Science Technology Enrichment Program (STEP) Information Sheet
Kindergarten
First
Audubon Jr.
Feathered Friends
Explorers
Second
Feathered Friends
Third
Birds Alive!
Fourth
Fifth
Oh, a Tangled Web! Dazzling Diversity
Audubon Jr.
Explorers
Feathered Friends
Birds Alive!
**EcoHike in
Woods
The Water Dance
Cycling Through
Life
The Earth Beneath
**EcoHike
Our Feet
Oh, a Tangled Web! Dazzling Diversity
Green With Envy
Audubon Jr.
Explorers
Cycling Through
Life
May
Apr.
Mar.
Feb.
Nov.
Oct.
Sept.
Georgia 2014 – 2015 Calendar
Roots and Shoots
Dazzling Diversity
Audubon Jr.
Explorers
Feathered Friends
Feathered Friends
The Earth Beneath
Our Feet
Oh, a Tangled Web! Dazzling Diversity
Audubon Jr.
Explorers
Green With Envy
Feathered Friends
Birds Alive!
The Water Dance
Audubon Jr.
Explorers
Green With Envy
Cycling Through
Life
Birds Alive!
Oh, a Tangled Web! Roots and Shoots
Roots and Shoots
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Teacher’s Name:________________________________________Birthdate (mm/dd): ______________
Home Phone: _________________Cell Phone: _________________Last Four Digits of SS#: ________
Home Address: ______________________________________________________________________
School: _______________________________ Grade: _______ District/County: __________________
School Phone: ___________________________ E-mail Address: ______________________________
Total Number of Students: ______Name of Teacher(s) Attending: _________________________
Program Request: ________________________What time can you visit? __________ to ___________
Months Requested (1st and 2nd choice): _________________________ __________________________
Are there any dates (during requested months) you CANNOT visit? _____________________________
Office Use Only Scheduled Day/Time: _____________________ Database:______________
Science Technology Enrichment Program (STEP) Information Sheet
Georgia 2014 – 2015 Calendar
Sixth
Diggin’ The Dirt
The Sparrow
and the
Woodpecker
A Wet World
The Sparrow and
the Woodpecker
Survival of the
Fittest
Diggin’ The Dirt
The Sparrow and
the Woodpecker
A Wet World
The Sparrow
and the
Woodpecker
The Sparrow and
the Woodpecker
Survival of the
Fittest
Apr.
Go With the
Flow!
Mar.
Survival of the
Fittest
Feb.
Survival of the
Fittest
Creepy Critters
Visit Requirements
Nov.
Go With the
Flow!
High School
Survival of the
Fittest
Oct.
Creepy Critters
Eighth
The Sparrow and
the Woodpecker
Sept.
Seventh
The Sparrow
and the
Woodpecker
Participants to either location
should bring a drink & lunch.
Silver Bluff Audubon Center
requires a $3.00 charge per
student. There is no charge for
teachers & chaperones.
May
Savannah River Site (SRS) has
no charge for participants. All
adult visitors to SRS, including
teachers, bus drivers and
chaperones must be US citizens
and must submit paperwork
including Social Security
numbers 1 week before the visit
to be badged. SRS requires a
minimum of 1 adult chaperone
per 7 children. Visits to SRS
may include a “Homeland
Security 101” orientation with a
K-9 Unit (subject to availability).
Program Logistics and Additional Information
All programs are aligned with state academic standards. Programs can be chosen for different grade levels
at the discretion of the teacher. Requests for different topics and months will be honored if possible.
All programs are available at both the Silver Bluff Audubon Center (SBAC) and Savannah River Site
(SRS). Programs consist of 3 one-hour sessions: indoor activity, outdoor activity and a hike (except for
the soil programs at SRS – please see program details). We can accommodate up to 90 students at SBAC
and 70 at SRS per day (typically 9:00 AM-1:00 PM). Accommodations can be made for shorter visits.
For standards correlations and online reservations, please visit our website at http://repec.usca.edu/step/.
