The Natural History Project

Founders Classical Academy Natural History Project (NHP) is science enhancement urban ecology endeavor for a brand new cadre of students from varying grades that desire to remove invasive species, restore Texas native plants, learn about natural history and rehabilitate their multi acre campus to invite bird populations and pollinators back.  The goal is to learn more about natural history, & integrate ecology with art, literature, & research.  We use Project Wild activities to guide outdoor education and use iNaturalist for our research recordings.  We have a partnership with Texas Master Naturalists who have come out to consult the students.  Most of the students live in the local area and will make connections to living in the Metro Plex while also caring about wildlife in a traditional urban setting.

“Perhaps such a shift in values can be achieved by reappraising things unnatural, tame, & confined in terms of things natural, wild, & free.” - Aldo Leopold

Hands On

The goal for the students in the cadre of FCANHP is to receive skills and learn technical aspects of care for organisms.  The training is geared towards establishing and cultivating native species anywhere.  Contact with actual nature is the goal.

A Taste for Native

Students learn to appreciate, desire, and seek out ways to prefer local native ecology in preference to exotics and/or just casually assuming all organisms will or should thrive in North Texas.

Local Ecology

The land that now called LLELA is positioned where the Blackland Prairie mingles with the dry upland forests of the Eastern Cross Timbers. The Elm Fork of the Trinity River, with its surrounding bottomland forests, winds through the middle of these two ecosystems. This lucky collision makes LLELA a perfect place to find a diversity of wildlife and plants. Well over 360 vertebrate species make a home at LLELA, from river otters to peregrine falcons, along with more than 500 plant species and uncounted dragonflies, butterflies, and other invertebrates. 

Field Experiences

 “A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.”

— John James Audubon

Trained Consultation

The Texas Master Naturalist(TM) curriculum is developed by experts and provides a standardized base of knowledge and skills for all volunteers across the state. Training is provided by educators and specialists from universities, agencies, nature centers’ museums, and other organizations who donate their services.