Quechee, VT – With Vermont children out of school through the end of the school year, parents and families are facing a new reality and a completely different educational experience. The Vermont Institute of Natural Science has played a significant and growing role in providing STEM education to children and adults across the Upper Valley, New England and beyond, and just as schools, educators and families are adjusting, we are, too. As the COVID-19 situation continues to change just about everything about our daily lives, VINS is working to provide environmental education to all, just as we always have.
We have made educational materials available on our website, and we offer activities families can do at home or in their neighborhood, for pupils from pre-K through high school. And even though we’ve closed our VINS Nature Center to the public for the time being, you can still join us online to see what we do here every day – and even enjoy one of our animal programs. On Facebook Live, we will be featuring our various animal encounters. On Wednesday, April 1 at noon, we will have a one-hour Raptor Encounter with our own Environmental Educator, Anna Morris. The link above also contains information about Facebook live Turtle Encounter, Owl Encounter and Falcon Encounter events. We have also uploaded many other educational videos from staff. Topics include a tour of our Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation, an explanation of how we train our avian ambassadors, and various other topics. The VINS YouTube channel also contains many educational videos from staff.