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Teacher Treats
Calling all Teachers!
Do you use NatureMapping with your students? Do you have a pre-made activity that you'd like to share with other teachers? WI NatureMapping is looking for projects and lesson plans that we can post for other teachers to use. Email csc@beavercreekreserve.org if you have an activity to contribute!
Do you use NatureMapping with your students? Do you have a pre-made activity that you'd like to share with other teachers? WI NatureMapping is looking for projects and lesson plans that we can post for other teachers to use. Email csc@beavercreekreserve.org if you have an activity to contribute!
Coming soon: WI Model Academic Standards met by WI NatureMapping!
Activities The activities below were contributed by teachers and educators from WI. Blue titles are links to further resources. Feel free to adapt these activities for use with your own students!
Game Camera Wildlife Watching--Lars Long, 7th grade science teacher at DeLong Middle School in Eau Claire, received a grant from Toyota to purchase 40 Cuddeback digital game cameras which can be checked out by his students for recording wildlife observations at home and at school. Students identify the wildlife they see in the pictures taken by the camera and then add their observations to the WI NatureMapping website. Some weeks students might be asked to record observations of specific groups of animals, for example rodents or reptiles or birds. Other times, students develop science experiments of their own using the cameras. If you are thinking about purchasing a game camera or two for your classroom (or home), Lars recommends you purchase one that has a quick shutterspeed (for example, 6/10th second), no screen (as this tends to eat up battery quickly), and a memory card that can be replaced.
NatureMapping Webquest--This activity was contributed by Angie Kosin of Iowa-Grant High School. She uses this activity with her 11th and 12th grade Bio II students.
Great Lakes Worm Watch--Invasion of the Exotic Earthworm Game--This activity is provided courtesy of Great Lakes Worm Watch and is appropriate for upper elementary and middle school students. It can be adapted for older students as well. This is a great way to introduce your students to worm ecology before going out and sampling for worms with them. You can then enter your worm data in WI NatureMapping with your students!
Earthworm Sampling--Several methods of sampling earthworms are available and all are fun with students! Learn more from the folks at Great Lakes Worm Watch! This activity is suitable for students and adults.
Educational Benefits of NatureMapping A national study* of 40 schools using a framework called the "Environment as Integrating Context for Learning" (EIC) showed that the following benefits accrued as a result of this hands-on style of learning:
*The EIC report, "Closing the Achievement Gap: Using the Environment as Integrating Context for Learning", 1998, by Gerald A. Lieberman and Linda L. Hoody is available from Science Wizard, http://www.seer.org/.