Our classes and school programs explore the plant world, explain key scientific concepts and sustainability, and raise awareness of the imperative to protect our environment. Our goal is to build better community understanding of the complex problems caused by the deterioration of the world environment and the related depletion of its plant and animal life.

Our focus on tropical habitats raises awareness off the vital importance of these systems to the world’s environment.

NETC takes botanical workshops to the schools and hosts field trips for elementary and middle school classes at the Norman Greenberg Conservation Reserve.

Terrarium Workshop:

Students will create their own mini-rainforests in an enclosed container. They will prepare the environment and plant it with tropical plants. The finished terrariums will be fun, attractive and will illustrate how an ecosystem works. They are also an excellent demonstration of the water cycle.

We will bring a terrarium for each student, soil and plants to your classroom. We will describe how terrariums were invented. Students from the CDC will help students build their terrariums and explain how they work. Activity books will be provided. These will outline the water cycle, the parts of a plant, “Terrarium First Aid” and a log for recording the growth of the plants.

Field Trips to the Norman Greenberg Conservation Reserve
A field trip can focus on one or a combination of the following itineraries:

1. The Geology of Western Vermont
Several viewpoints on the trails allow students to see evidence of the formation of the Green and Taconic Mountain ranges and the valley running between them.

2. The Wetland
Students can identify the original streambed and its floodplain and understand how farming practices and, later, beavers, have expanded the wetland. They can view the various habitats within the wetland and identify the birds, plants and animals that make their homes there. The contrasting plant and animal life of woodland and wetland are on display.

3. The Farm
Students can find the location of the original farmhouse and barn; visit the foundation of the hired-hand’s house, where the original layout, water and septic systems are still clear. A trip to the woods will yield further evidence that the land was once farmed—stone walls, line trees, and pieces of barbed and turkey wire.