Field Trips

A field trip to PLE is a one-of-a-kind experience for students of any age!  Best of all, PLE doesn't charge anything to groups taking advantage of these programs.  Below, you can read about the ready-to-go programs, but we are always open to working with educators on developing new programs that better meet your educational needs.

a student collecting water from a lakeLake Ecology

Bring your students to PLE this fall for a hands-on lake ecology experience!  Your students will learn about physical zones of a lake, how those zones affect the biotic communities that can live there, and how scientists go about assessing the health of the lake.  Activities can include open water biotic sampling (phyto- and zooplankton, benthos) and abiotic sampling (dissolved oxygen, nutrients, pH, temperature), near-shore macroinvertebrate  and  fish collection, and lab identification of specimens collected.

students dipnetting in a pondAdaptations to Pond Life

Pond-dwelling organisms have to deal with a variety of challenges from both environmental stressors and the other organisms they live with.  This program looks at the variety of ways that these organisms have adapted to deal with these challenges.  This program includes a lecture on these challenges and adaptations, collection of organisms, and lab identification of organisms.  This program is typically run at PLE, but could be taken on the road to your school if a suitable sampling location can be found within walking distance.  

a student using a micro-pippetorForensic DNA analysis

How do scientists use DNA-related technology to link a blood or tissue sample with a particular person?  In the winter, we make use of PLE’s superb laboratory facilities to offer a program that explores how scientists make use of modern molecular techniques in forensic science to make these types of connections. Students will learn, through both lecture and hands-on experience, how to extract, replicate and separate strands of DNA using the same tools and techniques as scientists at Pitt!

Any area educators who would like to take advantage of these programs or would like to work with us on developing a program tailored to their educational needs, please contact our Assistant Director Chris Davis at chris.davis@pitt.edu.