Plants
Jan 26, 2026 What are plants? What are their needs? How are their needs met? Learn plant parts & lifecycle. Take a look inside their cells.
Feb 2, 2026 Native Wildflower winter sowing. Michigan wildflowers spend their winter underground, give their seeds a head start by making a milk jug greenhouse.
Feb 9, 2026 Coniferous Trees. We’ll be discussing evergreen trees and searching the trails for some of their fragrant foliage. Discover different ways evergreens are used- they’re more than just holiday decorations!
Feb 23, 2026 Maple Madness! Help identify maple trees and tap them so we can collect the sap. We’ll go over identifying maples from other Michigan trees, why sap runs, and distinguishing different types of maple trees. Enjoy a sample of maple syrup made from sap collected here at Dinosaur Hill!
March 2, 2026 Deciduous Trees. Now that we know our maples, we’ll learn a more interesting leafy trees by leaf, bud, and bark. Make a booklet of leaf and bark rubbings.
March 9, 2026 Plant Art. Make a flower press so you can dry out flowers and leaves. Use pressed flowers to make a craft.
March 16, 2026 Gardening. Learn how to read a seed packet and plan a garden. Then we’ll start some seeds inside.
April 6, 2026 Pollination & Seed Dispersal. Play a pollination game to illustrate how pollen moves from plant to plant. Test some seeds to decide how each reaches its destination.
April 13, 2026 Hazardous Plants. Discover which plants you should stay away from! Compare poison ivy with other leaves of three. Raise your awareness of other plants not to touch.
April 20, 2026 Shrubs/Vines. From one hairy vine, let’s identify some more. Walk the trails and search for vines and shrubs to identify.
April 27, 2026 Flowers. Dissect real flowers to find the parts inside that make seeds. Hit the trails looking for the first spring wildflowers.
May 4, 2026 Compost. What happens when a plant dies? Help return those nutrients to the soil through composting. Today we’ll discover how to compost and add it to the beds in the children’s garden.
May 11, 2026 Invasive Species. Invasive plants outcompete the plants that belong in this forest. Help us find and pull garlic mustard and dame’s rocket here on the preserve.
May 18, 2026 Carnivorous Plants. The most well-known bug eating plant is the Venus flytrap, but that’s just one of 5 main types. Learn about carnivorous plants from around the world, including the nine species that can be found in Oakland County, Michigan and the special relationships they sometimes form. Make a sundew terrarium to take home.