Prairie Learning Centre

The Prairie Learning Centre (PLC) is an educational centre located near Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, that hosts curriculum linked workshops on the native prairie landscape. With the support of Grasslands National Park, Chinook School Division and the Village of Val Marie, Saskatchewan, the Prairie Learning Centre provides innovative learning opportunities for secondary school students. The PLC aims to promote stewardship of the mixed grass prairie ecosystem.

Students take part in an aquatic ecology workshop

Workshops linked to the grade 9-12 curriculum are available throughout the year. Program topics range from prairie ecology to First Nations storytelling. All programs take place on the native prairie of Grasslands National Park. Biologists, wildlife specialists, and First Nations storytellers are facilitators that enhance these workshops. Students have the opportunity to monitor the threatened burrowing owl, watch a herd of plains bison, or discover a dinosaur fossil. Students also have the opportunity to learn about astronomy at the Grasslands National Park dark-sky preserve.

Grasslands National Park is one of the last remaining sections of mixed-grass prairie in Canada. It is home to the greater short-horned lizard (Saskatchewan's only lizard species), the black-footed ferret (the most endangered mammal in North America) and pronghorn (the second fastest land mammal in the world). The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada have listed over 15 species found in the park as at risk.