A quick resource guide for teachers of the wild
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue's feature story.
If teachers take the initiative, they can search the Internet and find instant access to a host of environmental education materials from a wide variety of pro-environment and government sources. Here is a partial list:
Teachers new to the field might want to visit the North American Association for Environmental Education Web site (www.naaee.org) to order publications such as the Guidelines for Excellence for learning how to screen EE instructional materials. The NAAEE site also provides links to a wide range of curricula, and it provides a list of state coordinators for teachers who wish to network with other teachers in their state.
The Educational Resources Information Center (www.ericse.org), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, provides access to EE teaching resources.
EE Link (www.nceet.snre.umich.edu) provides a wealth of information for teachers.
The World Wildlife Fund (www.wwf.org) provides instructional materials for teachers to use in the classroom. WWF's materials, "Windows on the Wild," focus solely on biodiversity. The Web site provides a biodiversity quiz.
The National Geographic Society and WWF, with the financial assistance from Ford Motor Co., will send 10 copies of a new full-color ecoregions map to 114,000 elementary and secondary schools in the United States. For more information, click on www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse.
The Leopold Education Project (www.lep.org) shows teachers how to use the Sand County Almanac and other works written by the great ecologist Aldo Leopold to get students interested in observing and writing about the environment. A list of state coordinators is available for teachers.
The National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org/education) provides instant access to teacher activity guides for Animal Tracks, Schoolyard Habitats and Backyard Habitats, as well as Ranger Rick magazine.
The National Audubon Society (www.audubon.org/educate/) provides teachers with guidebooks and instructional materials focused on birds.
Zero Population Growth (www.zpg.org/education) provides activity guides for students to learn about population growth.
The Rainforest Action Network (www.ran.org/ran/kids_action/teachers.html) provides curricula called "Rainforests Forever" and other student activities.
Project Learning Tree (www.plt.org) provides background on teacher workshops and statewide affiliates.
Project WET (www.montana.edu/wwwwet) provides information on water resources education for teachers.
The Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov/teachers/background_information.htm) provides information about its grant programs and EE information on its Web site.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (www.fws.gov/educon.html) has information about all of the agency's resources for education.
The National Park Service (www.nps.gov/interp/learn.htm) features EE information that teachers can use every day.
Copyright © 2001 HCN and Stephen Stuebner
