The Delores Fenwick Nature Center is now offering Distance Learning Programs! These virtual field trip programs are designed to meet the TEKS of students in elementary grades but can be adapted for older or younger audiences. The Distance Learning Programs are also designed to meet the needs of learners in various learning settings, like homeschool, Montessori or childcare centers. The current offerings are listed below with a brief description for the Pre, Live and Post Lessons.

How to Book a Program:

If you would like to book a Distance Learning Program for your school, please call our Park Naturalist, Katie Boughal at 281-652-1981 or email kboughal@pearlandtx.gov, with "Distance Learning Program" in the subject line.

Topics and Program Details

Home Sweet Home Overview: This lesson will teach the 4 basic needs of animal survival and the animal adaptations needed to survive in a variety of habitats.

• Pre-Lesson Activity – Students will observe 3 different animals and determine how they find food, shelter and water and input their findings into a chart to share during the virtual program.
• Virtual Program - Students will dive deep into the 4 basic needs of animal survival – food, water, shelter and space. They will use their imaginations to travel to the prairie, wetland and forest habitats to learn what adaptations animals use in each habitat to survive when a habitat does not provide one of the basic needs.
• Post Lesson Activity – Using their knowledge of animal needs for survival, students will create an animal habitat diorama.
• Bonus Activity! This program also comes with instructions for building a play fort shelter and camouflage hide-and-seek!

The Water Cycle Overview: This lesson will teach the basics of the Water Cycle and how humans are impacting aquatic environments.

• Pre-Lesson Activity – Students will conduct an experiment, using the scientific method, to create a Rain Storm in a Jar.
• Virtual Program - Students will be led through the stages of the water cycle, learning the properties of water and how to help protect aquatic habitats.
• Post-Lesson Activity – Students will conduct an experiment to create drinking water from salt water using the power of the sun.

Just Right for Night Overview: What goes bump in the night? Students will discover adaptations of nocturnal animals and learn what animals might be creeping around outside their homes after the sun sets.

• Pre-Lesson Activity – Students will use their ears to listen for sound differences at the same spot during the day and again at night. Will they hear the same things? What animals do they think they hear?
• Virtual Lesson – Students will “meet” several nocturnal animals and learn about the various adaptations that aid in their ability to survive at night.
• Post Lesson Activity – Nocturnal animals have excellent hearing! During this activity, students will use only their ears to determine what is inside several sound canisters. Is their hearing good enough to pick up the subtle differences?
• Bonus Activity! This program also comes with instructions on how to play Flashlight Tag!

Scoop on Poop Overview: Everybody poops! This lesson teaches the adaptations of herbivores, carnivores and omnivores and how their adaptations and diet help shape their scat (scientific term for poop).

• Pre-Lesson Activity - Did you know there are over 500 different words for animal scat? Find these common terms for scat in the word search! Answer Key included for teacher use.
• Virtual Program - This virtual program will be an in depth look into the adaptation of herbivores, carnivores and omnivores with a special focus on different types of animal scat and how to identify scat on your own.
• Post-Lesson Activity - Using their knowledge of animal diets, students will follow the recipe to create edible animal scat granola bars resembling herbivore, carnivore, and omnivore scat.

Bird Beak Boogie! Overview: Texas is home to many different bird species and each is adapted to survive in a different way. This lesson will teach how to identify a variety of birds common to the Texas region and their adaptations for survival.

• Pre-Lesson Activity – Complete this backyard or school yard birding scavenger hunt to familiarize yourself with local birds and their activities.
• Virtual Lesson – This live lesson will be an introduction to bird identification and the physical and behavioral adaptations of many bird species.
• Post-Lesson Activity – During this step-by-step bird beak experiment, students will simulate the use of different bird beaks to discover how they are adapted to eating different types of foods.

Order Up! Overview: Soups on! Find out how animals are adapted to eat different foods and how each animal is needed to transfer energy throughout the food chain.

• Pre-Lesson Activity – Students will create a Venn Diagram of plant and meat eaters, categorizing animals by what they are observed eating.
• Virtual Lesson – Herbivores and carnivores have extremely different adaptations for survival while omnivores have a combination of the two. Students will learn how these animals survive. Students will also learn about the flow of energy through a food chain and where these animals fit within that food chain.
• Post-Lesson Activity – Students using their knowledge of herbivores, carnivores and omnivores to play Food Chain Rock, Paper, Scissors!

Additional Fees and Details:

Base Price: $100 per 1 virtual program, lasting between 30-45 minutes. The pre/post lesson materials are including in this fee and will be sent to teachers when they confirm program registration.

Additional Program Fee: Schools booking more than one program on the same day will be charged $50 for each additional same day program (maximum of 3 programs per day).

Attendance Fee: Virtual Programs with more than 40 people in attendance will be charged an additional $25.Teachers are excluded from the count of program attendees.

Discounts: Registered Non-Profit Organizations or Title I Schools will receive a 20% discount.

Mileage Fees: In the event that our staff needs to travel to your location to broadcast the live lesson, the following mileage fees would be added to the program price. 

• 1-10 miles = $0 
• 11-25 miles = $25 
• 26-35 miles = $50 
• Mileage is calculated one way from the DFNC to the location, not round trip. We will travel no more than 35 miles away from the Nature Center. 

Financial Assistance: If your organization is unable to afford the program, please reach out to us directly and we will be able to discuss options available for financial assistance.

Don’t see a topic you are interested in? Check back soon as we will be adding more topics in the future.