Field Trips

DNS offers a wide variety of hands-on, interactive outdoor environmental education. Choose a Field Study program conducted at Ashland Nature Center, Coverdale Farm Preserve, Abbott's Mill Nature Center or at the new DuPont Environmental Education Center.

Click on site name below for field trip listings:

ABBOTT'S MILL: CULTURAL & NATURAL HISTORY

Abbott's Mill Historic Grist Mill Tour
Step back in time with a guided visit through Abbott's Mill. The mill encompasses more than 200 years of Southern Delaware history. See the giant mill stones and roller mills. Visit the mill pond and stream and discover the ingenious mechanical systems that powered the mill through its unique history. Hear stories about life at the mill.



Animals in Winter
Who hibernates? Who stays awake? Who goes south where it is warm? Find out the answers to these questions with live specimens, taxidermy and a story.

Animal Tracking and Behavior
Learn how to read the tracks and signs of Delaware's mammals. Track finding, identification, and interpretation are covered to provide a thorough overview of fundamental tracking skills. Behaviors and habitats of common mammals are explored to examine their relationship to the ecosystem.

Around the Pond
Discover what makes the Abbott's Pond interesting and important. Learn to identify plants and animals that belong to the pond habitat. Seine and dip in the mud bottom of the pond to catch incredible aquatic creatures.

Canoeing on Abbott's Pond
Learn to use the canoe and then take your new skills out on Abbott's Pond. While paddling along, learn about the ecology of the pond.

Insect Safari
Use your senses to seek out and identify insect characteristics and compare their life cycles. Using nets, collect and observe insects found in meadows, forests and streams, and examine the insects you find to see how they are adapted to their environment. This program focuses on insect parts, function, and types of metamorphosis.

Native Americans
Explore the culture of the early inhabitants of Delmarva. Follow a day in the life of the coastal plain Native Americans and discover how they lived in harmony with the world around them.

Native Wild Animals
Inspect mounted and live wild animals that make their home in the Delmarva region, including the rarely seen gray fox and otter. Closely examine the habitats and characteristics of these mammals, noting similarities and differences.

Owls of Delaware
Learn about four species of owls common to Delaware. Examine their adaptations and calls using mounted specimens and tape recordings. Optional: dissect owl pellets, $1/person extra.

Reptiles & Amphibians
With live specimens, examine the differences between reptiles and amphibians. Learn the significance of their unique adaptations and their differing life cycles.

Skull Study
Handle and classify a variety of real skulls from native mammals, birds and reptiles. Examine teeth and other structures for clues to how animals survive. Use keys as a method of identification.

ABBOTT'S MILL: PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGY

Bark Baskets
Program Time: 3 hours (June-Sept)
Cost: $15 per person
Make your own Native American-styled bark basket from a tulip tree. Tree identification, harvesting techniques, and construction methods are covered. Each participant takes home their own hand-made basket.

Cordage and Crafts
Program Time: 3 hours (Mar-Nov only)
Cost: $15 per person
Make a variety of Native American-styled items from natural materials including (varies with each season): rope, a sunhat, paint brushes, a fan, and children's toys from natural materials. Learn how to identify and harvest suitable plants with a conservation-minded approach. Each participant takes home a minimum of three different handmade crafts from native materials.

Porcupine Quill Necklaces
Program Time: 2 hours
Cost: $10 per person
Make a Micmac-styled porcupine quill necklace. This beautiful necklace is constructed from artificial sinew, beads, buckskin, and black and white porcupine quills. Learn about the ecology of the Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) and how to safely work with the barbed quills.

Primitive Firemaking
Program Time: 3 hours
Cost: $15 per person
Delve into the world of fire-by-friction and learn how to make a fire without matches. This program focuses on the hand drill and bow drill. Learn how to identify, harvest, and construct fire kits using a knife or primitive tools. Develop the proper technique to light your fire. Each participant takes home a bow and hand drill set.

Survival Shelters and Dwellings
Program time: 3 hours
Cost: $15 per person
Explore the essential survival skill of shelter-building. Participants will learn how to construct all-season shelters with tools and from all natural materials. Semi-permanent dwellings and plans will also be discussed. This program also includes a visit to Abbott's Mill Nature Center's Lenni Lenape-styled Longhouse replica. Participants will take home the knowledge to survive the elements in any season.

ASHLAND NATURE CENTER

Bats of America
Learn about these often misunderstood mammals while examining mounted specimens, viewing slides, and participating in activities. Use a bat detector to listen for echolocation calls and visit a bat house.

Birds of a Feather
Using taxidermy, feathers, nests and other resources, learn about the unique characteristics of birds. Then hike through meadows, marshes and forests to observe birds in their habitats.

Butterfly Foray (June - September only)
Visit Ashland Nature Center's summer Butterfly Habitat House and discover butterflies during all stages of their life cycle. Then, venture into nearby meadows and marshes with nets to learn techniques for capture, identification and release.

Deep in the Forest
Life in a forest exists from just below the ground all the way to the crowns of trees. Discover the ecology of two forest types and learn how to identify common native trees.

Eco-Hike
Explore three different ecosystems to determine what makes each unique and how the varied plant and animal life interacts.

Geology
Everything on earth has a cycle--even the rocks! Discover how this slow change affects what's beneath your feet and above your head. Learn how to identify some basic rocks while using hammers and safety goggles to collect samples.

Lenape Lifeways
Learn how Lenni Lenape depended on the natural world for their sources of food, clothing, shelter and tools. Hike to a replica wigwam and examine artifacts used by these true Delaware natives.

Marsh Magic
While visiting Ashland's marshes, use your eyes and ears to find frogs, turtles, birds and insects. Learn why wetlands are so full of life and are important to humans and wildlife.

Native Wild Animals
Enjoy a close encounter with some of Delaware's wild inhabitants. Learn about camouflage and other adaptations that protect them. Discover why many animals, once common to Delaware, are now threatened.

New to Nature
This highly flexible program will introduce participants to the natural world. Float sticks down a stream, hear frogs in the marsh, splash through a mud puddle, come face-to-face with a butterfly...you never know what you might find during this hour of exploration and discovery!

Pond Life
Find out exactly what defines a pond and discover its unique ecology and diversity of life. Collect and identify plants and animals found at Ashland's pond and experience its diversity of life.

Scales & Skins
Meet live reptiles and amphibians while learning about their unique traits and discover what they have in common.

Stream Life
Learn how to gauge the health of a stream by the kinds of creatures that live in it. As we collect samples from two different streams, identify the organisms and compare findings.

Unhuggables
Spiders, bats, snakes and lizards--all animals that make many people shudder. Learn about the remarkable role these less popular animals play in the balance of nature and explore their wondrous adaptations.

Weavers & Wings
Hike through Ashland's meadows, woods and marsh to capture and study up close a variety of fascinating native spiders and insects that share our world. Learn about their life cycles and importance in the food chain.

Coverdale Farm Preserve

Down On the Farm
1½ hours
Enjoy a sensory tour of the barns, pastures, gardens and cropland at Coverdale Farm Preserve. Get up close and personal with cows, pigs, chickens and sheep, and many varieties of vegetables and crop plants.

Farm Girls
2 hours
Enjoy a hands-on tour of Coverdale Farm Preserve's barns and pastures while learning how to care for our cows, pigs, chickens, and sheep. Compare and contrast the physical features of each farm animal through a fun and interactive game. Chart your discoveries to remember a great time down on the farm.

Gardening Girls
1½ hours
Go on a garden safari in Coverdale Farm Preserve's vegetable garden. Unearth the growing seasonal food plants, dig into composting basics, and learn all the hands-on steps essential to growing good food. Create a work of garden art and a seed sprouting experiment to take home as a memory of your visit.

Green Acre Girls
2 hours
Jump into the farm circle of life to discover how all living things are interconnected. From soil to vegetables; from livestock to compost; from beneficial insects to humans, map the circle through a hands-on adventure at Coverdale. Craft a farm-themed topiary to take home as a memory of your visit.

Summer Farm Life*
1½ hours
Take a summer-time journey through Coverdale Farm Preserve to discover the animals and plants that live and grow there. Have fun connecting with the farm life cycles through hands-on activities and discover the seasonal highlights of our idyllic farm. *Selected summer weeks only; call (302) 239-2334, ext. 110 for details.

Young Farmers
2 hours
Take a hands-on tour of Coverdale Farm Preserve to discover the basics of animal husbandry. Learn the specific breed names of our cows, pigs, chickens and sheep, and their daily care needs. Compare and contrast physical characteristics, digestive systems and breeding programs. Select one species as a "focus animal" for an in-depth study in livestock management.

DuPont ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER

DuPont Environmental Education Center Programs

NEW! Exploring By Canoe
3 hours, $20 per person
Take your group or class on an adventure as you canoe the Christina River and the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge, a freshwater tidal marsh on the edge of the city of Wilmington. They are home to a tremendous diversity of wildlife. Learn basic paddling skills, hike along the shore to survey plant and animal life, and discover the functions and importance of wetlands. Canoes, paddles and life preservers included in cost, no canoeing experience required. Age minimum: 12year old.

What's in the Water?
1½ hours, $6 per person
Head out to the marsh and explore what's in the water! Use nets to catch animals in the pond and bring them into the lab to examine with magnifying lenses and microscopes. Discover how the animals and plants in the marsh depend on each other and construct your own marsh and pond food chain to take home.

Marsh Amphibians
1½ hours, $6 per person
Explore the marsh for amphibians; frogs, toads and salamanders! Listen to the frogs' chorus, use nets to catch live amphibians and view them up close, and find eggs and tadpoles in the pond. Spring Only.

Fantastic Fish
1½ hours, $6 per person
Meet the many fish of the Christina River and the marsh. Watch as fish are caught in a spinning cast net, reel in fish traps, and use dip nets to try your luck. Examine the features of a variety of fish to learn what they eat and how they live.

Marsh Mammals
1½ hours, $6 per person
Hunt for animal tracks and other evidence that the furry residents of the marsh leave behind. Learn how they survive in the marsh and touch real animal furs. Use clues to identify which animals are using the pond when no one is looking!

Eco-Explorers
1½ hours, $6 per person
How do you affect the environment? Search for signs of human activity in the marsh and test the quality of the water to look for evidence of our impact. Learn about wildlife and what you can do to protect their homes.

Marshy Adventures
1½ hours, $6 per person
Explore the biodiversity of a marsh habitat in this outdoor adventure! Look for marsh residents in the air, on land, in the soil, and in the water. Examine plants and animals closely using nets and magnifiers. Learn about marsh food chains, the water cycle, and why the Christina River is so important to Northern Delaware.

Nature Journaling
1½ hours, $6 per person
Use digital cameras, draw pictures, and record your observations as you hike through the marsh ecosystem of the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge. Identify plants and animals typically found in the marsh, learn about minimum impact hiking, and make a record of your experiences in a nature journal of your own to take home.

Nature Photography
2 hours, $8 per person
Capture the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge through the lens of a digital camera. Learn photography skills and how to compose outstanding photos where the city, river and marsh meet. Print and decorate a frame for your favorite photo.

Marsh Insects
1½ hours, $6 per person
Hunt for insects found in the air, land and water at DEEC. Collect and observe insects up close, learn insect anatomy, assemble a marsh food web puzzle, and discover some of the important jobs insects have in nature.