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Technology

Conservation Capsules

The environmental science and natural resource conservation education programs are available as a self-contained Conservation Capsule (Capsule). Conservation Capsules are offered at no cost to Prince William County, City of Manassas Schools Districts, home schools, private schools, boy and girl scouts, and other groups located in Prince William County.


Most Capsules come with a lesson plan and resources to round out your classroom curriculum. Conservation Capsules may be borrowed for up to one week and will be delivered to your school via School Courier (for public Prince William County schools only) or you can make other arrangements to pick it up.

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You may check out any of the capsules regardless of grade level designations. Please keep in mind when requesting a capsule that our capsule program is on a first come first serve basis.  We will try our best to meet your needs.

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To Reserve a Capsule, click here or e-mail Education Specialist Kim Lowther with the following information:

  • Name of Capsule

  • Dates (please provide 3 dates in different weeks; many times other teachers will be requesting the same capsule for the same week. We will try our best to select your first date, on a first come first serve basis. We also ask that you try to give us 2 weeks notice for a capsule request, as we'll need time to make sure the capsule is in order)

  • Name of School

  • Name of Teacher

  • E-mail address and phone number for teacher, along with best time to call

  • Grade(s)

  • Estimate numbers of teachers, classes, and students that will be using the capsule.

Our Conservation Capsules is like a library system. We ask that you please return all capsules you use in the condition in which they were received, make sure all pieces are dry and clean, and return the capsule on its due date, regardless of any unanticipated inconveniences. That way, it will be ready for use by the next teacher/school. Our capsule schedules get very tight during the school year, so it's hard for us to grant extensions. Thank you for your understanding and participation in our Conservation Capsules program!

Our Conservation Library includes the following Capsules (click on the title for more information):​

A Drop in the Bucket: 6th Grade & up 
By estimating and calculating the percent of available fresh water on Earth, students understand that this resource is limited and must be conserved.​

Animal Adaptations: 3rd & 4th Grades 
This program allows for students to investigate the adaptations birds make in order to survive. It is an interactive program that presents various types of birds and their beaks, and the reasons why the beaks are the way they are through hands on demonstrations. 

Animal

Build an Ecosystem: 2nd, 3rd and 4th Grades
Students learn about the dependency between living and non-living components of a temperate forest ecosystem. They experience the basics of species interdependency within the ecosystem and its various habitats.

Build an Ecosyste

Food Chains/Webs: 3rd & 4th Grades 
Students explore the terms food chains and webs through interactive games explaining the relationships between animals and plants in aquatic and terrestrial food chains. ​

Food Chain

Incredible Journey: 2nd, 3rd & 6th Grades
Students use the roll of the die to travel through nine stations representing the stages of the water cycle.

Incredible

Introduction to Natural Resources: 1st Grade
Students will identify natural resources (plants, animals, water, air, land, minerals, forests, and soil). They will observe objects in their environment and determine what natural resources were used in their production.

Intro Natural Resources
Land Beneath

​Land Beneath Your Feet: 5th Grade
The students will be introduced to the rock cycle.They will investigate and understand that Earth constantly changes. They will also examine plate tectonics, fossils, and geologic patterns as evidence of Earth’s change.

Plants

MWEE Toolkit: K-12th Grade
Meaningful Watershed Education Experience (MWEE) is a program that focuses on students learning about the ways they affect their watershed.​

If you have participated in our MWEE Teacher Training these are some of the activities in which you were trained. If you have not been trained, there is a resource binder describing how to use these activities to implement a MWEE in your classroom and outdoors.  Combined with our Watershed Model Capsule this Capsule will help you to implement a MWEE whether it's your first time or seventh. Some activities require you to provide your own materials.

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MWEE Toolkit

​​Plants of the Powhatan: 2nd & 4th Grade
The students will be introduced to the plants native to the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions of Virginia. They will examine the role plants had in sustaining the Powhatan and the role these native plants currently have in sustaining and enhancing biodiversity in our ecosystem.

Regions of Virginia: 4th Grade
Students will learn the different regions of Virginia displayed on a large canvas map. The students will label the map and determine the agricultural products and major industries of each region​.

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This capsule is not available for the month of October as it is used for Farm Field Days.

Region

Soils: 3rd Grade
This is an interactive program where the students will rotate through different stations exploring the types, importance, layers, and other aspects of soil. Students will create a soil profile card, and discuss soil conservation.​

Soils

Tree Talk: 1st, 2nd & 4th Grades
The students will investigate and understand the role trees play in a system as a living thing with multiple functional parts, as well as the reproductive systems and other function each part of the tree contains.​

Tree Talk

Water Cycle: K, 2nd & 3rd Grades
Through hands on activities students learn about the three different states of matter, the water cycle and importance of fresh water. ​

Water Cycle

Watershed Enviroscape Model: K-Adult
Students will learn about downstream pollution and how it affects local waterways through this interactive model.​

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When borrowing this capsule, please make sure everything is dry and clean before packing it up. Make sure to return all loose items, such as the cows, dogs, fencing, houses, vehicles, sprinkles, plug, etc.

Please NEVER pack the capsule up wet, as it will make things moldy. Also, do not re-open holes in the watershed model; the holes are blocked to prevent water from draining underneath. Thank you!

Watershed

Weathering and Erosion: 2nd, 3rd & 5th Grades
Students will take part in activities demonstrating chemical and physical weathering, as well as wind and water based erosion.
 

Weathering
Capsules By Grade
Capsule
K
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
Adult
A Drop in the Bucket
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Animal Adaptations
x
x
Blue Planet
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Build an Ecosystem
x
x
x
Food Chains/Webs
x
x
Incredible Journey
x
x
x
Introduction to Natural Resources
x
Land Beneath Your Feet
x
x
Plants of the Powhatan
x
Regions of Virginia
x
Soils
x
Tree Talk
x
x
x
Water Cycle
x
x
Watershed Enviroscape Model
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Weathering and Erosion
x
x
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