The core program offers field studies for public, private, and home school students. The natural resource staff provides environmental education experiences with the use of half-day and full-day field trips. Our outdoor education program is a teaching tool that links classroom curriculum and state standards to the natural resources of Illinois.

The natural resource staff has created a variety of lesson plans that allow teachers to validate field studies as they meet the Illinois learning standards. While the students are engaged in hands on learning experiences the teachers can connect the information to the classroom curriculum. Some of the programs include but are not limited to

• Prairie
• Wetland
• Forest
• Habitat (Ecology)
• Food chains
• Seeds, plants and trees
• Soils and geography
• Endangered species
• Vertebrates and Invertebrates
• Decomposers
• Recycling and conservation
• Pioneers
• Native Americans
• Tracks
• Migration
• Adaptations and survival

Many of the lessons are cross-curricular. Science is the subject that comes to mind when considering outdoor education. Also included in the outdoor education lessons are math, reading, language arts, geography, social studies, music and art.