DiscoveryQuest is the sight of a variety of ferns, many of which are on the endangered list. These lustrous plants are often misunderstood and are actually specific indicators of the health of their habitat. Participants will be given the opportunity to obtain an awareness of ferns, compare the climatic conditions according to their location and understand how ferns can help us assess the conditions of the environment in which they grow.

   Trees are living things which can be identified by their leaves. Participants will identify tree parts, search for, identify and classify leaves according to various characteristics, match leaves to their trees located on the property and investigate how the events of a tree's life affects it growth.

 Every tree has a story unique to itself.  Participants will scientifically study the annual growth rings of a tree in order to identify and determine how the climatic conditions and environmental factors affected the growth of the tree, and then in turn, learn to predict and track the future of a tree. 

  Much of what we find in nature can be a benefit to more than just nature itself. Participants will enjoy a nature scavenger hunt for the purpose of creating crafts which will be taken home to enjoy. Emphasis will be placed on discovery and taking pleasure in using the imagination and creativity within.

  Every plant propagates from seeds, and this process is often taken for granted without knowledge of where the seeds are or what they look like. In this class, participants will collect, sort and classify a variety of seeds from trees, plants and grasses found within the pine flatwoods, the meadow, the freshwater pond wetlands and the cypress wetlands located on the property.

  Even dead things in nature serve a purpose to the environment. Participants will hike into one of our small trails to locate and dissect portions of rotting wood to identify and understand the role of the plant and animal activity in the life cycle of the pine flatwood.

    Much emphasis in our society is placed on landscaping, resulting in many of our wildflowers being overlooked as weeds. This class will focus on getting participants to keep their heads out of the clouds and observe what is under foot. They will learn to identify many of the wildflowers located on our 20 acres and also gain insight into the practical and medicinal uses of these wildflowers, both past and present.

 This class focuses on creatively teaching participants through sensory activities to use "soft eyes" in getting a broad sense of what is in the environment, and then progress to using "hard eyes" while observing specific nature . A variety of fun and innovative activities will be used to help participants express their observations