Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education

Students will learn what soil is, how it is formed, and the difference between organic and inorganic components. Interactive experiments, slides and discussion will help them understand the food web of decomposer organisms, the nutrient cycle and the recipe for healthy soil. Composting methods that reduce waste and help the environment will be mentioned.

Students will learn the what’s, why’s, how’s of recycling and natural resources through discussion,
engaging visuals, a game and a puppet activity.

A video and visual aids will help students discover household products that originated in the rainforest. Activity stations will review facts about tropical animals and plants. Students will also learn about the challenges facing this amazing ecosystem and leave feeling empowered to protect rainforests.

Get your students outside this year! Make The Hudson Gardens your field trip destination and you'll enter a world of leaping frogs, towering trees, and chocoloate vegetables, all amidst our 30 acres of spectacular gardens.

Our children's education program is highlighted by the Hudson Explorers program, which consists of six different acitvities. Each activity comes in the form of a Hudson Explorer Pack, complete with hands-on materials such as “tree cookies,” spy glasses, UV detection bracelets, and insect eye lenses. Hudson Explorers activities are geared toward preschool and lower-elementary students. The program curriculum aligns with both National Science Education Standards and Life Science academic standards set by the Colorado Department of Education.

Available Programs:

Frog Hunt
Preschool – Grade 3. (Available May- September)
Did you know that frogs use their eyeballs to swallow? Or that they eat their own skin? Your students will discover the answers to these questions and many more as they observe real frogs in their natural habitat. Guided by materials such as binoculars, diving fins, and an interpretive model of the frog life cycle, this program imparts important lessons such as life cycles, adaptations, and communication.
Colorado Academic standards addressed:
• SC09/GR.PK/S.2/GLE.1-2
• SC09/GR.1/S.2/GLE.1-2
• SC09/GR.2/S.2/GLE.2
• SC09/GR.3/S.2/GLE.1

Making Sense
Preschool – Grade 2. (Available May – September)
Using their five senses as a guide, students discover the array of colors, noises, scents, and textures that make up the plant world. From a search for smells to a sound mystery, students strengthen their detection skills and uncover the - sensory characteristics associated with several features of The Gardens.
Colorado Academic standards addressed:
• SC09/GR.PK/S.2/GLE.1-2

Secret Spaces
Grades Kindergarten-6. (Available May – October)
By examining various animal habitats and adaptations, students uncover why wildlife seeks refuge and how they survive in the “secret spaces” of an urban habitat.
Colorado Academic standards addressed:
• SC09/GR.PK/S.2/GLE.1-2
• SC09/GR.1/S.2/GLE.2
• SC09/GR.2/S.2/GLE.1-2

Leaf Lookout
Grades Kindergarten-4. (Available September – October)
Searching the Gardens for leaves of all shapes, sizes, and colors, students learn why leaves change color and why they are important to plants. This fall journey concludes with a visit to the Pumpkin Patch!
Colorado Academic standards addressed:
• SC09/GR.PK/S.2/GLE.1-2
• SC09/GR.PK/S.3/GLE.2
• SC09/GR.1/S.2/GLE.2
• SC09/GR.2/S.3/GLE.1

Woodland Wonders
Grades 2 and up. (Available April – October)
Have you ever wondered what Dr. Seuss had to say about trees? Choose this in”tree”active journey to find out! Exploring real tree specimens and products from trees, your students will discover the basics of tree anatomy and gain an understanding of the important role that trees play in our everyday lives.
Colorado Academic standards addressed:
• SC09/GR.PK/S.2/GLE.1-2
• SC09/GR.1/S.2/GLE.1-2

A fun-filled, educational, intergenerational Eco-Family Vacation in the Rocky Mountains....at a reasonable price. Shadowcliff Lodge in Grand Lake, Colorado at the western entrance to Rocky has hosted more than 50 multi-day environmental ed and sustainability workshops during the last decade. However, June 23-28 is the first intergenerational family experience partnering with the Rocky Mountain Nature Association Seminar Series. Great leadership featuring naturalists Kevin Cook and Jeff Maugan, Park Rangers Sam Crane and Harry Canon and Shadowcliff staff will connect children, young people and adults with the natural world through birding adventures, tree ringing,astronomy,water monitoring, short hikes and much more. The five day expereince leaves plenty of free time for optional activities like a miniature golf tournament, fishing, and hanging out together. The all-inclusive pirce for 3 people in the same room, including five nights lodging, all meals and educational activities is $1100. Special rates for fewer than 3 and more than 4 in one room.Visit www.Shadowcliff.org or call CArl Sniffen 970-627-9220 or Bob Mann 816-591-1583 for more information.

