Exploring Science

Exploring Science is a place-based environmental science program that provides students with in-classroom lessons and field trips to the Preserve at Vassar. We aim to teach children about local ecology and inspire an interest in the outdoors.

A group of children and young adults stand in a field at the Vassar Ecological Preserve.

For over 30 years, our Exploring Science program has been teaching elementary school students about nature in Poughkeepsie. In recent years, we have expanded to after-school and summer programs through partnerships with the City of Poughkeepsie and local youth organizations.

Our school-year programs consist of classroom visits and field trips to the Preserve at Vassar. In the classroom, students learn how to “think like a scientist.” During their visits to the Preserve, Vassar students lead children on various hikes exploring the forests, ponds, and habitats with hands-on activities and games.

For more information about our Exploring Science program, contact us as thecoop@vassar.edu

Exploring Science is funded in part by the Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquariums Grant Program which is administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation