Adventure starts here
Catamount Mountain Campus
K-12 Field Trips
Join us in exploring our new Catamount Mountain Campus located above the clouds on the Northwest slope of Tava (Pikes Peak). We work with you to build curriculum that is tailored to your classroom needs, place-based, full of adventure, and aligning with Colorado Department of Education Standards.
K - 12 students
Learning beyond the classroom
Field trips are a fun and exciting opportunity for students of all ages to investigate our outdoor classroom for hands-on discovery and exploration. Catamount Institute offers pre-designed or custom field trips that are encouraging and inspiring for all students in our local natural areas. Our tailored curriculum supports classroom learning and a memory-filled experience with your class. See below for pre-designed field trip descriptions!
Pricing for field trips begins at $7.00 an hour/per student (minimum 20 students) plus a $100 transportation fee depending on location.
Now booking for the 2025-2026 school year! Book your field trip to hold a spot. The booking is NOT final until confirmation from Catamount Institute staff.
All trips are a minimum of 20 students and a maximum of 80 students. Bookings are based on staff availability at that time. Each tentative reservation will be reviewed by Catamount Staff. You will be contacted at least a month in advance on the status of your booking.
Kindergarten
Living in the Woods
Investigate the rich forests on the northwest slope of Pikes Peak to learn what animals and plants need to grow. Students will observe how animals and plants find what they need to survive in the harsh mountain climate, including strategies they’ve developed to help survive our long mountain winters. What can we learn from mountain animals and plants to prepare for severe Colorado weather?
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Location: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Colorado ES Science Standards:
- K - S. 2 - GLE. 1.
- To live and grow, animals obtain food they need from plants or other animals, and plants need water and light.
- K - S. 3 - GLE. 2.
- Plants and animals meet their needs in their habitats and impact one another; people can prepare for severe weather.
1st Grade
Small Wonders
Explore the abundant life that calls the mountain forests home. Observe similarities and differences between plants and animals at different life stages. Through this program, students will work to determine what makes different species similar and distinct through direct observation and inquiry at the Catamount Mountain Campus.
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Location: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Colorado ES Science Standards:
- 1st - S. 2 - GLE. 2.
- Young organisms are very much, but not exactly like their parents and also resemble other organisms of the same kind.
2nd Grade
Habitats are Where it's at!
Come explore the unique diverse habitats at the Catamount Mountain Campus including the montane forest, freshwater, and riparian ecosystems. Students will compare and contrast the different qualities of each habitat and investigate which plants and animals thrive based on their unique environmental conditions.
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Location: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Colorado ES Science Standards:
- 2nd - S. 2 - GLE. 2.
- A range of different organisms lives in different places.
3rd Grade
Life on a Log
Discover the intricate interconnections between insects, birds, and mammals that share the forest floor. Students will observe the ways each organism looks and functions through their varied life cycles and inherited traits, as well as investigate how they relate to one another to support the thriving of the important mountain forest ecosystem.
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Location: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Colorado ES Science Standards:
- 3rd - S. 2 - GLE. 1.
- Organisms have unique and diverse life cycles.
- 3rd - S. 2 - GLE. 3.
- Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information; the environment also affects the traits that an organism develops.
4th Grade
Renewable Engineering Challenges
Investigate the urgent questions of how to balance a growing energy demand with the need to reduce carbon emissions. Students will explore the renewable and non-renewable energy systems at the Catamount Mountain Campus before diving into hands-on modeling of energy systems. In teams, students will compete to design, build, and generate energy using renewable energy technology, including wind turbines and hydroelectric dams.
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Location: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Colorado ES Science Standards:
- 4th - S. 1 - GLE. 4.
- Energy can be produced, used or released by converting stored energy.
- 4th - S. 3 - GLE. 4.
- Energy and fuels that humans used are derived from natural sources and their use affects the environment in multiple ways.
5th Grade
Energy Cycling in an Ecosystem
Come explore the dynamic relationships between the forest, wetland, and subalpine lake ecosystems at the Catamount Mountain Campus. Through observations, modeling, and games, students will investigate how energy and matter move between these complex systems.
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Location: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Colorado ES Science Standards:
- 5th - S. 2 - GLE. 2.
- Matter cycles between air and soil and among plants, animals and microbes as these organisms live and die.
Middle School & High School
H2 Woah!
Have you ever wondered how Colorado Springs gets our water? Come to the Catamount Mountain Campus to explore the critical water systems of the Fountain Creek Watershed. Students will investigate how our precious water moves from the mountains to the front range to meet our needs. Along the way, they will learn how to perform water quality tests, model our watershed, analyze our annual water cycle, and discuss the threats facing our Western water systems. Students will be challenged to evaluate different water solutions that can protect our community’s water futures.
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Locations: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Colorado MS Science Standards:
- MS - S. 2 - GLE. 7.
- Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all of its populations.
- MS - S. 3 - GLE. 6.
- Water cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere, and is propelled by sunlight and gravity.
- MS - S. 3 - GLE. 10.
- Human activities have altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging it, although changes to environments can have different impacts for different living things.
Colorado HS Science Standards:
- HS - S. 3 - GLE. 6.
- The planet’s dynamics are greatly influenced by water’s unique chemical and physical properties.
- HS - S. 3 - GLE. 9.
- Resource availability has guided the development of human society and use of natural resources has associated costs, risks, and benefits.
Ecosystem Interactions
All ecosystems contain many relationships between animals, plants, fungi, and microscopic organisms. We will examine small-scale interactions occurring at the Catamount Mountain Campus to determine whether they exhibit mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, and other relationships. Games and hands-on activities will provide students opportunities to study and identify these relationships and how they impact the flow of matter and energy through the ecosystems.
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Location: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Colorado MS Science Standards:
- MS - S. 2 - GLE. 5.
- Organisms and populations of organisms are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors.
Colorado HS Science Standards:
- HS - S. 2 - GLE. 5.
- Matter and energy necessary for life are conserved as they move through ecosystems.
Teen Leadership
The outdoors is an ideal location to challenge one’s leadership and teamwork abilities. Students will engage in a series of activities that enhance leadership, communication, and team-building skills. Get out of your comfort zone, meet new people, and have fun with us for our leadership and team development experience!
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Locations: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Building beyond the standards:
- Movement competence & understanding
- Physical & personal wellness
- Social & emotional wellness
Becoming Field Ecologists
Have you ever wondered what it is like to investigate how our ecosystems function, respond to threats, and change over time? Join us at the Catamount Mountain Campus, a former Long Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) station, to experience a day in the life of an ecologist. Students will learn about the dynamic nature of our montane forests and critical headwater systems through hands-on research modules. In small groups, students will get to investigate water quality in subalpine lakes using various survey techniques, climate records through tree boring and dendrochronology, and soil systems through soil cores and analysis. Leave the site with a data set to bring back to your classroom for further analysis!
Season: Fall, Spring, Summer
Location: Catamount Mountain Campus, Teller County, CO
Colorado MS Science Standards:
- MS - S. 2 - GLE. 12.
- Biodiversity is the wide range of existing life forms that have adapted to the variety of conditions on Earth, from terrestrial to marine ecosystems.
- MS - S. 3 - GLE. 8.
- Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for different resources, many of which are limited or not renewable.
- MS - S. 3 - GLE. 10.
- Human activities have altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging it, although changes to environments can have different impacts for different living things.
Colorado HS Science Standards:
- HS - S. 2 - GLE. 4.
- Organisms interact with the living and nonliving components of the environment to obtain matter and energy.
- HS - S. 2 - GLE. 13.
- Humans have complex interactions with ecosystems and have the ability to influence biodiversity on the planet.
