Homeschool Programs 2012-2013
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Amherst Recreation offers Environmental and science programs to homeschoolers throughout the school year.
3rd Tuesday of the Month
1-3pm
Minimum of 4 students to run class
Maximum of 15 (a second class could be added with enough interest)
Grades 1-4 (Ages 6-10)
Up In the Air
September 18th 2012
Discovering what makes the air around us so amazing.
Learn about air and wind using balloons, bubbles, paper airplanes, homemade miniature parachutes and kites.
Magical Potions
October 16th 2012
Beginning chemists will delight as we investigate the science of chemistry. Common kitchen products will be used to create wonderful and exciting science experiment. We’ll explain in simple terms the chemical reactions as they are created in each experiment.
Nocturnal Animals
November 20th, 2012
While we sleep they eat and play. Let us learn about who lives in our backyard and what makes each of theses animals so strange, different and amazing.
Winter Survival
December 18th, 2012
Let explore the joys of being outside during the winter. We’ll learning how to track animals, making snow shelters, and how to survive outside during the cold winter months
The World in the Palm of Your Hand
January 15th 2013
Be the sole creator of your own world…build an ecosystem within in a jar and observe how natural processes occur in a small enclosed system, similar to that of Earth. You decided what lives in the jar and you determine the fate of everything living inside it. So join us in making a world that you can hold in the palm of your hand!
Magnificent Magnets
February 19th 2013
What are the forces behind attraction? Why do we have north and south poles? How do magnetic forces affect nature? Explore answers to these questions and more while playing with basic magnets, magnets wands, and testing out the strength of their force fields.
Film in Nature
March 19th 2013
This class will give creative minded kids the opportunity to express themselves through film. Wander the grounds around the environmental center capturing nature on film. Participants will produce a collage of their favorite pictures and we’ll help you mat and frame it to create a beautiful finished product! Bring your own digital camera (with USB Cable) or we’ll provide a basic digital camera for your use.
Jr. Paleontologist
April 16th 2013
Taking a trip back to when dinosaurs roamed the earth and when mammoths were as common as squirrels students will learn about the most ferocious dinosaurs, what lead to their extinction and the evidence remaining today that is still being unearthed by archaeologists around the world. So join as we build models, work at a “dig site”, identify dinosaur tracks, and learn about some of the greatest animals to ever roam this planet!
Wise Kids Outdoors
May 21st 2013
Ever want to make a fort to hang out in? Want to plant something
and watch it grow? Wonder what worms do for the dirt? Then “Wise Kids Outdoors” is
for you! You’re guaranteed to get dirty, and have fun doing all these things and much
more.
Who’s Got the Power?
June 18th 2013
Create energy from nature: learn about solar, geothermal, water, wind and electromagnetic energy and how they are harnessed to provide us with clean, renewable energy. Build energy projects from every day materials and explore the future’s most important sources of green energy!
Grades 5-8 (Ages 11-14)
All About Balance
September 18th 2012
Finding a balance in life is more difficult than it may seem, so let’s explore the ways balance can be achieved using everyday materials. Drawing our ideas straight from nature, we will explore how to live a balanced and healthy life by mimicking the most balanced system in our universe!
Scrub Science
October 16th 2012
Budding biologists will love learning about the anatomy of several different creatures through dissection. This program introduces beginners to basic dissection techniques and internal and external anatomy of 3 very different animals: earthworms, grasshoppers and frogs.
Jr. Physicist
November 20th 2012
Join us as we introduce the basics of physics and examine the relationship between matter and energy. We’ll perform simple experiments involving mechanics, optics, electricity, magnetism, acoustics and heat to expand the minds of these young physicists. By performing these various experiments students will see how matter and energy relate to each other in our day to day lives.
Meteorology Kids
December 18th 2012
Why don’t we have tornados in New Hampshire? And how come it doesn’t snow in Florida? Understanding how the weather works and how it varies from climate to climate will give students the background information on all the amazing weather phenomena that we experience here in New England.
Winter Ecology w/snowshoes
January 15th 2013
Come with us as we explore the woodlands and the animals during the winter months. We will learning first hand why the trees loose they leaves and where the animals go and the best places to spend a New England winter
Sleuth Science
February 19th, 2013
Immerse yourself in a hands-on series of imaginary crime scene investigations. Learn about scientific techniques used to gather evidence, such as fingerprinting, analyzing handwriting, collecting and observing hair and fibers under a microscope, and using chemistry to identify unknown substances at your crime scene. The ability to problem solve and think creatively are key skills that students will take away from Sleuth Science!
Tree Study
March 19th 2013
Trees provide us with so many important things that it is impossible to live without them; oxygen, paper, wood, medicines, homes for animals, shade, a natural play gym, and food. They give us so much so it is important that we have the knowledge to identify them by their leaves, bark, branching, and size. So join us as we learn about one of the most important resources on our planet!
Beginner Microscopes
April 16th 2013
You will enter the world of the small, the miniscule, and the microscopic! Students will learn how to prepare microscope slides and basic microscope functions. From there they will be able to view life found in a drop of pond water, water fleas, insect parts, plant cells, human cells, crystals, hair, thread, pepper, salt, sugar, yeast and many other tiny things.
Orienteering Challenge
May 21st 2013
Intensive hiking guided by compasses and GPS units will give students an opportunity to learn about orienteering, questing and geocaching. Going on a treasure hunt in the scenic woods surrounding the center will put your newly learned orienteering skills to the test, so be prepared to get dirty, hike 3 hours, get lost and found!
Herbology
June 18th 2013
Herbs are nature’s gifts to us in the form of food, medicine and much more. Join us at PMEC to see which plants are good to eat, which were used as traditional medicine by Native American and which ones to stay far away from. The day will be filled with hands on activities, crafts, stories.