Hands-on Workshops
Hands-on workshops are designed as sit-down, hands-on, in-depth learning experiences offered in conjunction with guided programs. A hands-on workshop is a content-rich, stand-alone experience; Pairing a guided program and hands-on workshop together provides a wonderful, two hour in-depth, enjoyable educational experience for students.

• Pottery of the Prehistoric Southwest Workshop (recommended for 3rd – 5th grades)
Learn the steps of ancient pottery making and examine prehistoric pottery designs and shapes as students create their own pot to take home.

• Fossils: Clues to the Past Workshop (recommended for 3nd – 5th grades)
Discover different types of fossils and investigate how plants and animals become fossilized. Students use paleontology tools to excavate their own fossil to take home.

• Animal Adaptation Workshop (recommended for 3rd – 5th grades)
Explore skulls, scat, and tracks to learn about the characteristics, adaptations, and variation of Colorado animals. Students make their own plaster animal track to take home.

The Community Adventure Program (CAP) is the core educational program of the Cottonwood Institute and a unique environmental education class offered for academic credit. For the Mini-CAP program we have adapted our original course to fit a shorter time frame. Many aspects of this course are flexible to suit the schedule and needs of your school or organization. During this 4-6-week class, students will go on hikes, at leat 1 overnight camping trip, learn about and discuss local environmental issues, choose an issue to address as a class, and collaborate with other local organizations to design and implement a student-directed Action Project to positively address their issue. This class broadens the concepts of community within and outside of the classroom. It teaches how to be hopeful in the face of environmental changes that often seem daunting and embrace the importance of the natural world around us. Students will learn about how to work together, what it means to be a leader and a follower and how to make meaningful change in their own lives and their communities.


The curriculum of the Community Adventure Program has two distinct, but intertwining phases:


1. Environmental Education: CI believes that students can’t be expected to care about the environment if they never have a chance to explore the outdoors. Students spend approximately half of their time learning essential outdoor skills to acquire the basics necessary to comfortably and competently explore the outdoors. Below is a sample of some of the summer and winter skills that students become competent in through their participation with the CAP:


• Nature awareness, including: Wide angle vision, animal stalking techniques, nature sketching, journaling, camouflage techniques, nature awareness activities, local cultural history, local natural history, plant identification, edible and medicinal plants, etc.
• Essential camping skills, including: Minimum impact camping, campsite location, modern tents, food and ration planning, outdoor cooking, food hanging, ecologically responsible fires, map, compass, route selection, and backcountry navigation, etc.
• 3-season wilderness survival skills, including: Survival scenarios, survival priorities, survival kits, natural shelters, 1-match fires, cotton ball striker fires, friction fires, etc.
• Winter camping skills, including: Thermodynamics and heat loss, winter gear and equipment, snowshoeing, quinzhees, emergency snow shelters, basic avalanche awareness, etc.
• Leadership and teambuilding skills


2. Environmental Service-Learning: While students are exploring the outdoors, they will become intimately involved with their community by researching local outdoor and environmental issues that directly relate to the skills they are learning. Students participate in Socratic Seminars to discuss these issues, conduct research and contact community experts, and then work together as a class to address the problems they have identified. They will then complete an environmental Action Project to help make a positive impact in their community by implementing the following 10-step process:


• Step 1: Explore the community
• Step 2: Identify the issues
• Step 3: Select an issue
• Step 4: Understand issue
• Step 5: Collaborate with the community
• Step 6: Create a sustainable solution
• Step 7: Plan the Action Project
• Step 8: Implement the Plan
• Step 9: Complete post Action Project logistics
• Step 10: Evaluate, reflect, celebrate, and share their experience



For more information please visit: www.cottonwoodinstitute.org


CAP is an ongoing program designed for middle school and high school students. The curriculum is based on at least 6 contact hours over the course of a 4-6 week block. For longer courses see our CAP resource description.

The ecology of the rainforest and the challenges it faces are discovered through the gentle story of The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. Props and a game teach about tropical animals and plants, the importance of the rainforest in our lives and what we can do to protect it.

Don’t just recycle – precycle! Students will learn the environmental benefits of reducing waste and compare different product choices found in a typical grocery store. Proper recycling will be covered, along with fun examples of what our old bottles, cans and paper are turned into. A papermaking activity will allow students to make more connections between natural resources and recycling, and get to take home a piece of hand-made paper!