How to Use This Guide

This brochure is a resource for formal and informaleducators who want to teach their students moreabout wildlife and habitat. Enclosed is informationabout:

• Curriculum and classroom activities• Teacher workshops and training

opportunities• Program and field trip opportunities• Grants and fellowships• Images and materials

Audubon Adventures (Audubon Society) – AudubonAdventures is an environmental education programfor children in grades 3 to 6 that presents basic,scientifically accurate facts about birds, wildlife, andtheir habitats. It comes packaged as a Classroom Kit(serving 32 students) or Individual Kit (serving 1student). To order Audubon Adventures and the NCcompanion, call Audubon’s North Carolina CoastOffice, (910) 686-7527, or visit www.ncaudubon.org/adventures.html.

Bird-focused classroom activities (N.C. Partners inFlight) – Under “Links for Educators” you’ll find sixbird-related classroom activities: basic bird biology,bird feeding, bird identification, migration, habitatsqueeze, citizen science. In addition, you’ll find linksto other bird-related children’s activities. Visitwww.faculty.ncwc.edu/mbrooks/pif/index.html.

Classroom FeederWatch (Cornell Lab ofOrnithology) – This is a research and interdisciplinaryeducation curriculum, designed for students in grades5-8, that prepares students to participate in an annualfeeder-bird survey conducted by ornithologists at theLab. To learn how you can sign your classroom up (afee is involved), visit www.birds.cornell.edu/cfw/.

Junior Duck Stamp (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)– Activities contained in the Federal Junior DuckStamp curriculum provide students with opportunitiesto learn about migratory birds; the mysteries ofmigration; requirements for adequate habitat; andways they can help conserve these species in theirown back yards, school yards, and neighborhoods.The curriculum is currently under revision and will beavailable again in 2007. Visit www.fws.gov/duckstamps/junior/junior.htm.

Schoolyard Habitats® (National WildlifeFederation) – The Schoolyard Habitats certificationprogram is a way for students and educators to learnmore about wildlife while creating habitat thatprovides food, water, cover, and places for wildlife toraise young. To become certified as a SchoolyardHabitats site, a project must be student-driven andused as an educational tool. Under ‘EducatorResources’ you’ll also find free activity guides on birds,the Arctic, grasslands, butterflies, bats, and a PDF fileof other online resources. To learn more, visitwww.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/programoverview.cfm.

School Yard Environmental Projects: A PlannerPrimer (N.C. Cooperative Extension) - Thispublication describes ways to enhance the educationalenvironment of rural and urban school grounds. Itincludes a listing of educational curriculum, programs,and resources available to school systems in NorthCarolina. For a free copy, contact your local CountyExtension Center (www.ces.ncsu.edu).

Shorebird Sister Schools Program (U.S. Fish andWildlife Service) – This program encourages publicparticipation in the conservation of shorebirds andtheir habitats by connecting people along flyways andincreasing their awareness and knowledge of localnatural resources to inspire community conservation.Their website includes K-12 curriculum, Exploring theWorld of Shorebirds, on CD-ROM, and other activitiesin the subjects of biology, math, language arts, andart. Visit sssp.fws.gov/index.cfm.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Educator’s Page - Thiswebsite includes curriculum resources and activities,community service projects, professional developmentopportunities, background information, contacts andother links related to fish, wildlife, and habitat(www.fws.gov/educators).

Wetland ecosystem curriculum (Ducks Unlimited) –Ducks Unlimited offers 3 curriculum units coveringwetland ecosystems, including both student andteacher guides. Grades 4 to 6: Habitats, Communitiesand the Diversity of Life; Grades 7 to 8: Interactionsand Ecosystems; Grades 9 to 12: Evolution, Diversityand the Sustainability of Ecosystems. The website alsocontains an index of supplemental wetland/outdooractivities listed by topic in alphabetical order. Visitwww.greenwing.org/dueducator/noncssdu_educator.

International Migratory Bird Day – Lots of freedownloadable materials, including a variety of bird-related fact sheets, under “Educational Materials.”Visit www.birdday.org/educators.

N.C. Partners in Flight – Bird profiles and bird factsheets, under “Learn about North Carolina Birds.”Visit www.faculty.ncwc.edu/mbrooks/pif/.

N.C. State Parks – Plant and animal checklists, an on-line photo gallery, and fun facts by State Park. Go towww.ncsparks.net, under “Enrich the Experience”.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Digital media librarycontains public domain still photos of animals,plants, and habitats. Browse the library using the listof key words provided: http://images.fws.gov.

