Resource Center for Educators
Part of SGS-LTER's commitment to Education & Outreach
Activities
Do you know where your carbon is?
Use this field exercise to learn how carbon cycles through the ecosystem. After you're done, you can call yourself a biogeochemist!!! Suitable for students in grades 9-12.
How well do you know the N. American Prairie?
Use this exercise after a classroom discussion about the prairie. Suitable for students in grades 6 and up.
The Shortgrass Prairie Scavenger Hunt
Use this exercise during a field trip to the shortgrass prairie. Suitable for all age groups.
Sights and Sounds of the Prairie
Field Trips
LTER staff can provide a guide, and possibly bus costs, for field trips to our research site on the Central Plains Experimental Range (45 km NE of Fort Collins, CO). The SGS-LTER field station is equipped with a conference room, restrooms, kitchen, and dormitory facilities. Roads to the station are highly accessible, but many of the roads and two-tracks on the range are not. Vans can usually access areas, but using buses is not advisable. The field season runs from mid-April to mid-October. If you need more information or would like to request a guided trip to the field site, please contact Sallie Sprague.
Classroom Visits
LTER staff can visit your classroom or community center to present information about LTER and the shortgrass prairie. Presentations usually involve slide shows, hands-on demonstrations, and/or displays and can be tailored to suit any age group. Classroom visits are possible year round, but we request that you schedule at least month in advance. Please contact Sallie Sprague if you have questions or would like to schedule a classroom visit.
Useful links
Educational Materials from the US Geological Survey
Friends of the Prairie Learning Center
Kids Gardening.com
Konza Environmental Education Program (KEEP)
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
National Wildlife Federation
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
On the Prairie
Prairie Plains Resource Institute
Prairies Forever
The GLOBE Program (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment)
The Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois
University of Northern Colorado Math and Science Teaching Center
US Environmental Protection Agency
