School Field Trips
Calling all teachers, school administrators, childcare providers and homeschool parents…
Schedule your field trip or classroom experience today! Meet the wildlife ambassadors, explore our woodlands and wetlands, examine plants and habitats and more – the possibilities are endless!
Educational programs are aligned with NGSS science standards. All programs are interactive and enrich the learning of classroom topics. Our teaching staff consists of skilled instructors.
Fees are determined by length of program and St. Charles residency. Resident (RES) rates apply to schools located within the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 boundaries. All other schools are considered non-resident (NR).
Fees are per student and there is a minimum fee of $75. All programs must be scheduled in advance.
Hickory Knolls staff also offer programs for homeschool students.
Please contact Morgan Brown, School and Camps Coordinator, at mbrown@stcparks.org if you have any questions, need to discuss other options for your field trip, to check availability and book your field trip.
Amazing Animals
Many animals call Hickory Knolls home! Students will come inside to learn about some of the amazing animal ambassadors that call the Discovery Center home, and search for stuffed animals during a walk on our paths.
Hickory Knolls Discovery Center and Natural Areas
1-hour program
RES $6/NR $8
SPECIAL WINTER NOTICE ♦ December – March
Let us bring the Amazing Animals – Winter Adaptations program to your class! Participants will be introduced to artifacts like furs, and meet some animal ambassadors to learn about how they deal with winter. Staff will travel to your facility. Travel fees may apply for schools outside of D303 boundaries.
Home Sweet Home
Plants and animals survive in a specific habitat because it meets their needs. Native plants and animals use the non-living and living parts of their habitat to survive. Students will participate in hands-on activities to discover how native animals come to call Illinois their home.
Hickory Knolls Discovery Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
Bug Biographies
Insects are fascinating and found everywhere! Search for a variety of these critters while uncovering unique characteristics. Students will explore the woods and fields on a quest for bugs!
Hickory Knolls Discovery Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: 1-LS3-1. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
Sounds of Nature NEW
Birds chirp, frogs croak, and leaves crunch. Hearing plays a large roll in our understanding of the nature around us. Students will observe how sound is created by vibrations and how it travels in waves. We’ll meet animal ambassadors to see if they hear sound the same as we do, and listen to sounds of our natural areas on a hike.
Hickory Knolls Discovery Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: 1-PS4-1 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
Local Landforms NEW
What makes a continent? How do rivers, mountains, and plains create different landscapes? Students will learn the shapes of land and water bodies in our local area and discuss the process for how those shapes were created.
Hickory Knolls Discovery Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: 2-ESS2-2 Earth’s Systems. Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area.
Seeds and Cycles
Discover different plants while learning about their habitats in this interactive program. Explore plant parts, what plants need to grow, how flowers are pollinated, and how seeds are dispersed.
Hickory Knolls Discovery Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: 2-LS2-2. Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.
Biomimicry Bonanza NEW
Biomimicry looks to solve human problems using nature’s innovations. By observing the natural world humans have been able to solve problems, create or improve products, and determine more efficient processes. Students will interact with animal ambassadors and natural objects to learn how their amazing adaptations have helped make our lives better.
Hickory Knolls Discovery Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: K-2-ETS1-1 Engineering Design. Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
Amazing Animals
Many animals call Hickory Knolls home! Students will come inside to learn about some of the amazing animal ambassadors that call the Discovery Center home, and search for animals during a walk on our trails.
Hickory Knolls Discovery Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
SPECIAL WINTER NOTICE ♦ December – March
Let us bring the Amazing Animals – Winter Adaptations program to your class! Participants will be introduced to artifacts like furs, and meet some animal ambassadors to learn about how they deal with winter. Staff will travel to your facility. Travel fees may apply for schools outside of D303 boundaries.
Animal Adaptations-Bird Beaks
Bird beaks provide clues for what a bird can and cannot eat. Students will learn about a variety of native birds and participate in an activity that challenges them to decide what each species can successfully eat in order to survive.
Hickory Knolls Discover Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: 3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
Fossils to Fuels
Illinois has changed over time. The focus of this program is to explore the Earth processes as they shape the land, form rocks, create fossils and fossil fuels. Topics include plate tectonics, waves, rock cycle, patterns in rocks, fossils, weathering and topographic maps.
Hickory Knolls Discover Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: 4-ESS1-1. Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
Wonderful Weather NEW
Weather and climate drive seasonal changes, shifting habitats, and animal behavior. Study how weather affects our local plant and animal populations and ways we can reduce weather-related hazards.
Hickory Knolls Discover Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: 3-LS4-4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.
The Sky Above, The Earth Below NEW
The sky above has long been a source of fascination and inspiration to humans. Students will learn about parts of the solar system, like planets and our moon. We will discuss how animals and plants utilize the sky for navigation, food, and more.
Hickory Knolls Discover Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: 5-PS3-1 Energy. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
Energy in Ecosystems
Explore the water at Ferson Creek Park. Look for macroinvertebrates and learn about energy transfer and the vital role of plants and animals to the health of these communities.
Ferson Creek Park
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
Next Generation Science Standard: 5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
Amazing Animals
Many animals call Hickory Knolls home! Students will come inside to learn about some of the amazing animal ambassadors that call the Discovery Center home, and search for animals during a walk on our trails.
Hickory Knolls Discovery Center and Natural Areas
2-hour program
RES $7/NR $9
SPECIAL WINTER NOTICE ♦ December – March
Let us bring the Amazing Animals – Winter Adaptations program to your class! Participants will be introduced to artifacts like furs, and meet some animal ambassadors to learn about how they deal with winter. Staff will travel to your facility. Travel fees may apply for schools outside of D303 boundaries.
Snapshots of the Past
The fossil record provides a glimpse of life in the past; how it has shifted or stayed the same. Students will evaluate evidence such as phylogenetic trees to determine how species have changed over time. They will get hands-on with rock and fossil specimens and look at anatomical similarities and differences between our animal ambassadors and their ancestors.
Hickory Knolls Discover Center and Natural Areas
3-hour program
RES $8/NR $10
Next Generation Science Standard: MS-LS4-1 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity. Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
Next Generation Science Standard: HS-LS4-4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
Ecosystem Interactions
Explore the water at Ferson Creek Park. Learn about the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations and model the flow of energy in the ecosystem. Conduct an experiment to illustrate the power of photosynthesis.
Ferson Creek Park
3-hour program
RES $8/NR $10
Next Generation Science Standard: MS-LS2-2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
Next Generation Science Standard: HS-LS1-5 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes. Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.