Requests may be mailed to Ruth Patrick Science Education Center, 471 University Parkway, Box 3, Aiken,
SC or faxed to (804) 641-3615.
Reservation requests for STEP field trips must be received by 5:00 PM on Friday, June 13, 2014.
Reservation request received after the deadline will be placed on a waiting list.
For questions, special requests or required accommodations, please contact Shannon Unger, STEP
Program Director, at shannonu@usca.edu or (803) 641-2843.
STEP Programs Summaries
Kindergarten
• Audubon Jr. Explorers (Sept, Oct, Nov, Mar, Apr, May)
Young explorers will go on an adventure of the living world around them! Through the use of their senses and simple tools,
students will observe live and taxidermy animals close-up and become detectives searching for animals and their clues in the
forest. The learning continues as students decorate and take-home a plant to care for and watch grow through its life cycle!
1st Grade
• Feathered Friends (Sept, Mar)
Students will enter the fantastic world of our feathered friends found right here in their own backyards! Through careful
observations of taxidermy birds, students will infer behavior, diet and habitat according to their physical characteristics.
Next, students will become different birds to investigate the necessity of this diversity. This wildlife adventure will conclude
with students going where the birds go; becoming animal detectives hunting for birds and the clues they leave in our local
forest.
• Green with Envy (Oct, Apr, May)
Students will dive head long into all that is green and blooming! Through observation, investigation, and experimentation,
students will gain a better understanding of the structures, functions, and life cycles of plants. A short plant hike will be
followed by a seed dispersal experiment, take-home planting, and an “adoption” of their very own tree!
2nd Grade
• Cycling Through Life (Nov, Feb, May)
Students will discover how living things amazingly cycle through life beginning with careful observations of the stages of life
cycle models and through a hands-on classifying and sequencing activity. A life cycle hike and scavenger hunt will enhance
his or her understanding and appreciation for the uniqueness of each organism’s life journey!
• Feathered Friends (Sept, Oct, Mar, Apr)
Students will enter the fantastic world of our feathered friends found right here in their own backyards! Through careful
observations of taxidermy birds, students will infer behavior, diet and habitat according to their physical characteristics.
Next, students will become different birds to investigate the necessity of this diversity. This wildlife adventure will conclude
with students going where the birds go; becoming animal detectives hunting for birds and the clues they leave in our local
forest.
3rd Grade
• Birds Alive! (Sept, Oct, Apr, May)
Have you ever thought about how animals survive in the wild? Students will first make careful observations of taxidermy
animals such as a coyote and a hawk looking for ways that each animal can defend itself, move, obtain food, and camouflage
from predators. Followed by a scavenger hunt of clues of how a variety of animals live and have adapted in a forest
ecosystem and a simulated game of survival in a natural disaster, students will have a better appreciation of the challenges
presented by an intricate and dynamic environment!
• The Earth Beneath Our Feet (Nov, Mar)
There is so much going on just below our feet! Students will go on an underground adventure and explore the varieties and
functions of soils. Following an experimental session at our soil pit, students will investigate the creepy little critters that
play a vital role in the recycling of materials back to the earth and make a habitat to take home their very own little
decomposer friend (i.e. pill bug or earthworm)! A possible third session may be done at the Silver Bluff site – archaeology
with Dr. Chris Moore, professional archaeologist!
4th Grade
• The Water Dance (Oct, Apr)
Students will investigate the water cycle and the role it plays in a watershed. Through the creation of watershed models and
water cycle bracelets, students will be immersed in the movement of water and how humans play a role. Finally, through an
analysis of an aquatic system, students will explore the world of aquatic invertebrates and how their populations are affected
by factors, both biotic and abiotic.
• Oh, a Tangled Web! (Sept, Nov, Mar, May)
How is it possible for organisms to survive without trips to the grocery store? Students will closely observe taxidermy
animals inferring their mode of energy consumption and play a food web game showing just how connected we really are!
They will then go on an exploration hike looking for evidence of all types of producers and consumers in the forest and wrap
up with a game of true survival!
