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 2024-2025 school year, programming is being offered to the following districts: Alpine, Beaver, Cache, Emery, Iron, Logan, Morgan, Park City, Piute, Provo, Rich, Uintah, Wasatch & Wayne

Districts are served on a 3-year rotating basis.

To book an iSEE program, contact Sarah Lambson, Education Director, 385-470-0036, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

TEACHER RESOURCES

Free teacher professional development, teacher resources and virtual field trips available for all K-12 students, teachers and parents.

iSEE Resources

Explore the adaptations of different groups of animals with the Ogden Nature Center through videos done by ONC educators!

• Introduction to Adaptations
• Birds
• Reptiles
• Mammals

Curriculum for the Creature Features Program

(Can be done pre or post program)

• Draw a Scientist Lesson Plan
• Draw a Scientist Worksheet
• Meet a Plant Lesson Plan
• Meet a Plant Worksheet
• Bird Breakfast Cafe Lesson Plan
• Bird Breakfast Cafe Menu
• Bird Breakfast Cafe Images of Birds
• Bird Breakfast Cafe matching worksheet
• Bird Breakfast Cafe 3rd Grade Worksheet
• Bird Breakfast Cafe 4th Grade Worksheet
• Nature Journaling
• Owl Ears
• Park Ranger
• Rock, paper, Evolution!
• Adaptation Stations
• Animal Artists
• Bat-Moth Game
• Reptiles vs. Amphibians Lesson Plan
• Reptiles vs. Amphibians Worksheet

Teacher Professional Development

Pollinators: Art & Science in the Classroom - Virtual Only

Tuesday, April 8th , 6:30 - 7:30 pm

Thursday, April 10th, 6:30- 7:30 pm

FREE

Extend your students learning with hands-on activities that align with Utah math, science, and fine arts standards. Complete this 1-hour webinar where we summarize the benefits of pollinators in Utah and how to care for butterflies in your classroom. After completion we will provide you with your own set of caterpillars to raise and release before the end of the school year!

This workshop is free for all K-8 public and charter school teachers.  Please contact Sarah Lambson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out more information.

Register Now

Teach Outside The Box: Tips And Tools On Outdoor Learning At Your School

Friday, May 2nd - Virtual Only - 6-7:30 pm 

Saturday, May 3rd - In person Only - 10 am - 12 Noon

FREE

Hybrid virtual and in person workshop

Come to Ogden Nature Center and learn about the value of getting your students outdoors.  We will cover why outdoor learning is important and discuss ways you can get your students outside to engage in STEAM topics. Attendees should be prepared for active participation as we go over a variety of easy and engaging lessons that take you beyond the 4 walls of your classroom.

This workshop is free for all K-8 public and charter school teachers.  Please contact Sarah Lambson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out more information.

Register Now

Virtual School Field Trips

Looking for some science lessons in a virtual format? The Ogden Nature Center is providing free resources for teachers and students thanks to generous support from UEN and the Reimagine Teaching program. Play the video clip in class or assign for at home learning to learn about science and nature. Activities are provided that relate to each video topic.

To download or view the video click on the title of each field trip.

• Pond Virtual Field Trip Video (K-4th) - Students will explore pond life at the Ogden Nature Center and find out what lives in and around ponds, identify macroinvertebrates and explore metamorphosis.
  • Pond Scavenger Hunt
  • Where to Find Ponds in Utah
  • Pond Critter Count Worksheet
  • Macroinvertebrate ID Guide

• Birds Virtual Field Trip video (K - 6th) - Students will find out what makes a bird a bird as they visit the bird breakfast cafe, and sharpen their bird identification skills by using a bird identification guide and trying their hand at a bird scavenger hunt.
  • Bird Id guide
  • Bird scavenger hunt
  • Bird video quiz
  • Bird video quiz teacher answers

• Utah's Ecosystems Virtual Field Trip Video (3rd-6th) - Students will explore Utah's diverse landscape as they discover the forces that create our wetlands, forests and deserts, and investigate plant and animal life and the adaptations that help them survive in each habitat.
  • Utah's Ecosystems Quiz
  • Utah's Ecosystems Teacher Quiz Answers
  • Utah's Ecosystems Word Search
  • Neighborhood Nature Quest 

• All about Trees Virtual Field Trip Video (1st-6th) - Explore the world of trees with a video about how humans use trees, learn the parts of a tree, and download a tree scavenger hunt that you can use at school, at home, or around the neighborhood.
  • Trees Lesson Plan
  • Parts of a Tree Slide
  • Parts of a Tree Worksheet
  • Leaf Identification Page
  • Tree Scavenger Hunt

• Owl Tales Virtual Field Trip video (1st-6th) -Watch a fun video about owls and owl pellet dissection, download a worksheet about owl parts, and get information on how to obtain owl pellets to dissect and explore yourself. There are also some instructions for creating cool owl crafts.
  • Parts of an Owl Worksheet
  • Owl Fact Sheet
  • Example of Owl Fact Sheet
  • Owl Coloring Sheet
  • Owl Mask Craft
  • Owl Pellet Lesson Plan and Worksheet
    • Where to order owl pellets for the classroom - Click here

• Animals and Plants Prepare for Winter virtual field trip video (K-4th) -Learn how our animal friends do many of the same things that humans do in getting ready for and surviving winter -- even if they do them a little differently. Watch a fun video, with a work-along worksheet, do a winter adaptations matching activity, and download a card game about the kinds of signs animals can leave behind.
  • Animals and Plants Prepare for Winter Lesson Plan
  • Ate Words Worksheet
  • Animal Autograph Playing Cards
  • Winter Adaptation Matching Game 

Virtual Wild Wednesdays

Click on the title of program below to view past Wild Wednesday programs. These could be useful videos to share with lessons inside your classroom.

