Survey first-hand the diversity of life at Merry Lea. Explore several ecosystems in search of plants & animals there.

In each location students will identify their finds & discuss the interconnections of mammals, insects, plants, humans & all other life.

Merry Lea is in the process of listing every living species on the property. Students’ research will support this inventory.

Discover what’s happening in nature that makes a particular season unique. Students visit several natural communities. Games, scavenger hunts & other activities using the senses help explain such concepts as adaptations, diversity of life & interactions between living things. Each grade level has a different main focus & activities. (See also, Winter Nature)

Pre and post field trip activities:  

1st Grade (pdf)

Participate in preparations for winter on an early 20th century farm. Several stations demonstrate different aspects of farm life & actively involve students. Stations may include cider-making, corn grinding, care of farm animals, making muffins, harvesting in the garden & more. Though primarily designed for preschool-3rd grade, this program has been successfully adapted & repeatedly taught for students as old as 8th grade.

Pre and post field trip activities:  Farmcraft (pdf)

Answer questions about birds, their seasonal adaptations & behaviors! Students will inspect mounts, examine feathers, explore flight & make nests. Outdoors students will learn correct use of binoculars & use them to observe & identify birds in a variety of habitats.

Experience the science of forestry in this daylong exploration. Students identify trees, use various methods & tools for collecting qualitative & quantitative data about trees, & discuss succession & competition. Students will also visit a rarely traveled woodland at Merry Lea, which is part of a long-term forestry study.

During an extended hike, students will increase their awareness of the land & explore ways they can become better stewards of that land. Students will discover how land is a community that yields a cultural harvest. They will also explore the meaning of "land ethic". This program is based on the writings & ideas of Aldo Leopold, known as the father of wildlife management. Leopold was a conservationist, forester, teacher, writer, philosopher & outdoor enthusiast. His best-known book is The Sand County Almanac.

Students become detectives to search for as many of nature’s recyclers as they can find. In the process, they learn that there is nothing in the natural world that is not eventually recycled – broken down to its basic parts to be used again by some other part of the natural system. Students discover how this happens & why it is important to the environment.

Learn about & participate in the on-going prairie restoration work at Merry Lea. Students will visit & explore the differences between prairie, savanna, & woodland ecosystems. Restoration processes will be examined through discussions on identification, planting, management, prescribed burns, protection & extermination.

Dig into northeastern Indiana’s rich geological history! Students start inside for a slide introduction explaining glaciers & their impact on this area. The rest of the program time is then spent outside experiencing the results of glacial activity firsthand. Students hike down an esker, moving through layers of top soil & glacial till until they finally reach a peat bog at the bottom. Students also explore & identify rocks in an abandoned gravel pit discovering the variety of treasures left behind by receeding glaciers.

Come enjoy the first crop harvested in Indiana each year – maple syrup! Students meet at an off-site family-owned sugar bush near Huntertown, Indiana. After a 1/2-mile hike from the farmhouse to the sugar bush, they explore many aspects of maple syrup production. Students learn the history of collecting & processing maple sap. They help with syrup production by tapping a tree, collecting sap & visiting the sugarhouse to see one way maple syrup is produced. Students also learn to Identify maples & other trees & learn the science behind sap production. Merry Lea provides the cooking grills & maple syrup to top off the students’ lunch of pancakes & sausage.

Pre and post field trip activities: Sugarbush (pdf)

Sugar Bush 2008

This program introduces students to the marvelous world of trees. Students explore tree anatomy & physiology, life cycles, categories of trees, tree identification, uses of trees, & how trees fit into their ecosystems. This program can be adjusted to involve two or three separate visits to Merry Lea during different seasons.

What, if anything, is wrong with our water? How did it get that way? What can be done about it now? All these questions are addressed as students use modern equipment & techniques to perform a variety of water sampling experiments. The importance of water & the effect humans have on water are emphasized in this program. Other topics include chemical & biological pollution, erosion & siltation.

Students strengthen their observation skills while learning how to interpret weather clues around them. They also use a variety of weather instruments. Students spend time both indoors & outside doing activities & making observations.

Wetlands play a citical role in the health of the environment, but for many years, people have mainly interacted with them by draining & filling wetlands. Merry Lea has several fine examples of areas that have been restored from farmland back to wetlands similar to their presettlement condition. During an extended hike, students will visit many of these examples, learning about the funcitions & values of wetlands, how they fit into the environment & how people can repair some of the damage done to wetlands over the years.

Students will gain an understanding & appreciation of the characteristics, diversity & importance of insect populations. Students will learn about life cycles, behavioral adaptations, human interactions with insects, the types & essential parts of insect habitats, & how insects fit into food webs.

Students will discover a smorgasbord growing at Merry Lea – wild edible plants! On the trails students learn to identify & harvest plants & sample what they find. Other topics include survival plants & non-food uses of plants.

Enjoy the wonders of winter! Students explore how people, plants & animals cope with winter. Outdoors they search for signs of life in the wintery woods & meadows. Some indoor activities are also included to allow time for warming up.

Students learn what a "wetland" is, how to recognize different kinds of wetlands, what lives in wetlands, & the many important functions wetlands have. A short indoor slide show introduces students to these fascinating ecosystems that once covered most of northern Indiana. The rest of the time is spent outdoors wading in a marsh, discovering some of the plants & animals living there.