Environmental Education
School and Group Presentations
The following programs are available for group presentations. Some are designed for elementary children, while others are designed for middle and high school students. Most can be adapted for any age, including adults! Other programs can also be given upon request. Please feel free to inquire about any of these programs or about our extensive video library!
Programs for Elementary Students
- Animal Adaptations and Defenses
- Animal Tracks and Signs
- Discovering Insects
- Freshwater Animals
- Rocks and Fossils
- Tree Detectives
- Winter Bird Feeding
- Winter Wildlife
Programs for Middle and High School Students
- Basic Canoeing
- Climate Change 101
- Composting--Nature's Recycling
- Conservation Careers
- Geocaching
- Groundwater Detectives
- Iowa Wetlands
- Journey to the Stars
- The Navigation Stars of Lewis and Clark
- Orienteering
- Pollinator Gardens
- Rain Gardens
- Skullduggery
- Tree Ring Mysteries
- Water Quality Critters
- Wildlife Populations
Programs that can be adapted for any grade level
- Bats!
- Birds of Prey
- Eagles in Iowa
- Earth Day
- Endangered!
- Fishing Fun
- Iowa Mammals
- Iowa Wildflowers
- Lewis and Clark's Discoveries
- Monarch Magic
- My Side of the Mountain
- Native Americans
- Owls--Predators of the Night
- Prairie Life
- Rascal
- Recycling and Waste Reduction
- Snowshoeing
- The Star Lab
- Turkey Talk
- A Virtual Tour Through the Solar System
- Weathering and Erosion
Field Trips
The WCCB also sponsors field trips to the following locations. These trips provide fun and educational learning experiences for your students. The activities for each trip will be customized, depending upon your wishes, the size and grade level of your class, and the length of time involved. Click on a location to learn more about it!
- Hanson Nature Center, Leland
Located on 65 acres of prairies and wetlands, the center provides exhibits, a classroom, and live animals, all of which allow kids to explore and learn about their natural world. - Lime Creek Nature Center, Mason City
Wooded trails, a prairie, a pond, and a wonderful nature center all provide countless opportunities for your students to explore and discover the natural world of north Iowa! - Thorpe Park, west of Forest City
Many activities can be enjoyed from the shelter house, along the scenic marsh trail, at Lake Catherine, and throughout the park's prairie areas. - Pilot Knob State Park, east of Forest City
The park offers a pond and excellent wooded trails for various outdoor activities! - The Rockford Fossil and Prairie Park, west of Rockford
Students can hunt for 400-million-year-old fossils, then walk through a wonderfully-restored prairie. The visitor center contains many excellent exhibits demonstrating how the area's land use has changed. - Smith Lake and the Water's Edge Nature Center, north of Algona
Smith Lake itself provides many recreational activities and the area also contains some nice trails. In addition, the new nature center adds to the possibilities! - Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge, east of Bancroft
A bus tour through or around the refuge can give your entire class the chance to view many of north Iowa's native species, as well as many migrating birds. And a boardwalk gets your class right down to the water!
For more information about any of these programs, and about other educational services that the WCCB offers, you can download our "Environmental Education Services" booklet.
