, life cycle changes and adaptations of aquatic life. A focus on frogs will teach students the importance of keeping our waters clean and pollution free and maintaining habitat for survival; Differences between cold- and warm-blooded animals and how they regulate body temperature.
Explore a Habitat or Two
Grade Levels: Grade 4 to Grade 7
Length of program: Full Day (10am - 1:30pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: April - November
Curriculum links: Grade 4: Life Systems - Habitats and Communities; Grade 7: Life Systems - Interactions within Ecosystems
Explore different habitats within the Rouge Valley and determine what brings wildlife to specific habitats through hiking and games. Learn adaptations and interactions within communities and ecosystems, ecosystem populations, long-term effects of natural habitats and how particular habitats sustain themselves.
Autumn in the Valley
Grade Levels: Kindergarten to Grade 3
Length of program: Half Day (10am - 12:00pm, no lunch); Extended Half Day (10am - 12:30pm or 1:00pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: October - November
Curriculum links: Life Systems: Sensory Nature, Characteristics and Needs of Living Things, Growth and Change in Plants and Animals, Habitats and Communities; Social Sciences: Relationships, Rules and Responsibilities
Join us and our animal puppets for a delightful show featuring a story of animal survival in the Rouge Valley and their antics! A guided hike will lead children to explore the valley and search for clues of animals. Investigate all the creatures and plants on the forest floor we often ignore: mosses, fungi, insects, toads and other creepy crawlers.
Fall Colours
Grade Levels: Grade 3 to Grade 12
Length of program: Half Day (10am - 12:00pm, no lunch); Full Day (10am - 1:30pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: October - November
Curriculum links: Life Systems: Growth and Change in Plants, Habitats and Communities; Diversity of Living Things, Interactions within Ecosystems
Enjoy a guided hike through the Rouge Valley to explore the vibrant palette of autumn! Learn about the changing leaves, how plants prepare for winter and identify some trees. Learn about animals in the autumn season and search for spawning salmon in the river.
Natives in Nature
Grade Levels: Grade 6
Length of program: Half Day (10am - 12:00pm, no lunch); Full Day (10am - 1:30pm, with time for lunch)
Offered: October - December
Curriculum links: Social Studies: Aboriginal Peoples; Life Systems
Learn some of the history of our First Nations people: the plants they used for food, drink and medicine. Learn about the relationship between the people and the land. Visit a medicine wheel, a copy of the ancient teaching tools used by First Nations people and make survival huts out of forest floor debris.
Educational Programs
For more information or to schedule a visit to the Rouge Valley Conservation Centre:
Email:
Phone:
416-282-8265
Booking Information
Program Cost:
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-$8 per student (as of January 1, 2010)
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-Adult supervisors free
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-Prices subject to change without notice
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-Minimum 15 students, maximum 30 per group
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-larger groups may be accommodated however an extra surcharge may be added. Call or email for more information.
Booking/Cancellation Policy:
We require two weeks
notice to cancel a booking otherwise a cancellation
fee of 50% of the total program cost will be applied. (Cancellations due to inclement weather will not be subject to a cancellation fee)
We reserve the right to cancel a program if we feel the weather or conditions are unsafe.
Weather Conditions:
All program activities are held OUTDOORS and run rain, shine, cold or snow, unless in extreme weather. Programs are not moved indoors in poor weather. Students must be fully prepared for outdoor activities and any type of weather (rain gear, snow gear, sunscreen, water).
Outdoor Attire:
Children and adults MUST be fully prepared for outdoor activities when visiting the RVCC.
IN WINTER:
Dress in layers. Bring hats, mitts, gloves, scarves, ear muffs, etc, to cover all extremities. Proper winter boots and wool socks should be worn as well as water/wind-proof jackets & snow pants. Wool and technical fabric work best for outdoor activities, as they work to wick away moisture and keep heat in. Cotton can hold the cold air, sweat and water
next to the skin and highly increases the chance of
frostbite and hypothermia. Hydration and sun screen are just as important in winter as in summer!
IN SPRING & SUMMER:
Dress in layers and cover all extremities in cool weather. Hats and sunscreen are important in spring and summer. Long pants and closed shoes with socks will help to protect from brushing against poison ivy and thorny bushes. Bring plenty of water as well to prevent dehydration. Wear proper hiking footwear, especially in spring, as trails can be muddy.
When walking in the wilderness, remember that it is full of plants and animals and we are walking through their homes! Take only photographs, leave only footprints!
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