School Programs

Equipment and Curriculum Lending Library

ExploreHope maintains a library of curriculum materials along with specialized equipment for area teachers to borrow. Available for schools within an approximate 100-mile radius.EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE

• Watershed Testing and Sampling
  • Probeware
  • Sampling equipment
  • Waders
  • Boots
• Nuclear science testing
  • Education grade radioactive sources
  • Radiation monitors
  • Nuclear science demonstration tools
• Electronics kits
  • Breadboards
  • Electronics components
  • Multimeters
• Engineering curriculum
  • All age level lesson plan resources to incorporate engineering into your classroom
• Magna Tile Kit
• Keva Planks
• Simple Machines
• Paper Circuits
• Bioplastic Kits

Please contact explore@hope.edu for any questions. 

Air Quality Monitors for Middle and High School Students

Join this growing project providing students with the opportunity to explore air quality issues. Using portable CO2 and Particulate Matter sensors, students create their own driving questions and learn real-world data analysis and testing procedures. Check out the project page.

Van Raalte Civil War Muster Lesson Plans

• Fifth Grade Lesson Plans 
• High School Lesson Plans 

Visit Hope

Bring your class for a half or full day here at Hope! Experience our Van Kley Animal Museum, Kruizenga Art Museum and a STEM activity lead by ExploreHope. Please fill out the Field Trip Request Form if your class is interested in a field trip at Hope.

Teacher Training

Each summer we host a set of teacher training sessions. Training sessions posted in February. Contact us if you have a particular session you'd like help coordinating. ExploreHope also coordinates with several Hope faculty to provide professional development sessions on site.

Curriculum/Resource Discussions

We love hearing about your classroom experiences and the creative projects your students are working on. Let us talk to you about possibilities for real-world applications.

Watershed Exploration Experiences

Looking for new watershed curriculum? We have lesson plans, manuals, preparation materials and teacher guides. Teachers may also borrow classroom materials such as sample bottles, nets, ID cards, and water and soil quality testing kits.

• Field Experiences in the Watershed – Teacher training materials to enable teachers to lead field experiences based on driving questions.
• Exploring Ecosystems – Middle School Camp: Step outside to explore local ecosystems! Whether it’s in the woods or water, there are critters everywhere that interact with their environment. You will get to collect, observe and identify organisms and measure abiotic factors to understand how they all interact to form an ecosystem.
• Wonders of the Watershed – Middle School Camp: Water is vital to all life! That life depends on the quality of that water. In this camp, you will get to work beside Hope College students to sample water from a local river, run chemical and biological tests and use the results to determine its quality and ability to support life.
• Wonders of the Watershed – High School Camp: Here in Michigan, we are fortunate to be surrounded by water. Let's fight to protect the water! The focus of this camp is water restoration. Campers will work alongside Hope College students to collect and analyze water from a local river to determine the water quality and produce a remediation plan to be reviewed by the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council.
• Geo Camp – Michigan's Mysterious History – Grades 3–6 Camp: The secrets of Michigan’s history lie right beneath your feet! Come discover whether or not Michigan’s past was filled with volcanoes, mountains, glaciers or oceans. Using field trips, lab equipment and lots of rocks, we'll uncover Michigan’s mysteries from thousands of years ago.

Brain Day Speaker Videos

• Brain Week events