Environmental Education Program

Role of Fire Curriculum
School Group Field Trips
Scout Group Field Trips
Youth Group Field Trips
Teach/Youth Leader Workshops
Outdoor Education Center
Youth Conservation Corp

School Group Field Trips

The Kenai NWR provides school groups with high quality environmental education programs on a variety of topics. Each year approximately 2,500 students from south central Alaska participate in our programs. Participants range in age from kindergarten classes exploring animal senses to college students studying the history of snowshoeing as a low-impact form of recreation.

Most programs take place at our Headquarters Visitor’s Center in Soldotna but several programs are better taught in the field utilizing the refuge’s unique facilities including the Hidden Creek Trail, The Outdoor Education Center and our vast network of trails. The Kenai NWR Environmental Education team has developed seven curricula aligned with and meeting Kenai Peninsula Borough School District standards. Upon request, adapted programs can also be arranged to meet your school’s educational needs

ANIMALS AND THEIR SENSES (Grades K-1)
GOALS: To help students develop an understanding of and empathy for wildlife.
SUMMARY: Through a series of activities using their own senses, children relate how wildlife use each of their five senses for survival.

THE ROLE OF PREDATORS IN NATURE (Grades 2-3)
GOALS: To focus on the important role of predators in the ecosystem.
SUMMARY: Activities emphasize how predators are an integral part of nature, maintaining healthy populations of grazing animals. Concepts of habitat needs, energy flow, food chains, and webs are introduced.

WETLANDS AND WILDLIFE (4th)
GOALS: To provide an opportunity to explore wetland ecosystems. Students will learn the vital role of wetlands and the need for conservation.
SUMMARY: Students learn about the variety of wetlands in Alaska and their important functions through exploring wildlife niches; water quality testing; and dip netting for aquatic invertebrates.

ROLE OF FIRE IN THE ALASKAN ECOSYSTEM: (Grades 4-5)
GOALS: To observe and investigate how controlled burns and certain wildfires can help wildlife and habitat.
SUMMARY: Students hike the Hidden Creek Trail to explore a re-vegetating burn site. Concepts covered include succession, habitat mosaic, fire triangle, and fire fighting methods.

WILDLIFE IN WINTER PROGRAM (Grades 4- 5)
GOALS: To educate students about winter ecology, wildlife adaptations in winter, and basic snowshoeing skills.
SUMMARY: Students explore the reasons for the changing seasons and how wildlife adapts to Alaska’s winter. Snowshoeing is taught as a form of low impact recreation and a means to explore the winter landscape for wildlife signs.

WINTER ECOLOGY PROGRAM (6th)
GOALS: To educate students about winter ecology, predator-prey relationships, food chains and also explore how recreation can impact wildlife.
SUMMARY: Students are introduced to the challenges wildlife face in the winter. Concepts discussed include predator-prey interactions; food chains; and impacts of recreation on wildlife. Students also have the opportunity to explore the refuge on snowshoes.

LEAVE NO TRACE (Grades 5-6)

GOALS: Students will develop an awareness and appreciation for the natural environment and learn ways to help conserve and protect wildlife and their habitat.
SUMMARY: Students learn the seven Leave No Trace principles through hands- on activities overnight stay at the Outdoor Education Center and participation in a day hike.

Scout Group Field Trips

The Kenai NWR Environmental Education Staff has enjoyed working with community groups such as the Girl and Boy Scouts. Through a visit to the refuge groups can meet several requirements for specific badges and patches (see below). Feel free to contact the refuge if interested in programs for badge/ patches not listed below.

Brownie Girl Scout Try-Its
• Animals
• Earth is Our Home
• Eco-Explorer
• Outdoor Adventurer
• Plants
• Watching Wildlife
• Water Everywhere

Junior Girl Scout Badges
• Camp Together
• Earth Connections
• Frosty Fun
• Hiker
• Wildlife
• Your Outdoor Surroundings
• Birding (local Susitna council)

Cadette and Senior Girl Scout Badges
• All About Birds
• Wildlife
• Plant Life

Boy Scout Merit Badges
• Hiking
• Canoeing
• Environmental Science
• Bird Study
• Animal Science
• Fish and Wildlife Management
• Gardening
• Nature
• Plant Science

Youth Group Field Trips

A broad spectrum of youth groups other than school classrooms take advantage of the refuge's Visitor Center and trail facilities. Youth groups such as the King Career Center, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H and Campfire Kids have participated in career, conservation and wildlife programs led by refuge staff and volunteers.

Teach/youth Leader Workshops

Teaching educators to educate their students is the cornerstone of our field trip and outreach programs. We offer three types of educator training at the Kenai NWR:

As an essential part of a successful field trip, teachers are required to attend an orientation event to prepare to lead their class on a field trip.

Educators have the opportunity to further their career credential requirements by attending university sponsored credit courses lead by refuge staff on environmental education topics. These courses are offered locally.

In addition, the refuge offers popular workshops which include Project Wild, Alaska Wetlands and Wildlife, and The Role of Fire in Alaska.

Since 1983, more than 1,800 teachers and youth leaders have participated in refuge-ponsored environmental education orientations, credit courses, and workshops.

Outdoor Education Center

For educational groups planning a weekend to a week-long nature experience, the Kenai NWR maintains an overnight group activity area near the Swan Lake and Swanson River Canoe Trail Systems. The Outdoor Education Center accommodates 30 comfortably, and includes 6 sleeping cabins, a campfire area, picnic tables, a water pump and outhouses. Educational groups may reserve this site free of charge, but are require to help clean and maintain it.

Youth Conservation Corp

Since 1974, the Kenai NWR has maintained a successful Youth Conservation Corp program. High school students between the ages of 15-18 participate in an integrated program composed of resource conservation projects and environmental education activities. Applications are accepted each spring for this 8-week summer program. Equal numbers of young men and women are chosen through a random selection process to receive minimum wage.

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