Tohono Chul Park teacher resources

With Darnell’s design in hand, we started with the basics, repairing and replacing plumbing, irrigation, and electric lines. The remaining inappropriate vegetation was removed, and hardscape was repaired. The next step involved a great deal of staff creativity to bring to life ideas for new interactive features that would provide outlets for the natural inquisitiveness and creativity of our young visitors, and yet be safe and sturdy. The goal was to facilitate their exploration of their own “sense of place” in the natural world and make the Garden for Children a destination point. The new Garden includes:

“sit-upon” animal sculptures
a rattlesnake seat wall
lizards on a bench and the rocks of a desert wash
xylophone wind chimes in the re-purposed weather station
a winding blue stream updated with colorful aquatic tiles, and a saguaro fountain in the midst of a desert landscape of fabricated steel
“fish” boats for sailing and an “upside-down crawly thing” for climbing
fanciful birdhouses
old friends like the peer-o-scope and sundial
and still to come are spinning cube puzzles, and an interactive saguaro!

Saguaro Discovery Trail
On June 4th Tohono Chul Park officially opened the Saguaro Discovery Trail. This gently sloping trail winds through a previously-undeveloped area of the Park, past saguaro nurseries nestled under protective palo verdes and juvenile and mature saguaros marching up a graveled hillside. Interpretive signage for the trail features original watercolor illustrations by Tohono O'odham artist, Michael Chiago, and conveys the story of the saguaro from both a cultural and natural history perspective, the result of a collaboration with the Tohono O'odham Nation.

SIN AGUA Garden
The first of the Park's three new gardens was unveiled this summer. Funded by the Water Quality Center at the University of Arizona and Central Arizona Project, it utilizes captured runoff from the Park's Education Center to irrigate a variety of native and arid-adapted plants. By taking advantage of runoff from roofs and driveways, and using appropriate plants, homeowners can realize substantial savings in water use and help conserve a limited resource.

Scheduling
We request a minimum of two weeks advance notice when scheduling guided tours, Outreach or Speakers Bureau presentations. When calling, please have the following information ready - number of students in your class or adults in your group, name of contact person and their address and telephone, and area(s) of study or special interest.

We strongly recommend that teachers visit the Park before scheduling a tour and make use of available pre-visit materials. These materials introduce new vocabulary words, discuss ecology concepts presented, and allow teachers to integrate activities into daily lesson plans.

Other Educational Offerings
Tohono Chul Park offers a variety of other educational opportunities from Teacher Training to Special Events for Children and Families. With a focus on inquiry-based learning, the Park presents teacher workshops to facilitate the integration of environmental education and life-science concepts into a multi-disciplinary curriculum. We collaborate with local schools in providing classroom-inquiry activities for multiple grades, and partner with the Tucson-Pima Libraries to offer enrichment opportunities during the summer. "Park After Dark" is our annual family-oriented summer open house, held the first Friday after Memorial Day. It offers hands-on learning opportunities in a desert environment, special performances, and live animal demonstrations.

For more information, please contact Jo Falls: 742-6455 x 228 or jofalls@tohonochulpark.org


Home Tea Room Support the Park Education Travel Ed-ventures For Teachers For Kids Lectures and Workshops Visit the Park Admissions Directions Art Exhibits Current Exhibits Upcoming Exhibits Past Exhibits Permanent Collection Special Events Rentals Rental Information Gardens Facilities Catering Membership Becoming A Member Member Only Events Volunteering Other Ways to Support the Park About Us Contact Job Openings History Links		For Teachers Award-winning Education Programs Guided Tours / Community Outreach / Training Tohono Chul Park now offers a wealth of resources for local teachers. Click below to find out more information about: School/Group Tours Outreach Other Educational Offerings Upcoming Lectures and Workshops And check out the fun-filled activity sheets on our For Kids page too! With its open space, nature trails, gardens, and changing art exhibits, Tohono Chul Park invites exploration and discovery. Our goal and purpose is to inspire everyone - visitors, community members and, most importantly, children - with the desire to learn how to live with our desert home. The Park's mission is to enrich people's lives by providing them the opportunity to find peace and inspiration in a place of beauty, to experience the wonders of the Sonoran Desert, and to gain knowledge of the natural and cultural heritage of this region. Eco-Stations at the Overlook Stop by and discover our new additions to the Park’s weekly offerings – Eco-Stations! These touch carts, staffed by Park Docents, feature hands-on Sonoran Desert learning opportunities for visitors of all ages. Stocked with everything from binoculars and hand lenses to mounted specimens and scientific models, and supplemented with an amazing array of feathers, bones, skins, and plant parts, these investigation stations allow for a full range of sensory experiences: Monday: Winged Things Tuesday: Wild Woolies Wednesday: Rocks and Ruins Thursdays: Who Eats Whom Friday: Creepy Crawlies Saturday: Prickly Plants 10 am - 12 noon from October - April 9 am - 11 am from May - September The Garden for Children The Garden for Children is one of the Park’s favorite and well-used attractions. Designed as a place for quiet exploration and guided discovery, we knew for a long time that it was in need of repair and re-design. Many of its original plantings have been removed due to wind damage and over crowding. Several interactive features failed to survive the first onslaught of visitors and despite repeated replacement, had not stood the test of time. Feedback, both anecdotal and formal, from users, visitors’ focus groups, and a Docent Design Advisory Team provided us the framework on which to build a new Garden for Children. Funding came from the Joseph Stanley Leeds Foundation, a longtime supporter of the Park’s children’s programs. Upon the recommendation of Professor Lauri Johnson of the University of Arizona School of Landscape Architecture, we hired graduate student Beth Darnell to develop a concept design for the Garden. Darnell’s thesis research centered on how native vegetation contributes to children’s play with a focus on Sonoran Desert and arid adapted plants. “Thoughtfully designed ‘wild’ play spaces that are appropriate to this region, offer the opportunity for children to forge permanent relationships with their desert landscape, more likely becoming its future protectors.”	Black Spine Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia macrocentra). Photo © Russ Buhrow Tohono Chul Park's Desert Home Theaterpuppet show: These are Our Saguaros. Photo © mee Crested Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea). learn more about it by reading the great news signs on the Saguaro Discovery Trail. Photo © D. Jack Roberts Saguaro Discovery Trail sign - incorporating illustrations by Tohono O'odham artist Micael Chiago © TCP Docent Coordinator Tom McDonald with a snake from the Reptile Ramble tour (Friday mornings, 10:00 am April through October)

