For Educators: Winter/Spring 2021

A dozen children pose for the camera in the Ash Meadows visitor center. They are standing with a person who is wearing a blue goose costume, which represents the National Wildlife Refuge System. Most of the children are smiling. Some are either making silly poses or showing thumbs up. Behind them is a large image of a bighorn sheep with the words, "From Ash Meadows" above them.

Ash Meadows provides exceptional opportunities to observe and learn about diverse desert habitats, water conservation, and the protection of endangered species. We provide on-site fieldtrip programs, virtual programs, and teacher trainings upon request.

  • Virtual Programs

    An example of the setup for the bird beak buffet activity is shown. A table is set with a green tablecloth, a bottle, and three bowls. The bottle is labelled "Shrubland flowers (filled with nectar)". One bowl contains a grapefruit and is labelled, "Shrubland jackrabbit." Another contains a handful of small prezels and is labelled, "Shrubland lizards and insects." A third contains apple slices and is labelled, "Wetland algae, grasses, and small animals." There are tweezers, chopsticks, a pair of scissors, and a pair of kitchen tongs on the table in front of the bowls.

    Bird Beak Buffet

    Discover how bird beaks are survival tools adapted to birds’ favorite foods through common kitchen tools. 

    Grades K-5 

    40+ minutes 

    • Kitchen Setup (10 minutes) 
    • Bird Beak Buffet (20 minutes) 
    • Design a Bird Beak (10+ minutes) 

     

    In this interactive 20-minute video lesson you’ll experiment with five common kitchen tools to discover which works best to eat five different foods. Then, you’ll match the kitchen tools to the bird skulls they resemble and take an educated guess of which bird species they belong to. Finally, you’ll apply what you’ve learned about bird beaks by designing the beak you would need to eat your top five favorite foods. 

    Optional: grab an adult to setup a Bird Beak Buffet in your kitchen and follow along! 

     

     

  • Field Trips

    A young girl, wearing a teal dress and white sneakers runs away from the viewer along a boardwalk surrounded by green grass. There are leafy shrubs on either side of the boardwalk which arch over the walkway. There is no sky visible in the image, but light shines through the shrubs as it is a sunny day. The boardwalk curves to the left and out of sight in the background of the image.

    A fieldtrip to Ash Meadows is a free field-based adventure that supports K-5 life and earth science curricula.  
     
    During a two-hour fieldtrip, your students will marvel at the beauty of a sapphire blue spring, immerse themselves in diverse desert habitats, and encounter the endangered Ash Meadows Amargosa Valley Pupfish. We can serve up to 60 elementary school students per visit. More specialized, in-depth programs may be available for groups of 30 or less. Our state-of-the art visitor center provides clean restrooms and a calm, sheltered picnic area that seats 54+ students with a mesmerizing view of a wild landscape. Travel grants for school fieldtrips are available through Nye County’s Department of Water.
     
    For more information, contact our environmental education specialist at adam_weitzenfeld@fws.gov
     
    Prospective Program
     
    10:00am: Arrival
     
    10:15am: Boardwalk (groups 1+2)
                Station A + B (groups 3 + 4) 
     
    11:00am: Boardwalk (groups 3+4)
                 Station A + B (groups 1 +2) 
     
    12:00pm: Lunch
     
    12:30pm: Conclusion / Departure

     

    Board Walk Adventure (60 minutes)

    • Habitat Bingo stroll
    • Plant Adaptation learning station
    • Endangered species viewing
    • Crystal Springs Water coloring
     
     
    Station A + B Options (20 minutes each)
    • Pupfish Survival Dice Game
    • Desert Adaptation Olympics
    • Water Cycle Roleplay
    • Geology Demo
    • Web of Life