Bring your class for a FREE tour of the Frick Environmental Center!
This year, with support from the Arconic Foundation, we are offering 10 middle and high school classes FREE tours of the Frick Environmental Center. If bus transportation funds are a barrier, please contact us for transportation assistance. Tours can last 30 minutes-1.5 hours for up to 30 people, but we can adjust the time and tour for larger class sizes. This opportunity expires on May 30th, 2023. The free field trips are first come, first served, and are not scheduled until they are confirmed over email.
Please email Ellen Conrad (econrad@pittsburghparks.org) if you have any questions.
Integrate the Frick Environmental Center into your class curriculum through one of our 5 lesson bundles, made by teachers for teachers:
- Frick Environmental Center Energy Usage:Use real life solar and building energy usage data from the Frick Environmental Center Building Dashboard to bring your science and math classrooms to life. The data is perfect for practicing graphing, understanding what net-zero energy means, and more.
- Solar Energy: Frick Environmental Center’s 161.7kW solar array produces enough extra electricity to power 11 nearby homes! Deep dive into solar energy’s potential as a renewable energy including real-world activities with data from the Frick Environmental Center Building Dashboard, learning how solar panels work or building your own solar oven.
- From Slavery to Freedom Garden: The From Slavery to Freedom Garden at the Frick Environmental Center was created in partnership with the Heinz History Center, which showcases plants found in woodlands and fields that were used for food and medicinal purposes along the journey to freedom. This bundle is truly interdisciplinary, including English, social studies, and science components.
- UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs): The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are 17 goals that guide environmental, economic, and social change worldwide. This bundle includes a full-length unit and mini-unit that will work in tandem with a tour of the Frick Environmental Center by highlighting the goals embodied in the Living Building Certification.
- Sustainable Building Design & Water: The Frick Environmental Center is Living Building Certified, which is one of the most challenging building standards to meet. Using the Living Building Challenge and the Frick Environmental Center as a framework, classes can explore sustainability elements like green building materials and green infrastructure.
Contact Ellen Conrad (econrad@pittsburghparks.org) for more information.
Learn about the Frick Environmental Center!
A project of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the City of Pittsburgh, the Frick Environmental Center is a certified Living Building that has achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum.
The videos below introduce the Frick Environmental Center and provide deeper explanations of the sustainability features of the environmental center building and campus.
Introduction
What makes Frick Environmental Center environmentally sustainable?
Water
The Sun
Harnessing solar energy!
The Earth
Using the Earth for sustainability!
Frick Environmental Center Building Dashboard.
Click on the graph below to start exploring the dashboard!
The links below provide an orientation to the Frick Environmental Center Building Dashboard and suggested lesson plans created by high school teachers.
This work was funded through the generous support of...