Last Update: 12-23-08. Contact Webmaster
	With Darnell’s design in hand, we started with the basics, repairing and replacing plumbing, irrigation, and electric lines. The remaining inappropriate vegetation was removed, and hardscape was repaired. The next step involved a great deal of staff creativity to bring to life ideas for new interactive features that would provide outlets for the natural inquisitiveness and creativity of our young visitors, and yet be safe and sturdy. The goal was to facilitate their exploration of their own “sense of place” in the natural world and make the Garden for Children a destination point. The new Garden includes: “sit-upon” animal sculptures a rattlesnake seat wall lizards on a bench and the rocks of a desert wash xylophone wind chimes in the re-purposed weather station a winding blue stream updated with colorful aquatic tiles, and a saguaro fountain in the midst of a desert landscape of fabricated steel “fish” boats for sailing and an “upside-down crawly thing” for climbing fanciful birdhouses old friends like the peer-o-scope and sundial and still to come are spinning cube puzzles, and an interactive saguaro! Saguaro Discovery Trail On June 4th Tohono Chul Park officially opened the Saguaro Discovery Trail. This gently sloping trail winds through a previously-undeveloped area of the Park, past saguaro nurseries nestled under protective palo verdes and juvenile and mature saguaros marching up a graveled hillside. Interpretive signage for the trail features original watercolor illustrations by Tohono O'odham artist, Michael Chiago, and conveys the story of the saguaro from both a cultural and natural history perspective, the result of a collaboration with the Tohono O'odham Nation. SIN AGUA Garden The first of the Park's three new gardens was unveiled this summer. Funded by the Water Quality Center at the University of Arizona and Central Arizona Project, it utilizes captured runoff from the Park's Education Center to irrigate a variety of native and arid-adapted plants. By taking advantage of runoff from roofs and driveways, and using appropriate plants, homeowners can realize substantial savings in water use and help conserve a limited resource. Scheduling We request a minimum of two weeks advance notice when scheduling guided tours, Outreach or Speakers Bureau presentations. When calling, please have the following information ready - number of students in your class or adults in your group, name of contact person and their address and telephone, and area(s) of study or special interest. We strongly recommend that teachers visit the Park before scheduling a tour and make use of available pre-visit materials. These materials introduce new vocabulary words, discuss ecology concepts presented, and allow teachers to integrate activities into daily lesson plans. Other Educational Offerings Tohono Chul Park offers a variety of other educational opportunities from Teacher Training to Special Events for Children and Families. With a focus on inquiry-based learning, the Park presents teacher workshops to facilitate the integration of environmental education and life-science concepts into a multi-disciplinary curriculum. We collaborate with local schools in providing classroom-inquiry activities for multiple grades, and partner with the Tucson-Pima Libraries to offer enrichment opportunities during the summer. "Park After Dark" is our annual family-oriented summer open house, held the first Friday after Memorial Day. It offers hands-on learning opportunities in a desert environment, special performances, and live animal demonstrations. For more information, please contact Jo Falls: 742-6455 x 228 or jofalls@tohonochulpark.org
7366 N. Paseo del Norte, Tucson, AZ 85704 (520) 742-6455