Lindner Park Outdoor Lab

Lindner Park is a 15-acre nature preserve in Norwood. Drake Planetarium & Science Center offers many outdoor environmental programs at the park for all ages, preschool through high school. Plant biology, ecology, pond and stream life, fossil identification, and local animal population studies are just a few of the innovative programs offered. You may mix and match as well!

You can schedule a park program alone, or combine a park and planetarium program, or combine a LEGO Lab and park program - the choice is yours.

Ants

For preschool through second grade students. Ants are a great insect to view and learn about. Your students will participate in an outdoor ant drama where they will communicate with each other as ants would do in their own environment. Kids become the ants and learn how to live in an ant community using all of their senses to communicate with other members of their ant hill. This one is lots of fun!

Earth's Habitats

First grade students will identify basic needs of living things and participate in outdoor activites which allow them to make predictions of how living organisms respond to stimuli, change in habitat and basic needs. 

Insects Run Wild

Students will learn basic classification of various types of insects based on their structure. This outdoor experience will reinforce and introduce how bugs bodies are designed to work in a variety of environments. Students will locate and observe bugs in their natural habitat. For preschool through second grade students.

Our Environment

Designed for Kindergarten students this program helps them observe animals in their natural habitats. Seasons, weather conditions, and environmental factors will be used to show how different animals react to natural changes.

Biome and Habitat Diversity

For second through six grade students. Students learn how the earth is separated into distinct climate zones, called biomes. They learn to explain the roles of producers, consumers, decomoposers in a food web. Students wil then go into the park and identify these components using a variety of environmental sites.

Earth and Sky

This two-hour program combines a planetarium lab experience with an outdoor nature adventure. Your class will spend approximately 50 minutes in the planetarium learning about the surface features of the moon, seasonal constellations, and space technology. As an added enrichment, a staff member will conduct an outdoor learning experience at nearby Lindner Park and nature preserve.