5th Grade
• Dazzling Diversity (Sept, Nov, Feb, Mar)
Students will immerse themselves into the dazzling diversity of organisms that live in their own backyard! Close-up
investigations of native taxidermy and live animals will allow for observation, hypothesis and inference of just how each
critter is adapted to its individual habitat. Students will then become nature explorers searching for a wide diversity of
animals and their clues in the forest and identify the diversity of life in their own mini-ecosystem.
• Roots and Shoots (Oct, Apr, May)
Students will investigate the roots, shoots and all other structures that allow success in the plant world. Through creation and
use of dichotomous keys, students will gain a better understanding of the great diversity of plants and clever modes of seed
dispersal. Finally, a more complete picture of plants within their environment will be examined as we focus on the
importance of decomposition in their survival and take home a little decomposer friend in a student-designed habitat (i.e. pill
bug or worm).
6th Grade
• Creepy Critters (Oct, April)
The creepy critters that live amongst us, miniature alien-looking aquatic invertebrates, will be collected and identified using
dichotomous keys to assess water quality. The water cycle will also be examined, demonstrated and played with in this
higher-level watershed investigation.
• Diggin’ the Dirt (Nov, Mar)
Time to get our hands dirty! Middle school students will investigate the biological, physical and chemical nature of a variety
of soils through use of chemical tests, microscopes, seines, augers and more in both our soil pit and our soils lab. Through
these hands-on, minds-on activities, a better understanding will be gained of the importance of healthy soil to plants, animals
and all living things in our ecosystem. A possible third session may be done at the Silver Bluff site – archaeology with Dr.
Chris Moore, professional archaeologist!
7th Grade
• Go With the Flow! (Oct, Apr)
All living things require water and students will investigate the factors of its quality and quantity. Through observation, data
collecting, modeling, experimentation and craft, students will have a better understanding of the biotic and abiotic factors that
affect this planet’s water and movement and its effect on all of us!
• The Sparrow and the Woodpecker (Sept, Nov, May)
Students may think they have it tough but in this program they will explore the intense challenges of living in the true wild!
With a focus on birds, especially a couple of threatened species in our area, the Bachman Sparrow and the Red Cockaded
Woodpecker, students will explore the challenges of their survival and effective human management and conservation.
Through observation, inference and use of a key, students will use taxidermy birds to investigate structures, behaviors and
relationships that allow for success of birds in diverse and changing environments. Students will engage in a true game of
survival using “given adaptations” to see if they have what it takes to endure a natural disaster! Finally, students will hike
the area to investigate the habitat challenges and formulate strategies to help protect some of our most rare native birds.
8th Grade
• The Sparrow and the Woodpecker (Sept, Nov, Apr, May)
Students may think they have it tough but in this program they will explore the intense challenges of living in the true wild!
With a focus on birds, especially a couple of threatened species in our area, the Bachman Sparrow and the Red Cockaded
Woodpecker, students will explore the challenges of their survival and effective human management and conservation.
Through observation, inference and use of a key, students will use taxidermy birds to investigate structures, behaviors and
relationships that allow for success of birds in diverse and changing environments. Students will engage in a true game of
survival using “given adaptations” to see if they have what it takes to endure a natural disaster! Finally, students will hike
the area to investigate the habitat challenges and formulate strategies to help protect some of our most rare native birds.
High School
• Survival of the Fittest (Sept, Nov, Feb, Mar, May)
This program will focus on just how crucial it is to be fit in an intricate and dynamic world! Through a game of survival and
interaction with live and taxidermy animals, students will investigate what adaptations allow for survival of the individual
and success of the species. Finally, students will investigate, record data and draw conclusions about the health of a forest
ecosystem and its inhabitants.
• A Wet World (Oct, Apr)
On our blue planet, humans play a vital role in the protection and preservation of our watery resources. Students will learn
more about these effects through experimenting with human behaviors that influence the location, quality and quantity of
water within a watershed. Chemical and biological analysis will reveal the quality of a local pond.