U.S. Forest Service – The Nature Watch CD-ROM is acompilation of materials on fish, wildlife, andwildflower viewing, nature-tourism, environmentaleducation/interpretation. Most materials and graphicson the CD are public domain and are free to use foreducational purposes. Contact Don Virgovic,dvirgovic@fs.fed.us (NatureWatch Program leader) torequest a copy.

Classroom Curriculum and Activity GuidesImages and Materials

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A guide for formal

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in North Carolina

This brochure was made possible through a grantfrom The Wildlife Society to the NC Chapter ofThe Wildlife Society and the NC Birding Trail.

To download a free copy of this brochure, visit the website ofthe NC Birding Trail (www.ncbirdingtrail.org) or the NCChapter of The Wildlife Society (www.main.nc.us/nctws).

Photo by Renee Strnad

A Message to Educators

Was this brochure helpful to you? We would reallyappreciate hearing back from you. Your feedbackwill give us the ability to evaluate the effectivenessof our brochure and will allow us to makeimprovements for future reprints. Please send us aquick email with your feedback and tell us what youthink! Write to: info@ncbirdingtrail.org.

N.C. Aquariums – Each of the three North CarolinaAquariums (Roanoke Island, Pine Knoll Shores, FortFisher) offer on-site programs for students and groups.Contact the Education Section of each aquarium forupcoming workshops opportunities. From the mainpage (www.ncaquariums.com), link to a particularaquarium and then look under “Teachers & Students.”

N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences – Everything youneed to plan your visit, or have the Museum come toyou, can be found on their website,www.naturalsciences.org/education. An EducatorsGuide to Museum Services is available for download.For school-based opportunities (Museum in theSchools) and distance-learning programming, contactthe coordinator of distance learning, (919) 733-7450ext. 621.

N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve – EstuaryLive is a program that offers live, interactive Internetfield trips at scheduled times twice a year to estuarinereserves within the NC Coastal Reserve Program(www.estuarylive.org). Interpreter led field trips arealso offered to specific Coastal Reserve sites dependingon accessibility and staff availability. For moreinformation, contact the Education Coordinator at(252) 728-2170 or visit www.ncnerr.org.

N.C. State Parks – Each park conducts interpretiveprograms on a primary theme. Visit the Parks websiteto look at programming opportunities at a State Parknear you (www.ncsparks.net).

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission – The 3regional Wildlife Education Centers (Pisgah Center forWildlife Education, Centennial Campus Center forWildlife Education, Outer Banks Center for WildlifeEducation) host a variety of wildlife-related educationprograms. Contact the center nearest you to find outabout upcoming opportunities, www.ncwildlife.org.

Captain Planet Foundation – The Captain PlanetFoundation seeks to encourage children worldwide tosolve environmental problems in their communities.Awards are between $250 and $2,500, for schools andnonprofit organizations that develop innovativeenvironmental projects for youth that promotecooperation, planning, and problem-solving skills.Visit www.captainplanetfdn.org/.

Kenan Fellows Program (National ScienceFoundation) - The Kenan Fellows Program promotesteacher leadership in the sciences and aims to extenduniversity research through effective K-12 outreachprograms and to advance K-12 science education.Kenan Fellows are public school teachers selectedthrough a competitive process to participate in aprestigious two-year fellowship, while remainingactive in the classroom. Eligible counties includeWake, Durham, Orange, Granville, Johnston, Lee,Guilford, and the Chapel Hill/Carrboro school system.Visit www.ncsu.edu/kenan/fellows.

N.C. Beautiful K-12 Teacher Grants – Teachers acrossNorth Carolina can apply for $1,000 grants for theirenvironmental education projects. Grants are awardedto help teachers develop educational programstargeted at improving the environment, buildingleadership for environmental awareness, and creatingfuture environmental leaders. To request a Windowsof Opportunity grant application form and guidelines,call (919) 787-1693, email ncbeautiful@bellsouth.net,or visit www.ncbeautiful.org.

N.C. Office of Environmental Education – TheOffice maintains a listing of grants, awards, andcontests of special interest to North Carolinacommunities, teachers, and environmental educationprogram providers. Listings are updated monthly.Visit www.eenorthcarolina.org and search under EEResearch and Data.

