Ogden Nature Center is a member of the Informal Science Education Enhancement program of the State Board of Education.
Utah’s Informal Science Education Enhancement (iSEE) is a collaborative partnership between Clark Planetarium, Discovery Gateway, Hogle Zoo, The Leonardo, The Living Planet Aquarium, Red Butte Garden, Natural History Museum of Utah, HawkWatch International, Thanksgiving Point, USU Extension and the Utah State Office of Education. iSEE programs serve K-12 teachers and students and are designed to spark students’ natural curiosity and sense of wonder by providing exciting opportunities to experience science, practice science skills, and gain a deeper understanding of science.
Creature Features
Our standards-based Creature Features Program is designed to complement what 1st grade teachers are doing in their classrooms. This 45-minute program focuses on making observations, using simple scientific language, and Utah’s habitats and the adaptations plants and animals have that help them survive there.
Using a live animal, pelts, mounts, skulls and other plant and animal artifacts, ONC staff will teach students the various adaptations of native Utah plants and wildlife. Through exploration, students will discover the similarities and difference between plants and animals found in the desert, forest, and wetland habitats. The presentation ends with an up-close interaction with a live reptile.
Along with this presentation, we provide 5 pre-made lesson plans which go deeper into the SEEd strand 1.2. There are also 3 videos and additional resources to help teachers cover this strand with their students.
Creature Features addresses the following SEEd standards for 1st grade:
- Strand 1.2: Living things (plants and animals, including humans) depend on their surroundings to get what they need, including food, water, shelter, and a favorable temperature. Plants and animals have external features that allow them to survive in a variety of environments. Young plants and animals are similar but not exactly like their parents. In many kinds of animals, parents and offspring engage in behaviors that help the offspring to survive.
- Standard 1.2.2: Construct an explanation by observing patterns of external features of living things that survive in different locations. Emphasize how plants and nonhuman animals, found in specific surroundings, share similar physical characteristics. Examples could include that plants living in dry areas are more likely to have thick outer coatings that hold in water, animals living in cold locations have longer and thicker fur, or most desert animals are awake at night. (LS1.A, LS1.D)
- Standard 1.2.3: Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the patterns of plants and nonhuman animals that are alike, but not exactly like, their parents. An example could include that most carrots are orange and shaped like a cone but may be different sizes or have differing tastes. (LS3.A, LS3.B)
- Standard 1.2.4: Construct an explanation of the patterns in the behaviors of parents and offspring which help offspring to survive. Examples of behavioral patterns could include the signals that offspring make such as crying, chirping, and other vocalizations or the responses of the parents such as feeding, comforting, and protecting the offspring. (LS1.B)
For the 2023-2024 school year, programming is being offered to the following districts: Box Elder, Jordan, Murray, Millard, Tooele, San Juan, Garfield, Duchesne, Sevier, North Sanpete, South Sanpete, Nebo, North Summit, South Summit, Daggett. Districts are served on a 3-year rotating basis.
To book an iSEE program, contact Sarah Lambson, Education Director, 385-470-0036, .