Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center
Group Program List
The following descriptions are a brief outline of possible program formats and content. All classes can be tailored to fit different age groups, unless otherwise noted. We will select age-appropriate activities that will spark curiosity in the natural world. Please contact the Center for more details and to tailor a program to fit your study unit.
New York State Learning Standards: Each program meets New York State Learning standards in a variety of content areas. All lessons address the standards listed in the following section; additional standards covered by specific lessons are noted in the lesson descriptions. Other core curriculum specific standards may be incorporated to meet your unit goals if desired.
Standards addressed by all Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center Programs:
- Health, Physical Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences, Standard 2: A Safe and Healthy Environment.
- Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Standard 4: Science.
- English Language Arts, Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction
Fee: $3 per student, minimum charge $20 per group. No charge for chaperones with school groups. Please contact the Center for more program details.
Contact Information:
Lisa Hoyt, Director
Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center
475 Dyken Pond Road
Cropseyville, New York 12052
(518) 658-2055
Program Descriptions:
Interpretive Hike
Description: Explore the ecology of the area through seasonal interpretation. Choose a focus for the hike from the program descriptions listed below, including history, wildflowers, land use practice, wildlife or general ecology.
Pond Study
Description: Collect, identify and compare insects and amphibians using aquatic sampling nets. Discover some of the complex interactions that exist in the aquatic ecosystem. If desired, the program can be structured to focus on one of the program descriptions listed below, including lifecycles or aquatic ecology.
Five Senses Adventure
Description: Students will develop a sensory interest in nature while on an interpretive hike that uses the outdoors as a teaching catalyst.
Life Cycles
Description: Explore plant and animal life cycles. Program may include a pond study and/or an interpretive hike. Depending on the season and your preference, emphasis will be placed on amphibians, pond insects or plants native to Rensselaer County.
Forestry
Description: Compare deciduous and coniferous communities found at Dyken Pond Center; using an increment borer, collect basic information on the growth patterns of trees. Other measuring tools may be used to collect data on height and diameter of trees. All data collected will be interpreted by students.
Additional New York State Learning Standards:
Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Standard 3: Mathematics
Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Standard 6: Interconnectedness: Common Themes
Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Standard 7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving
English Language Arts, Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding
Botany
Description: Identify parts of a plant and their function. Individual plants will be identified and the concept of plant communities explored. Hike through forest, bog, and swamp habitats. Learn why one plant community is different from another.
Additional New York State Learning Standards:
Social Studies, Standard 3: Geography
Wildlife
Description: Choose a general theme of animal adaptations, classification, identification, habitats, or behavior to be addressed during an interpretive hike. You may also choose to study one animal in particular including bats, birds, beavers, or another of your interest.
Birds
Description: Through games and activities learn about bird adaptations and discover “what makes a bird a bird”. Use binoculars and learn how to identify birds by their field markings.
Food Chains
Description: Students will learn about an aquatic or forest food chain and how energy flows throughout an ecosystem. Depending on the instructor’s preference, the activities may include an interpretive hike, or pond study.
Insects
Description: Capture, identify and release forest, field and/or pond insects. Study insect adaptations and learn why they are so important to all life on the planet. Optional: Students will begin a nature journal with illustrations of the insects they study.
Additional New York State Learning Standards:
The Arts, Standard 1: Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts
Acid Rain and Aquatic Ecology – Grades 6 and Up
Description: Perform experiments to analyze the water quality of Dyken Pond or compare the differences in water ecology between a lake, pond, and wetland. Sampling equipment may include a plankton net, secchi disc, thermometers, benthic sampler, microscopes, dissolved oxygen test and pH test. Data will be collected and interpreted.
Additional New York State Learning Standards:
Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Standard 1: Analysis, Inquiry, and Design
Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Standard 6: Interconnectedness: Common Themes
Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Standard 7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving
Social Studies, Standard 3: Geography
English Language Arts, Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding
Map and Compass – Grades 5 and up
Description: Begin by reviewing how to use a compass in an open field. Divide into small exploratory teams to meet the challenge of bushwhacking and trail hiking with a map and compass.
Additional New York State Learning Standards:
Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Standard 3: Mathematics
Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Standard 7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving
Social Studies, Standard 3: Geography
History of New York State – Grades 4 and Up
Description: Based on discovering evidence found on an interpretive hike, determine how Dyken Pond Center was used in the past and by whom. Evidence will reveal past farming, logging and Native American uses.
Additional New York State Learning Standards:
Social Studies, Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
Social Studies, Standard 3: Geography
Aldo Leopold Education Project – Grades 7 and Up
Description: Excerpts will be read in advance from Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac. This program will combine excellent literary prose with an interactive activity and discussion of land ethics and conservation.
Additional New York State Learning Standards:
Social Studies, Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
English Language Arts, Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding
English Language Arts, Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and evaluation.
Geology – Grades 6 and up
Description: Find evidence of glaciation on an outdoor hike. Learn of the formation of the Rensselaer Plateau while you discover the geology and soils of the area. Study and identify different rock samples through various testing methods.
Additional New York State Learning Standards:
Social Studies, Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
Social Studies, Standard 3: Geography
Teamwork and Team Play – Grades 6 and up
Description: Groups participate in a series of adventure games and activities that create situations that challenge the abilities of the group to collectively solve problems.
Additional New York State Learning Standards:
Health, Physical Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences, Standard 1: Personal Health and Fitness
