Briefly
- Discovery Walk 1.5 hours
- Schedule extra time for building/lunch
- May be paid for through BOCES – check with principal
- $5/child; adults not charged, but expected to help
- Longer and/or more focused learning experiences also available. Call to discuss!
- Call 716-569-2345 with calendar in hand to schedule.
- Schedule early! Our calendar fills quickly.
Fieldtrip Overview and Costs
Our basic field trip is called a Discovery Walk. In small groups, your children, guided by one of our naturalists or trained volunteers, explore fields, forest, and ponds for about one and a half hours. What you do or discover will depend on the season and the weather. Many groups like to schedule extra time to take a self-guided tour through our Nature Center building or to have a picnic lunch.
If your school participates in BOCES Co-Ser 438.010, as many Chautauqua County schools do, your fieldtrip may already be in the budget! Check with your principal. Other schools and groups pay only $4 per student (2007-2008 price) for a guided tour.
If you prefer, you can visit the Nature Center on your own and do a self-guided tour. Visitors are welcome to view Liberty, our non-releasable Bald Eagle, to walk the trails and to use our restrooms free of charge, though donations are greately appreciated. Admission to the building is $5 per non-member adult (2007-2008 price), children under 18 are admitted free of charge. We’d still like to know you are coming, so give us a call.
Holly demonstrates that a little applause encourages the geese to move along…
The Purpose of Your Fieldtrip
There are many reasons to take your children on a fieldtrip. Some teachers are looking for a fun outing. 
Others are trying to tie specific field experiences into their science curriculum. Still others want to expose the children to free discovery as a jumping off point for further study of whatever piques their interest. Whatever your purpose, Audubon may just be the place for you.
Before calling to schedule a fieldtrip, think about your purpose. Think of Audubon as your partner in education. Let us know what you have in mind and we’ll do our best to help you accomplish your goals.
Scheduling a Fieldtrip
The best way to schedule a fieldtrip is to call the education department (716-569-2345) with your calendar in hand. Have at least two or three preferred dates and times. Also, have in mind if you plan to eat lunch here or wish to schedule extra time to explore the building or visit the gift shop. We’ll also ask about your transportation arrangements and whether you are interested in something more than a Discovery Walk. (See the “Other/Custom” tab.)
Call early! Our calendar fills very quickly. Some teachers call in June to book fall field trips. January is already late to get your preferred date for a spring fieldtrip! Call anyway. We’ll try to squeeze you in somewhere.
Fieldtrip Logistics
Once you we have you on the calendar and know all the details, we will send you a confirmation package that includes instructions on how to prepare for your fieldtrip.
- Transportation: you are on your own to arrange for and pay for transportation to and from Audubon. Let us know how you will be arriving. If you will have many parent drivers instead of a bus, for example, it may affect where we instruct staff to park that day!
- Lunches: We have outdoor picnic facilities where you can eat your lunches. In the event of rain, we will put a tarp out on a carpeted area inside (to make cleanup easier!).
- Garbage: If you are eating lunch with us, you may leave behind compostable food waste and recyclable containers. We do not, however, have the room to store garbage for the numbers of students that come through each spring. Please plan to bring a garbage bag and take your garbage back to school.
- Small Groups: Your confirmation will ask that you divide your class(es) into smaller groups with specific animal names. Please don’t get creative with your own names as it will only confuse things upon arrival. Our trail guides will be holding up signs with the names we assign you.
- Adult Supervision: Please make sure there is at least one adult with each of the small groups. This can be a teacher, aide, or parent.
Preparing Students for Your Fieldtrip
Plan some time a week or so before to talk with your students about their trip to Audubon. Find out if any of them have been to Audubon and ask what they remember. Find out if they have any fears… Inform them of the plans for the day. For some, this may be their first ride on a school bus. Check the weather forecast and talk about good ways to dress for the predicted weather. Will they be having lunch or a snack while on the fieldtrip? Will each carry his or her own lunch, or will all be placed in a cooler? Assure them that we have bathrooms, and picnic facilities. Let them know that we also have a building and can get inside if the weather goes foul on us. The more your students know about how the fieldtrip will work, the less anxious they will be. The lower the anxiety, the higher the opportunity for learning.
Dividing into groups: If you are bringing two classrooms of students, we will probably ask you to divide into four groups with the names Ants, Bullfrogs, Catfish and Dragonflies. Our naturalists have found that the most learning and fewest discipline problems seem to happen when each teacher divides his or her classroom in half. For example, one classroom will be the Ants and Bullfrogs, and the other will be the Catfish and Dragonflies.
What to Expect When You Arrive
An Audubon naturalist will board your bus when you arrive to greet you and give some directions. He will go over the logistics… Lunch before the walk? Lunch after the walk? What time does the bus driver need you back on the bus?… Those sorts of things.
If you have prepared as we described above and divided your children into groups with animal names, they will know exactly where to go when they get off the bus.
If your group is staying for lunch, we will stash the lunches in a cool place before we head out.
Once we are sure the groups are established, each will leave on its own adventure. Your trail guide will go over some rules and guidelines for the walk:
Then you will hit the trails to see what’s out there. There is something to see in every season and our Trail Guides will ensure that your children discover and learn together.
Sarah’s group found something!
Learning about Red Pines
Exploring the Herb Garden
A Family of Geese
No trip is complete without visiting Liberty, our non-releasable Bald Eagle. First you will stop to review the “Eagle Quiet Zone” sign.
If you have scheduled a morning walk followed by lunch, children will visit the restrooms to wash up.
Then out to the picnic tables…
Children will be instructed on how to dispose of waste after they eat. Compostable food waste and recyclable materials may be left at the Center. Please bring a garbage bag and plan to take other waste back to your school dumpsters. (We simply do not have storage available for the amount of waste generated by the numbers of kids we see during the walk season.)
Many groups schedule “on-their-own” time in addition to their guided walk to explore the Center’s exhibits. Perhaps you will stay in your small groups to explore, or perhaps you will go as classroom sized groups. There is plenty for adults to learn, while children engage in hands-on activities.
Common Concerns
Weather: We encourage you to dress for the weather and we will try to go outside no matter what. If the weather is so foul that it would simply be unpleasant, we will create an alternative indoor program. There is no room in our schedule for rain dates, so please plan to attend your scheduled field trip rain or shine!
Sunburn: Our Discovery Walks typically wind along trails that provide some shade and some sun. It is unlikely that your children will be out in the sunlight long enough to get burned.
Insect bites: It’s hard to avoid the occasional mosquito bite when you visit a wetland. We discourage children from bringing spray-on repellents that could accidentally make it into another child’s eyes. If you are concerned about bites and want your children to have repellent on, please apply it before you come.
Poison ivy: Your guides will do everything they can to keep you out of the Poison Ivy. This isn’t hard to do, if you stay on the trail. However, if you suspect that you have been exposed, or if your guide suspects you have been exposed, we will make sure you have soap and water to wash with. This should help you avoid the rash.
We STRONGLY recommend closed-toe shoes or sneakers with socks and NO SANDALS for your trip to Audubon.
Followup
We hope that you will follow up back in the classroom with reflection and activities to extend and reinforce the learning that may have happened on your field trip. Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
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Artwork: individual or group mural, water color, critter craft
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Reading/Research: learn more about something you saw
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Writing: poetry, journal writing, letters, reports
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Discussion: reflect on something new, something surprising, something you wish you hadn’t seen…
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Story-telling