Project Learning Tree Greenworks! grants -GreenWorks! offers educators the opportunity to applyfor grants ranging from $50 to $1000 to implementcommunity action and service-learning projects.GreenWorks! projects should address an environmentalissue and involve students from pre-school to highschool in hands-on community action. Visitwww.plt.org.

CATCH (N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission) –CATCH is an interdisciplinary program that providestraining for both formal and informal educators onhow to teach youth ages 8-15 about aquaticenvironments. CATCH emphasizes conservationhabits, outdoor ethics, fish and aquatic speciesinformation, water safety tips, and practical fishingskills. Contact the Wildlife Resources Commission’seducation specialist in your region to find out howyou can sign up for a workshop, www.ncwildlife.org.

Environmental Education Learning Experiences(EELE) (N.C. Parks and Recreation) – EELEs arespecially designed educational programs for educators,correlated to the North Carolina competency-basedcurriculum in science, social studies, mathematics andEnglish/language arts. Each program includes pre-visit, on-site, and post-visit student activities thathave measurable objectives, background information,vocabulary, references and activity instructions. Visitils.unc.edu/parkproject/education/more.

Flying WILD (Council for EnvironmentalEducation) - The Flying WILD program introducesstudents to bird conservation through standards-basedclassroom activities and environmental stewardshipprojects. Flying WILD: An Educator’s Guide toCelebrating Birds provides activities that teachmiddle-school students about birds, their migration,and what people can do to help birds and theirhabitats. Flying WILD professional developmentworkshops are designed with urban educators inmind. Visit the website (www.flyingwild.org) to learnabout upcoming workshop training opportunities.

N.C. Aquariums – Each of the three North CarolinaAquariums (Roanoke Island, Pine Knoll Shores, FortFisher) offer teacher and educator trainingopportunities. Content and activities involvingmarine and other aquatic environments are adaptedto user groups. Workshops incorporate classroom andfield activities. Contact the Education Section of eachaquarium for upcoming opportunities. From themain page (www.ncaquariums.com), link to aparticular aquarium and then look under “Teachers &Students.”

N.C. Office of Environmental Education – Forinformation on the Environmental EducationCertification Program, call (919) 733-0711, or visitwww.eenorthcarolina.org. The "EE Certification" linkhas a listing of approved workshops, and the"Calendar" has an updated list of professionaldevelopment opportunities that count towardcertification credit.

Project Learning Tree (N.C. Cooperative Extension,N.C. Forestry Association) – Project Learning Tree(PLT) is an interdisciplinary curriculum designed totrain both formal and informal educators on how tointegrate education regarding natural and builtenvironments into all major subject areas in grades K-12. Visit the NC PLT website to find a workshop nearyou (www.ces.ncsu.edu/plt/workshops) or call (919)515-5518.

Project WILD (N.C. Wildlife ResourcesCommission) – Project WILD and Project WILDAquatic are interdisciplinary curriculum programsdesigned to train both formal and informal educatorson how to integrate components of wildlife educationinto all major subject areas in grades K-12. Contactthe Wildlife Resources Commission’s educationspecialist in your region to find out how you can signup for a workshop, www.ncwildlife.org.

School grounds ecology workshops (N.C. Museumof Natural Sciences) – Hands-on learningopportunities for teachers will help you create areasfor wildlife and learning that match your objectivesand resources. For information, contact thecoordinator of teacher education at (919) 733-7450,ext. 620. Visit www.naturalsciences.org/education.

Using The Outdoors to Teach Experiential Science(UTOTES) (N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences) - Agroup of 16 to 24 staff members at each schoolparticipates initially. The two-year program includessix different teacher education workshops during thefirst year; a summer residential program for twoteachers the following June; and a follow-upworkshop the second year. Selection of UTOTESschools for the coming school year are made in Mayof each year. For more information, visitwww.naturalsciences.org/education/utotes.

Teacher Workshops and Training Programs and Field Trips Grants and Fellowships

Photo by Renee Strnad

The N.C. Office of Environmental Education is agreat clearinghouse for all sorts of information(www.eenorthcarolina.org). The resources theyoffer include:

• A listing of Environmental Educationprograms that will “come to you”

• Professional development opportunities• Lesson plans and an Environmental

Education bibliography• Environmental Education support materials• Environmental Education field trips and site

visit opportunities across the state• NC-EE listserv - A free email listserv that

includes postings on workshops, grants,and free resources.