Our educational programming is currently under revision. Please pardon our limited offerings as we redesign old programs and develop new ones over the course of the next year. Our seasonal offerings for the 2024-25 school year are listed below. Please email education@bluehill.org or use the form below to inquire about other programs or ways to pair your classroom curriculum with our program offerings.
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. 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); see below for our updated pricing structure. If you are a very small group, find more information about our in-depth tours here.
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
Picture Post 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 Picture Post Program.
Picture Post Observe & 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 Picture Post Program.
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. Our pricing is based on the number of students and how much time you want a program to last; see below for our updated pricing structure.
The following lessons are part of the Nature’s Record curriculum (formerly Picture Post). Developed by the education team at Blue Hill Observatory, this curriculum cultivates environmental awareness through analysis of a local Picture Post collection, a 14-year geo-photo collection at the Observatory. Students hone their data literacy skills by comparing phenological, weather and climate data taken at the Blue Hill Observatory and drawing their own conclusions about our changing environment. Lessons that are part of this climate science curriculum may be done sequentially or as standalone lessons. Click here for more information. For support and free resources, contact our Director of STEM Education, kfincke@bluehill.org.
Introduction to Weather, Climate & Phenological 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. Follow this lesson with one or more of seven NGSS-aligned lessons related to climate at Great Blue Hill where students dive deeper into one or more of these data sets.
Time: 50 minutes
Drought Lesson
K – 8th Grade
[2-LS2-3, 3-LS4-4, MS-LS2-1]
In this module, 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
Flora Lesson
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
Freeze/Thaw Cycle Lesson
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
Haze Lesson
K – 8th Grade
Coming soon!
Time: 45-55 minutes
Precipitation Lesson
K – 8th Grade
[2-LS2-3, 3-LS4-4, MS-LS2-1]
In this module, students explore how plants respond to multiple months of lower than expected precipitation atop Great Blue Hill, comparing it to periods of higher precipitation in the last 10 years.
Time: 45-55 minutes
Sunshine Duration Lesson
K – 8th Grade
[1-ESS1-2, 5-LS2-1, MS-LS2-1]
In this module, students explore how plant growth corresponds to the amount of sunshine by comparing sunshine data over different months and years collected at the Blue Hill Observatory.
Time: 45-55 minutes
Temperature Trends Lesson
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
The following programs are not part of the climate curriculum.
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 Picture Post for Environmental Conservation by emailing our Director of STEM Education, Krista Fincke, kfincke@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 prices for the 2024-25 school year have been updated to reflect the cost to run programs at the Observatory. 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.
If you are looking for a different in-class experience, include that in your inquiry and we will get you a quote.
