Manomet’s Environmental Education and Outreach programs are designed with educators in mind, and can be customized to fit your needs. Our science-based learning experiences are hands-on and highly interactive, with programs for learners of all ages. Programs are closely aligned with the Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Framework for science education and with NGSS, and cover a range of natural science concepts, including bird migration, climate change, biodiversity, habitat restoration, wildlife monitoring, and more.
Our programs can be offered in a variety of settings, from the classroom to Manomet’s headquarters in Plymouth, MA, to the natural spaces closest to you. We also specialize in helping schools develop and use outdoor learning spaces on their own school grounds!
Learn more about our current offerings below. If you can’t come to us, we’ll bring the science to you! Contact for more details.
2023 Program Offerings
Continue scrolling for detailed offerings by grade level.
Songbird science: banding lab visit (Spring/Fall)
In this one-of-a-kind experience, your students will learn how scientists track and monitor migratory songbirds! They’ll retrieve a model bird from a mist net, identify it, and weigh it. Each student will solve a research question using the information they gather and report back to the class about the ecology, biology, or migratory journey of their selected bird. The experience will culminate with a visit to the Manomet banding lab to meet some live birds and see the banding process in real life!
Shorebird science
Manomet is world-renowned for its work with shorebirds, and we are excited to bring this expertise into our education programs! During shorebird science, students will collect model shorebirds, identify them, and track their migratory paths in a color banding activity. Through diet and migration games, students will learn about shorebird life histories and what they need to survive their incredible journeys from South America to the Arctic and back again each year! If possible, we recommend meeting for this program at a beach convenient to you, so that we can also observe live shorebirds and investigate their real habitats.
Stewardship nature walks
Students participate as “Manomet land stewards” in this service activity and nature walk! We’ll grab clipboards and datasheets as we set out on the Manomet Nature Trail, learning about the diverse habitats at Manomet and how we manage them for sustainability and biodiversity. Along the way, we’ll participate in one or more of Manomet’s environmental monitoring programs, including pollinator counts in the pollinator garden, wetland restoration monitoring, nest box counts and cover board studies, and climate change monitoring.
If you can’t come to us, we’ll bring the science to you! We’ll work with you and your students to identify environmental monitoring targets on school grounds, or in a green space near your school, then head out to collect some data and take a schoolyard nature walk! Contact for more details.
Programming by grade level
Click to download a flier containing program descriptions and teaching standard alignments for programs offered in southeastern Massachusetts.