The Blue Hill Observatory’s current STEM focused educational program offerings are listed below for the 2025-2026 school year. If you would like to keep in touch about our STEM education programs or would like to collaborate with our education team to customize our programs to your classroom curriculum please send an email to education@bluehill.org, or use the contact form below.
Field Experiences
Visit Blue Hill Observatory’s national historic landmark at 635 feet, atop Great Blue Hill for your next field trip. Each program is aligned to NGSS standards and gives students a unique hands-on experience at the Observatory. As you plan your visit, choose from one of our programs below based on your age group.
Weather Watching
K-12th Grade
[3-ESS2-1] [MS-ESS2-5]
Students engage in some of the same activities as Weather Observers, such as reading temperature, calculating hours of sunshine, determining cloud cover, and more. Students explore some of the many instruments, both modern and historic, that are active today at Blue Hill Observatory.
Time: 90 minutes
Kite Making
K – 12th Grade
[MS-ETS2-1]
Students construct a Frustrationless Flyer kite kit. As students build, they explore and learn why certain materials are used for certain parts of the kite. Students learn the importance of kites in collecting weather data throughout the Blue Hill Observatory’s history.
Time: 90 minutes
Guided Hike
3rd – 12th Grade
[3.LS4-4, 5.ESS2-1, 5.PS2-1, MS-LS2-1, MS-LS1-5, MS-ESS2-4]
On this hike, students connect what they learn and see in the classroom to what they see in nature at Great Blue Hill (GBH). Students walk up to or down from the Observatory, making 11 stops that anchor them in the deep interconnectedness of nature. Students use their observation skills to find evidence for the way this forest may have looked in the past and what it could look like in the future.
Time: 90 minutes
Note: This component is part of the Full Nature’s Record Program.
Observe and Learn
3rd – 12th Grade
[3.ESS2-1, MS-ESS2-5]
Inside and around the Observatory, students connect what they learn and see in the classroom to what they see in nature at Great Blue Hill (GBH). Students observe a few key plants on the top of Great Blue Hill, such as the blueberry bushes, pear tree and red oak, to compare to images of those plants in the past. Students engage in some of the same activities as Weather Observers during this program, such as determining cloud cover.
Time: 90 minutes
Note: This component is part of the Full Nature’s Record Program.
Cloud Observation
K-2nd Grade
[PreK-ESS2-4] [K-ESS2-4]
In this lesson, students will learn about 3 main cloud types, their appearance and how weather changes as they form. They will create a cloud frame with the cloud types and then identify clouds from atop the observatory.
Time: 90 minutes
Classroom Experiences
Experience Blue Hill Observatory’s programs in your very own classroom through one of our traveling programs. All programs can be adapted to fit any age group.
The Nature’s Record lessons (formerly Picture Post) were developed by the education team at Blue Hill Observatory to cultivate environmental awareness through analysis of a local Picture Post collection, a 14-year geo-photo collection at the Observatory. Click here for more information. For support and free resources, contact our Director of STEM Education, Krista Fincke, at education@bluehill.org or use the form below.
Nature’s Record: Introduction to Data
K – 8th Grade
[1-ESS1-2, 3-ESS2-1, MS-ESS2-5]
Students observe phenological data collected at the Observatory alongside long term climate data in their classrooms. This can be followed by another Nature’s Record lesson and/or a field experience at the Observatory where students see how scientists collect that data, both quantitative and phenological.
Time: 45-55 minutes
Nature’s Record: Drought
K – 8th Grade
[2-LS2-3, 3-LS4-4, MS-LS2-1]
In this lesson, students explore one or more plants atop Great Blue Hill and compare how they’ve responded to periods of little or no precipitation.
Time: 45-55 minutes
Nature’s Record: Flora
K – 8th Grade
[1-ESS1-2, 3-ESS2-1, MS-ESS2-5]
In this module, students explore one or more plants atop Great Blue Hill and analyze pictures of them over a number of years: blueberry bush, red oak tree, and pear tree.
Time: 45-55 minutes
Nature’s Record: Freeze/Thaw Cycles
K – 8th Grade
[1-ESS1-2, 5-ESS2-1, MS-ESS2-4]
In this module, students analyze photos of two ponds seen from atop Great Blue Hill, Ponkapoag Pond and Houghton’s Pond. Students look at dates that represent the first freeze and last thaw to identify what is happening to the freeze and thaw periods since 1886.
Time: 45-55 minutes
Nature’s Record: Sunshine Duration
K – 8th Grade
Coming soon!
Time: 45-55 minutes
Nature’s Record: Temperature Trends
K – 8th Grade
[1-ESS1-2, 3-ESS2-1, MS-LS2-1,MS-ESS1-1b]
In this module, students compare what is happening to the temperatures atop Great Blue Hill from 2015-2024 to the seasonal changes from the East Picture Post using monthly photograph data.
Time: 45-55 minutes
Being a Weather Watcher
K-2nd Grade
[K-ESS2-1, K-ESS3-2, 1-ESS1-2]
In this program, students will learn about the job of a Weather Observer, the data they collect and its importance in understanding what is happening in our environment. Students learn about why we collect weather data consistently and how it helps us prepare for different types of weather.
Time: 90 minutes
Cloud Observation
K-2nd Grade
[PreK-ESS2-4] [K-ESS2-4]
In this lesson, students will learn about 3 main cloud types, their appearance and how weather changes as they form. They will create a cloud frame with the cloud types and then identify clouds from atop the observatory.
Time: 90 minutes
Kite Making
K – 12th Grade
[MS-ETS2-1]
Students construct a Frustrationless Flyer kite kit. As students build, they explore and learn why certain materials are used for certain parts of the kite. Students learn the importance of kites in collecting weather data throughout the Blue Hill Observatory’s history.
Time: 90+ minutes
Curriculum
Get access to Blue Hill Observatory’s full Nature’s Record curriculum by emailing our Director of STEM Education, Krista Fincke, at education@bluehill.org. This includes all of the lessons and photos for each lesson plan. For access to these free resources, we only ask that you share how you plan to use it in your classroom!
Cost
Our pricing is based on the number of students you plan to bring on your trip and how much time you want to spend at the Observatory (2, 90 minute programs = 180 minutes of programming). To get your total cost, add up the times for all programs you want to do plus your number of participants then reference the tables below. Prices do not include the cost of additional materials, such as kites for the Kite Making program.
If you are looking to come to the Observatory for a tour or for a small group program, such as an in-depth tour, please see our Visit Us page or inquire about options using the form below.
If you are a group that requires needs-based scholarship in order to attend a field experience at the Observatory, please include that in your inquiry. For a limited number of groups, we are able to offer up to $100 in scholarship to groups under 25 and up to $200 in scholarship to groups over 25.
Field Experiences at Blue Hill Observatory
Classroom Experiences at your school
