Wild Science!

Curriculum

Our goal is to provide a fun, enriching, hands-on experience for all of our students. Our program has curriculum tailored to engage and challenge students of all ages. Every class will begin with a "Mind Map" of what is to be taught for that particular lesson. Every student will be taught how to think like a scientist and how to hone their own powers of observation through the active, hands-on method we call the OHECK Boogie: Observation - Hypothesis - Experiment - Conclusion - Knowledge. At the end of every program students partake in the "Bill of Rights" to share what they know so others can grow. Students are encouraged to bring home these projects to help inspire more scientific inquiry and discussion with their friends and family. Students will have the opportunity to:

• touch and feed live animals
• engage in make-and-take projects
• create and build simple machines and architectural phenomena
• take things apart
• run earth science simulations
• hone their powers of observation by making sculptures, sketches and paintings
• study physics in action, and
• be exposed to new breakthroughs in science.

2010 Fall: Wild Animal Explorer!
Join Tree Frog Treks for our Animal Explorer program!  We will learn about the five classes of vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) by meeting live animals, studying skins, skulls, and specimens, and exploring the natural world.  Hold frogs and do the frog walk!  Find out about the secret lives of your own pets!  Touch a Red-tailed hawk wing and talons, learn bird calls, and use binoculars and a spotting scope to see our feathered friends up close!  Find out which bears used to live in San Francisco, and how they can sleep all winter without eating!  Develop your powers of observation, make fun take-home art projects, and come face-to-face with frogs, salamanders, lizards, snakes and our whole cast of creepy, crawly co-workers!

2010-2011 Winter: How Things Work!
Did you ever wonder how airplanes fly? How the heart pumps blood around the body? How we can speak across hundreds of miles on cell phones? What about computers… how do they store so much information? If you are the kind of tinkering, curious frog that asks your parents why, why, why, then this semester of fun hands-on science is for you!  We’ll look to the future of renewable resources to learn about alternative fuels, as well as cool clean energy sources for power like the sun, water and air.  We will learn how scientists look to nature to help create new inventions, how machines we use today mimic the natural world, and observe our animal ambassadors like Julie the Burmese python, and Ivan the Sulcata Tortoise.  So put on your hard hats, and come join Tree Frog Treks to discover How Things Work!

2011 Spring: Bay Area Science
Get ready to dive into Bay Area Science!  Meet local animals like Percy the California King Snake, Speedy the Gopher Snake, Capp the Pacific Tree Frog, and Clark the Western toad face-to-face!  Learn about who lives in the Bay, what makes our earth quake and shake, San Francisco architectural icons, and how to conserve and restore our unique home.  In this hands-on science and art program we will build a Golden Gate suspension bridge model, learn about the physics of cable cars, study Elephant Seals and Grey Whales, investigate the East Bay Hills firestorm, pan for gold, find out what happened to the San Francisco Garter Snake, and get to know all about the natural history of your own back yard!