The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the preservation of the birthplace of the Model T and the interpretation and celebration of Detroit’s automotive heritage and spirit of innovation.

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, located at 1000 East Beltline N.E. in Grand Rapids, MI, opened to the public in April of 1995. One of the nation’s most significant sculpture and botanic experiences, Meijer Gardens includes Michigan’s largest tropical conservatory; five indoor theme gardens; outdoor gardens, nature trails and boardwalk; One of the nation’s most significant sculpture and botanic experiencessculpture galleries and permanent sculpture collection; library; café; gift shop; classrooms; and meeting rooms. Both indoors and outdoors, the 158-acre main campus is barrier free and handicap accessible. Our 2009 building upgrade was awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver status by the USGBC (U.S Green Building Council). Since it opened, Meijer Gardens has attracted more than nine million visitors.

The Discovery Field Trips are self-guided and allows the students and their chaperones to experience the museum at their own pace. Groups are greeted by a field trip facilitator and will provide a short overview of the current exhibits and other important information.

The Center’s mission is to inspire, entertain, and educate through the performing arts with year-round, world-class performances, affordable ticket pricing, and robust educational programming, and to serve as a cultural and social hub for Northern Michigan.

We are a hands on Museum providing self guided visits. Our exhibits include: a water table, freighter to play on, lighthouse keepers quarters to play in, magnetic ball wall, living river, arts and crafts table, water cycle climbing structure, toddler beach (a play space for our youngest visitors), "What's in the bay?" display.

Our facilities also include the Great Lakes room where groups can bring a snack or lunch. Groups can also choose from the following program offerings: Interactive Story Time Weather--Get the Facts, Listening To The River (watershed education), The Incredible Journey (water cycle education), Stuffee at the Museum (Heart and digestive system), Science Stories (Folk lore that has it's roots in real science).

Field trip opportunities at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center include, but are not limited to, museum tours, hands-on classroom activities based on STEM principles, and shipboard education. The Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center is the headquarters for Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Sanctuary education and outreach programs are designed to raise public awareness about the sanctuary and its resources, encourage public involvement in resource protection, increase knowledge about Great Lakes maritime history, and expand ocean and Great Lakes literacy.

Hartley Outdoor Education Center is a residential facility located 15 miles Southeast of Saginaw in Saginaw County. It has three state registered historic sites of which one is an old Coal Mine (some ruins are still visible) which operated from 1917-1931 and was the longest running Coal Mine in Michigan (14 years).

Another is the Schroeder Log Home which was built in 1896 and moved to the Hartley property in 1978. The third is the Fowler One-room Schoolhouse (the first schoolhouse in District 1). We also moved the oldest barn still standing in Saginaw county to our property last summer. That made a nice addition to our 100 acre Farm Learning Center which also includes the Murphy Farmhouse and the Henige Log Cabin.

Students spend three days and two nights experiencing the outdoor, hands-on classes that their teachers have chosen in one of three categories: Social Studies (Lumberjack Lore, Pioneer Heritage, Native American Living, Coal Mine #8, and Archaeology); Team Building (Confidence Course, Wilderness Survival, and Navigation Challenge); or Science (Wetland Lab, Watershed, Mammals, Bird Study, Forest Ecology, Photography and Weather). Mini/day trips are where schools can get a "little taste of Hartley". We also have an Fall Festival in October where the community can get a delicious breakfast, see presentations, listen to performers (we have had dulcimers, Beats Settin' Home, the Rusty String Band and singers) and to explore and enjoy the Hartley surroundings.

Historic White Pine Village offers a living-history, family-friendly, fun-filled tour of a late 19th – early 20th century pioneer village. The Village boasts 30 historic exhibit buildings, including the original 1849 Mason County Courthouse (on the State Register of Historic Places) and an authentic turn-of-the-century steam locomotive, tender car, and flat car loaded with logs and headed toward the Village’s working sawmill.

Visitors come face-to-face with early settlers: first-person interpreters with scripts carefully prepared by staff and historians, they interact and improvise with visitors in the persona of historical characters and recreate actual personages from Mason County. The buildings contain thousands of authentic artifacts and archives depicting the rich lumbering and agricultural history of its area. Thousands of area school children, families, individual visitors, and residents tour the Village annually. Historic White Pine Village is open early May through October and takes around 2 hours to tour through.

The Howell Conference and Nature Center offers a variety of environmental, live wildlife, and adventure education programs.Groups can select from more than 40 program options to customize their visit to match their specific needs. Examples of individual program offerings include:high and low ropes courses, 500-foot zip line, Michigan's tallest outdoor climbing tower, shelter building, pond study, tree identification, canoeing, archery, Heifer Global Village, and Wild Wonders Wildlife Park (a teaching zoo which houses more than 60 native Michigan birds and mammals).

The 30-45 minute Wild Encounter Classes are designed to teach students about one of our core education topics through a hands-on animal encounter in a classroom setting.In addition, Wild Encounters Guided Tours give students the opportunity to learn about the animals in the zoo from our trained docents. These 60-75 minute tours are designed to teach students about one of the science topics and can be added to a class or taken on their own.