• Snow, Snow, Snow - Join us as we explore different types of snow, animal tracks and why Utah has the greatest snow on earth.
• Nature's Hoarders - Be honest, is your basement filled with toilet paper and hand sanitizer? You're basically the human version of a squirrel. Animals hoard food as a winter survival technique. Tune in to learn who else in the animal kingdom hides food.
• All that SCAT- Join us as we explore the ins and outs of animals. Today we are talking about poop.
• Animals Prepare for Winter - Ever wonder how animals survive the cold and snowy winters here in Utah? Join us as we look at some amazing winter animal adaptations.
• Gobble, Gobble! - Discover the amazing adaptations of Turkeys!
• Mother Nature - Help us celebrate Mother’s Day by looking at outstanding moms in nature. From the elephant who endures 22 months of pregnancy and gives birth to a 200 lb baby to the mommy orangutan who nurses her baby for 7 years!
• Frogs and Toads - Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a frog and a toad? Can toads give you warts, do frogs pee through their skin? We will answer these questions and more as we explore these creatures up close.
• Tweets and Twitters - Check out songbirds social media as you learn how birds communicate.
• Patterns in Nature -Spots, stripes, and spirals, and all sorts of other shapes show up throughout the natural world. Join us as we learn about different shapes and patterns common in nature and how they help animals and plants survive and thrive.
• Alien Invasion - What is an invasive species? Why are they harmful to native species? Find out these questions and more as we look at invasive plants at the Nature Center.
• Fathers in Nature - Learn all about he crazy and outstanding ways fathers in nature take care of their babies.
• Summer Celebration - Celebrate the summer solstice with the Ogden Nature Center. Find out why some days are longer than others. With the help of a few live animal friends, discover how animals and plants, inlcuding us, adjust to the long days of summer.
• Red, White and Blue: A Special Independence Day Program with Des Ta Te the Bald Eagle.
• The Pond and Beyond - The dog days of summer are finally here! There’s no better time to grab a net and explore what lives within our ponds. You never know what or who you might find.
• What's the Buzz? - Buzz on over to the nature center to learn all about Utah’s bees. Over 900 species of bee call Utah home. Find out what makes bees so special and why we need them buzzing around.
• Who Eats Whoom? - Learn about predator prey relationships with the help of one of our bird predators and its prey. Get an up-close look at live animals, skulls, pelts, teeth, and more while learning about the traits that help animals survive in the wild.
• Who's a Buteo - Meet Ontario our Red Tail Hawk while discovering what makes a buteo a buteo. Observe firsthand how buteos differ from all other raptors.
• Endangered and Threatened in Utah - With the help of Laser our desert tortoise discover what it means to be an endangered species. Learn what causes animals and plants to become endangered and what you can do to help.
• Migration - Explore animal migration with the help of a fantastic falcon.
• Seed Adventures - From hitchhiking on our shoes, being carried in the bellies of animals, and soaring through the wind, seeds go through quite an adventure to find new areas to grow. Explore the unseen, wild world of seeds.
• A Tale on Tails - Bouncing, balance, and bait are just a few things animals use their tails for. We will explore a variety of ways critters rely on this part of their body.
• Insect Safari - Become an entomologist for a day as we learn all about insects. We will be using field guides, nets and bug boxes to catch and identify as many insects as we can.
• Stinky Tales - Badgers, Otters, Ferrets -Oh My! -Investigate the smelly world of mustelids. Explore a local endangered mustelid and find out why the skunk, although smelly, doesn’t fit in this group anymore.
• Nature's Natural Timekeepers - Fall has arrived! Help us bring in the new season as we learn how animals and plants adapt to a changing environment of less sunlight and cooler temperatures.
• Mammal Mania - Learn about the many amazing mammals that live in Utah and the Great Basin region.
• Salamander Secrets - Join an ONC teacher/naturalist as you uncover the secret lives of salamanders. Meet a live tiger salamander as you learn about their life history, habitat and more.
• Batty about Bats - Utah has 18 species or kinds of bats! Kick off the Halloween season by learning about these misunderstood and amazing flying mammals.
• Amazing Arachnids - Spiders and Scorpions are some of nature’s most feared creatures. Get up close and personal with a tarantula and explore what makes these creatures so creepy.
• Living Close to the Land - Join the Ogden Nature Center education team for tales and demonstrations of plant and animal uses by indigenous cultures.
• Veteran's Day Program - Join Ogden Nature Center as we celebrate our veterans with Navy veteran Heidi and Des Ta Te the bald eagle!

Free Equipment Rental

The Ogden Nature Center in partnership with Utah State University and Red Butte Garden has materials that teachers can check out for free! Reserve online, then pick up your materials or bin at the Ogden Nature Center.

• To reserve materials such as pond nets, microscopes or field guides, go to https://extension.usu.edu/utahnatureexplorers/
• Borrow and pick up an ethnobotany bin for use with your students before or after attending our onsite Living Close to the Land, Field Ecology or Trees program. For more information on what the ethnobotany bin includes go to http://www.redbuttegarden.org/botany-bins/

Give your students the wonderful opportunity to get outside the classroom walls this year and make connections with the natural world.