Bringing hands-on environmental learning to classrooms and communities across southeastern Massachusetts

Bringing hands-on environmental learning to classrooms and communities across southeastern Massachusetts.

Manomet’s Environmental Education and Outreach programs are built with educators in mind. Rooted in science and aligned with state and national standards, Manomet Conservation Sciences offers hands-on, interactive experiences that bring concepts like bird migration, climate change, biodiversity, and habitat restoration to life. Whether in classrooms, outdoors on school grounds, or along the coast, our programs help learners of all ages engage with the natural world—and empower schools to create and use their own outdoor learning spaces.

This fall, two local initiatives are putting that mission into action.

In Brockton, the Teachers for Resilience and Environmental Education (TREE) program is off to a strong start. Four meetups into this multi-year, NOAA B-WET funded grant, K–5 educators from seven schools are diving into stewardship projects that connect their teaching to the landscapes around them. With support from Manomet and Wildlands Trust, teachers are identifying opportunities on their own school grounds and using mini-grants to begin designing outdoor learning spaces. This fall, the group of nine educators has focused on trail clearing, maintenance, invasive species removal, and native seed planting—including the removal of dense Japanese Knotweed at the Brockton Audubon Preserve’s Goldfinch Drive trailhead.

Removal of dense Japanese Knotweed at the Brockton Audubon Preserve’s Goldfinch Drive trailhead | Photo: ManometMeanwhile on Duxbury Beach, students from Bay Farm Montessori School stepped into the world of shorebird science. After role-playing the migrations of different species—and stopping for a well-earned “migration snack”—students headed to the shoreline to investigate what a bird might need to successfully refuel. They built their own “museum displays” highlighting the resources they found and debated whether Duxbury Beach would make a good stopover site for their species. A pair of Black-bellied Plovers feeding in the mudflats added a perfectly timed, real-life example of migration in action.

Together, these initiatives show how local schools, partners, and natural spaces are helping the next generation learn to care for—and learn from—the environment right outside their doors.

To learn more about Manomet Education Programs, visit our website: https://www.manomet.org/education-programs/