Fall 2009

Nature in the City

Environmental Programs

The Chicago Park District offers a number of Environmental Programs that allow you to appreciate our environment and it's resources. Specifically, we offer the following programs:

The Nature Oasis program is designed to help Chicagoans of all ages experience the wonder of nature right here in the city. This exciting new program is currently based at Gompers Park, 4222 W. Foster Avenue; Humboldt Park, 1440 N. Sacramento Avenue and Jackson Park, 6401 S. Stony Island Avenue. Nature Oasis programs are offered on a seasonal basis, and are designed to reach a diverse audience.

As part of a Nature Oasis program you might:
  • Take a water sample from a lagoon and discover a dizzying array of critters
  • Investigate an owl pellet
  • Save seeds from prairie plants
  • Learn how to identify trees
  • Meet a red-tailed hawk
  • Camp out overnight in a park
  • Experience the park as an outdoor classroom
Harvest Garden is a 3-season program - spring, summer, and fall. It includes after-school programming during the spring (5 weeks), continues through summer day camp (8 weeks), and then concludes with fall (5 weeks). Participants learn how to start a garden and keep it growing, and how to harvest and use the produce, and then how to "put the garden to bed" for the winter.

Helping Us Grow (HUG) Community Gardening provides space in parks for community members to garden and offers educational opportunities for the community to learn about gardening. HUG is about growing flowers, vegetables and fruits. This program is a collaboration between the Chicago Park District and the Master Gardeners of Chicago.

The Junior Earth Team (JET) program is a career development program for teens and helps young people develop an awareness and connection to the natural environment, their parks and their city. The program encourages teens to undertake stewardship projects in their local parks; and to gain work experience and exposure to environmental careers.

Outdoor Explorers is a school-year outdoor program that introduces outdoor and environmental activities to youth ages 8-12. Children watch and record weather, use a compass, read and create maps, study local geology, and learn about urban wildlife in their parks.

Stewardship Days goals are:
  • To engage children in fun, hands-on learning about the natural environment
  • To foster in urban children an awareness of their connection to and responsibly for the health of the natural world
  • To build partnerships with other environmental agencies
Stewardship Days' unique approach emphasizes the fact that children can and must explore nature as it exists in their city, their parks, and their neighborhoods, rather than as a phenomenon that they must travel great distances to visit.

Urban Campers is an outdoor education program that introduces 9 to 12 year old youth to local nature, teaches technical outdoor skills and provides an opportunity to apply this knowledge during a 24-hour camping experience in a local park. The goals of Urban Campers are to teach outdoor skills such as fishing, canoeing, outdoor cooking, to provide an opportunity to explore and discover plants and wildlife that live in the parks, to create a positive camping experience for youth, and to encourage participants to pursue their outdoor interests.

Under Illinois Skies provides participants with a rustic camping experience and immerses youth in nature through a 3-day, 2-night camping trip at Rock Cut State Park. Participants plan and cook meals, learn about Illinois natural history and habitats, watch birds, study aquatic life, canoe, star gaze and much more!

TEACHERS…
The Chicago Park District Environmental staff welcomes elementary and high school teachers and their classrooms to help them explore Chicago parks in a totally new way. For more information on this, please call 312.742.4916.

For more information on these programs please call 312.742.PLAY (7529) or 312.747.2001 (TTY).