School Year Environmental Education Programs
in the Community
Dunes Learning Center’s education team will come to you with outdoor learning programs that provide opportunities to experience nature and explore concepts in the field and the classroom.
When students learn about nature and discover how they can make a difference in local school yards, parks, and natural sites; they gain a deeper understanding of their impact on developing stronger, healthier, and more sustainable communities.
Nature Navigators, Grades 3-5
Students learn from new experiences, gaining local environmental knowledge as they develop critical thinking skills central to “good science”—questioning, investigating, forming hypotheses, interpreting data, analyzing, developing conclusions, and solving problems.
Citizen Science, Grades 6-8
Students take part in real-world inquiry and problem solving as they choose a project, collect data, and report their findings for ongoing national environmental research projects. Along the way, they work alongside local experts to discover how they can cause positive change in the environment and their community. A year-end group event gives them the opportunity to share their project results and learn more about civic engagement in their community.
Watershed Education, Grades 3-Adult
Students gain an increased awareness, understanding, and appreciation for the Lake Michigan watershed with the unique opportunity to work together and paddle a Voyageur canoe. They learn about the preservation and management of biodiversity and natural resources with hands-on learning stations and stewardship activities.
Calumet Is My Backyard (CIMBY), Grades 9-12
CIMBY engages high school students in STEM-based learning and hands-on stewardship in their communities through Alliance for the Great Lakes' Great Lakes In My World curriculum. Students participate in once-in-a-lifetime experiences, such as exploring local waterways in a 24’ canoe and presenting their work at an environmental leadership summit, where they network their peers as well as experts in the environmental field. Teachers benefit from professional development where they learn to effectively deliver the place-based Great Lakes In My World curriculum which fosters an understanding of the natural history and environmental issues in the Calumet region.
“CIMBY is a way to give back, when you think you don’t have anything to give.” High school program participant
Dunes To You, Grades PreK-Adult
This program for all ages and abilities brings hands-on learning to your classroom and outdoor natural sites near you. Project-based lessons combine art and science with fun, interactive activities featuring local flora and fauna.
Customized Environmental Education Programs, Grades K–12
Dunes Learning Center offers customized environmental education programs that support STEAM learning and classroom goals. Outreach educators work with you to plan and deliver learning experiences in the classroom or the community that meet the unique needs and challenges of your students.
Read about Dunes To You at Clark Middle School in our blog >
More than 4,000 students each year participate in one of Dunes Learning Center’s overnight programs at our Indiana Dunes National Park campus, but thousands more experience field-based, hands-on learning with Dunes Learning Center educators at schools and natural sites throughout the Calumet Region. Stand alone and multi-part programs are available for students of all ages and abilities. Prices vary by program.
Looking for a program on campus?
Check out the new brochure detailing all of our school-year environmental education programs!
Funding for Environmental STEM Education in the Lake Michigan Watershed provided in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Lake Michigan Coastal Program.
Major funding from the United States Forest Service, through the Urban Connections program.
Arts activities made possible by the Indiana Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
