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Classroom Activities

In The Field, Students Rotate Through Six Activity Areas and a Variety of Habitats
The field program consists of eight to ten classes of students rotating through six activities in three days. At Nature's Classroom, the students will be investigating the following:

  • The role that water plays in shaping the biological communities along the Hillsborough River;
  • The adaptations of organisms to live in these communities
  • The chemical and biological health of the river
  • The role people play in maintaining the river as a healthy, living system.

Field activities include:

Animal Compound
Students use observation and inference skills to synthesize information on how birds of prey, mammals and large reptiles are able to survive in the Hillsborough River ecosystem.

Interpretive Center
Through hands-on experience and observation, students learn about the various types of small vertebrate organisms that live in the Hillsborough River ecosystem.
River Exploration
Students monitor the health of the Hillsborough River biologically by collecting data on the number and diversity of birds and reptiles. They monitor the chemical health of the river by using water test kits.
Upland/Wetland Investigation
Students study the role the physical environment plays in determining the location of biological communities within the Hillsborough River basin.
Shoreline Sampling
Students actively collect small organisms that live along the shoreline of the Hillsborough River. They then classify these organisms, observe their characteristics and make inferences about the biodiversity of the system.

Click any of the following links for detailed coverage of each area of the new Nature's Classroom:

River Shoreline and Cypress Swamp Areas
Animal Habitat
Interpretive Center
Classroom and Meeting Spaces