Events

Help with this ongoing citizen science project and get up close and personal with Monarch butterflies. Fun for all ages.

This season we will travel back in time to the days of the dinosaurs. Children will learn about dinosaurs through stories, songs, movement and crafts. We will compare different dinosaurs, dig for bones, and learn about the plants they munched on. Come have a dinomite time!

This season we will travel back in time to the days of the dinosaurs. Children will learn about dinosaurs through stories, songs, movement and crafts. We will compare different dinosaurs, dig for bones, and learn about the plants they munched on. Come have a dinomite time!

Come young, old, novice or seasoned and join one of our naturalists to see what you can see each month on our new fourth Sunday of the month nature walk around Larch Hill. Fourth Sunday afternoons from 1-3pm – FREE all welcome

Join Todd who has worked to develop a user-friendly online map and guide to the wonderful variety of trees on the UMASS Amherst campus. He will introduce us to some of the most interesting trees on the campus. He is filled with natural history and historical information about individual trees. And he also knows the campus champion trees. Come learn about ornamentals and natives, evergreens and deciduous, and experience the wonderful diversity of temperate trees; and see the trees in their autumn colors. Todd will explain his online campus trees database and map so you can continue to learn on your own.

You've observed mushrooms in the woods and may even be able to identify some. Here's an opportunity to investigate these fascinating and beautiful structures in the lab. Lisa will begin with an overview of mushroom anatomy and then assist us with observing various diagnostic features of mushrooms using microscopes. Lab observations will include spore shape, reactions of mushrooms to reagents, hyphal type, etc. Lisa will provide instruction on how to be successful with compound microscopes. We will provide microscopes and relevant mushroom dyes. Bring your curiosity, questions and any fresh mushrooms you want to identify!

Honey, we shrunk the homeschoolers! Get ready to become very tiny this fall as we get down on a bug’s level. At Homeschool I we’ll discover the insects and other arthropods, such as spiders, millipedes and crustaceans that share our home with us. From butterfly to bumblebee, and cockroach to click beetle we’ll find out the characteristics that make these animals amazing survivors. We’ll learn about insect defense strategies, communication, and how many insects help humans in our everyday lives! Through collection and observation, field trips and art projects, we will study the insects and arthropods of our local habitats and beyond. By the end of our class, you might just ask yourself, where would the world “bee” without insects?

Join us this fall as we travel deep into the past to explore the age of the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were one of the dominant groups of animals on Earth for 140 million years – that’s 700 times longer than modern humans have existed! Our class will take a journey from dinosaur’s humble beginnings as dog-sized predators, through their glory days when herbivores the size of a house battled with hungry carnivores longer than a school bus, all the way to their sudden extinction. Through outdoor activities, crafts, games and field trips we’ll become familiar with the amazing variety of dinosaur groups, become detectives of life past as we learn the techniques of paleontology, and examine the evidence of dinosaurs that lived right here in western Massachusetts.

Do you just wanna play outside? Do you love mud puddles and muck, climbing trees and making friends? Need more outdoor recess in your life? Then Nature Play Afterschool at the Hitchcock Center is for you! Each Wednesday afterschool we play outside in rain or shine, building shelters, playing games and exploring the woods. Bus transportation is available from Amherst schools.

Get to know nature, and make friends at the same time! This afterschool program is designed to bring girls together in a supportive environment that fosters creativity, nature skills and inquiry. Each afternoon will consist of hands-on projects and free outdoor exploration at the Larch Hill Conservation Area. Through playing games, exploring nearby habitats, and connecting with nature, we will develop our confidence, build friendships and have a lot of fun learning!