Good Spirit Provincial Park offers a wide variety of educational programs, many of these are offered to school and youth groups, at a cost of $1 per participant to cover program costs.  Teachers and Chaperones are required to participate in programs at no charge.  Additional programs are available throughout the summer that incorporates learning about plants and wildlife, and how you can help the environment.

To book your school or group outing, or to find out more about these programs please contact our Park Interpreter or Administration Office at (306) 792-4750.

Objective:  To learn about the fragile nature of the Sand Dunes, the vegetation, wildlife, and history of the park.

Focus:  Dune Ecology and Park Ecosystems

Activity:  Hike through the forested trail on a guided tour of the plants, animals and history of the park.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn that there is a variety of vegetation in the park.
• Understand that signs of wildlife are everywhere.
• Learn about the fragile nature of the sand dunes and how they were formed.
• Understand the components of the forest and how they work together.

Suggested Grades:  Kindergarten - Grade 12

Duration:  Approx.  1 1/2 hours

Curriculum Connections:  Plants, animals, structure and adaptations, learning about the past, diversity of life

Items to bring:  Good walking shoes, water, hat and sunscreen.

Objective:  To introduce students to the variety of life living in and dependent on wetlands, so that they may develop a sense of stewardship towards this ecosystem and a respect for the natural environment and the plants and animals that live there.

Activities:

• Net pond organisms for observation
• Group observation and identification of captured critters
• Observing other animal activity near the lake and pond
• Determine whether the system is in good health
• Classify the water through chemical and physical tests along with observation (grades 7-12)

Learning Outcomes:

• Recognize plant and animal components of an aquatic ecosystem
• Identify aquatic organisms through the use of a key
• Understand the diversity of life dependant on an aquatic ecosystem

Suggested Grades:  Kindergarten - Grade 12

Curriculum connections:  Plants, animals, adaptations, plant structure and function, ecosystems, diversity of life

Duration:  1 1/2 hours

Items to bring:  Rubber Boots (optional)

Objective:  To assist learners of any age in developing awareness, knowledge, skills, and commitment to result in informed decisions, responsible behaviour and constructive actions concerning wildlife and the environment upon which all life depends.

Activities:

• Awareness and Appreciation
• Diversity and Wildlife Values
• Ecological Principles
• Management and Conservation
• People, Culture, and Wildlife
• Trends, Issues, and Consequences
• Responsible Human Actions

(Please refer to the school's copy of Project Wild for the numerous activities under each of these topics, or contact me for further information.  Some to look at:  Bearly Born, Ants on a Twig, Grasshopper Gravity, Habitat Lap Sit, Habitracks, Oh Deer, The Ticket Game, How many bears can live in this forest, etc.)

Suggested Grades:  Kindergarten to Grade 12

Objective:  To find various check points along the trail.

Activity:  In small groups, follow a marked trail to find the various stations and make it back to the finish with the best time.  Remember all station names and writing them down at the end may be the trickiest part!

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn to follow a marked trail through the forest
• Memorize stations throughout the trail
• Learn the different levels of the food chain through the stations (optional)
• Identify which level of the food chain each station belongs to (optional)

Suggested Grades:  Grade 5 - Grade 12

Duration:  approx.  1 hour

Curriculum Connections:  Physical Activity, working as a team, animals

Items to bring:  Good shoes (no flip flops), and bug spray

Objective:

• To help students identify the various sizes, shapes of things in the forest
• To make students aware of how much debris (big or small) is located in the park

Activity:

• Collect items from a provided list
• Divide these items into natural, reuse/reduce/renew/recycle, or garbage
• Participate in a discussion on the responsibility to reuse/reduce/renew/ recycle/ and keeping natural areas clean.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn to respect the environment around us.
• Understand the diversity of the forest.

Suggested Grades:  Kindergarten - Grade 12

Duration:  30 - 45 minutes

Curriculum Connections:  plants, animals, senses, resources

Objective:  Students will learn how to make a fire with the materials around them.

Focus:  Survival skills and Team work

Activity:

• Participate in a discussion on stages of building a fire
• In small groups, start fires using natural material around them and a flint and steel (each student will have the chance to help build and start the fire)

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn to start a fire with a flint and steel
• Understand the hazards of having a fire in an uncontrolled setting
• Learn how to build a fire
• Learn how to be fire smart and extinguish a fire

Suggested Grades:  Grade 8 - Grade 12

Duration:  1 - 1 1/2 Hours

Curriculum connections:  alternate teaching environment, working as a team