Get ready for a nice long walk down Fire Island National Seashore…a designated Wilderness area, to our destination, the new Bellport inlet, aka “The Breach.”  You’ll learn how barrier islands such as Fire Island protect our communities here on Long Island, and how The Breach from Superstorm Sandy is having an effect on the health of the Great South Bay.  And of course, the health of the Bay is an important factor for our lives on Long Island.  We will take  the Bellport Ferry to the exclusive Ho Hum Beach and walk to the new inlet, roughly 1.5 miles each way. Limited to 80 participants per day. Bring lunch, water, a hat!  Dress for the weather.

A fall migration hike is a wonderful opportunity to slow down and connect with nature. When we slow down our other senses begin to heighten and we become more aware of our natural surroundings. We will be looking and listening for migrating birds and bugs, and look for signs of nature preparing for the long slumber of winter. Wear sturdy footwear for our uneven trails, and bring water and binoculars if you wish.

You’d be AMAZED how much life you can find in a sample of good ol’ pond water! Look closely and discover creatures you might never have noticed before. Using magnifying lenses and microscopes we will learn to identify the creatures we find. Following the flow of energy from plants to animals, we can assemble a food web based on our findings. Option for a Field Trip to a pond near you!

Explore the beach with a CEED Naturalist to discover what species of wildlife call it home.  Shellfish, fish, whales, seals, dolphins, birds and more all live along our seashores. Walk through a day in the life of these animals. How does the slime of the Moon Snail help it survive?  What does the Horseshoe Crab use its tail for? Why is the Scallop the only bivalve to swim?  Join us to discover answers to these and other interactions that make our seashore ecosystem the marvelous outdoor classroom that it is.

The earth’s history has been recorded in the geological features of the land around us. If we carefully look at the distribution of hills, valleys, plains, and barrier islands on Long Island we see features left behind by glaciers of the past! This program takes students on a walk through time on the North Shore along the beaches and bluffs. We will search for evidence of glacial action in the rocks around us and see glacial evidence microscopically. We will make a sand slide for use under a microscope, and discover a new and easy way to start a no-mess sand collection!

Triangles, circles, and squares have been powerful tools in mathematics since the days of the ancient Greeks, and in this program we will use them to measure heights, area, and distance.  Participants will use clinometers to measure tree heights, string to create sampling plots to estimate the number of trees in the entire park, and the materials of their choice to measure the acreage of a local field.