Discover the wonders of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens by exploring the creatures that reside here! This field trip invites students in grades 2–5 and their guardians to explore the gardens using nets, buckets, and magnifying glasses to describe the creatures we find. Students will enhance their language skills by describing the unique organisms they catch and release such as fish, tadpoles, microinvertebrates and more. Students will be encouraged to use their imagination and creative thinking skills to describe the organisms using words that appeal to the five senses while respecting organisms’ space and well-being. Guided by Friends of Kenilworth staff and National Park Service Rangers, participants will sharpen their language skills, connect with nature in memorable ways, and gain a deeper appreciation for this urban oasis.
Recommended for students to bring a change of shoes and socks.
1. Welcome and Introduction to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (10:00 – 10:10am): Meet the program facilitators and Park Rangers, review outdoor classroom guidelines, and introduce the concept of pond dipping, respectful observation, and release.
2. Pond Dipping Briefing and Materials Distribution (10:10 – 10:20am): Introduction to the pond dipping activity will feature a walk through of the process including, rules, materials prep, dipping, sorting, observing, and release. Depending on the age range of the participants, students will be given tasks to take turns with either dipping nets into the ponds or helping to transfer the organisms we find into viewing containers.
3. Guided Pond Dipping (10:20 – 10:40am): Led by the program leaders, we will take turns dipping nets into the pond. If we collect organisms that the participants want to observe more closely, we’ll put them in a container of water. Students will continue until we have enough organisms to view.
4. Discover and Describe (10:40 – 10:50am): Students will be prompted to describe the organisms they see using words that relate to how the organisms might look, smell, feel, or sound (students will not be permitted to touch the organisms). While the students explore, group leaders will write down some of the words that participants use. Then, we will release the organisms back into the ponds.
5. Language Connection (10:50 – 11:10am) : Students will work on creating word trees to connect related words from the bank they created during discovery. We will discuss how the words are related and determine common themes between the words. Then, each participant will write a short statement or poem based on the concepts they discover, starting prompts like: “Small habitats are …” “Small organisms …” “Small animals …”
6. Share Reflections (11:10 – 11:25am): We will come together to share and discuss word trees and poems based on our observations.
7. Wrap-up & Clean-up (11:25 – 11:30am) : Collect materials (poems may be taken home), thank participants and rangers, and remind everyone how to continue exploring nature at home and think about how to describe it.
Date Options:
03/25/2026
04/08/2026
Time Options: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Program Type:
Field Trip to Provider Site
Discipline:
Literary Arts (Writing/Poetry/Spoken Word)
Other Humanities
Additional Languages: Spanish
Accessibility Measures:
Large font print, Sensory friendly environment (i.e. flexible seating options, low level lighting, reduction of sound levels), Non-English resources/interpretation