Amherst, MA – On June 29, 2016, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) will be visiting the Hitchcock Center’s new living building site and announcing an exciting federal grant award to the Hitchcock Center from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The Hitchcock Center has been awarded a $148,586 IMLS grant for its innovative “Learning From Nature” exhibit design plan that will capture the interpretive potential of its artifacts and objects, its outdoor spaces, and built environment as portals into knowledge, feelings, and actions.
By Amy Porter for The Westfield News
RUSSELL – The children at Russell Elementary School have been getting to know their new environment close-up this spring with the help of naturalist Ted Watt and a $5,000 STARS grant (Students and Teachers Working with Artists, Scientists and Scholars) from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Watt is an environmental educator with the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst. His program helps children and adults understand the unique habitats and ecosystems of New England through hands-on instruction and mentorship.
By Colleen Kelley
Every year in March a group of educators from the Hitchcock Center head to Worcester for the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society (MEES) annual conference at Holy Cross College. This one-day conference brings together teachers, students, informal educators and professionals from across the state to exchange information, ideas and practices.
By Patrick O’Roark
How can a nature center educate about engineering? With a little help from a friend and a little inspiration from one of nature’s most amazing engineers, the beaver.
By Patty O’Donnell
The Hitchcock Center is pleased to announce we have been awarded a grant from the Northampton Education Foundation (NEF) Endowment Fund for the 2015-16 academic year to continue our Energy Literacy education program. The program, entitled Energize Northampton! will be offered to all 4th grade classrooms in the four Elementary Schools in the Northampton School District – Jackson Street School, RK Finn Ryan Road School, Leeds Elementary School, and Bridge Street School.
By Patty O’Donnell
Thanks to the generous support of Greening Greenfield – a local non-profit committed to building a more sustainable Greenfield – and the Greenfield Public Schools (GPS), Hitchcock Center educator Patty O’Donnell was able to participate in a collaborative watershed education initiative with all 5th grade classrooms in the district in September.
By Ted Watt
The second full year of our intensive natural history course is drawing to a close as we observe the coming of winter. What does it mean for naturalists to be learning about and documenting our local organisms’ lives and natural processes? We’ve considered this question from a variety of perspectives during these two years.
Science and Children
At our school students are accustomed to learning in informal, outdoor settings. We identify food webs, follow animal tracks in the woodland across the street, and harvest pumpkins from our school garden. For the last several years our garden has offered students new perspectives about what they are eating.
Green Teacher
We sat quietly in the forest, swatting mosquitoes and listening intently to the many species of birds singing in the trees around us. Sarah carefully pressed the button on the boom box, broadcasting the breeding call of the male black-throated blue warbler. Within seconds, Kevin focused his binoculars above us and whispered excitedly, “There he is!”