Professional Development Opportunities

(Grades K-6)
Audubon introduces educators to the best practices for using the schoolyard as an outdoor extension of the classroom. Group management strategies, outdoor teaching techniques, exploration ideas, and cross-curriculum connections are included. Age-appropriate activities are part of the schedule so educators can experience some of the engaging, hands-on learning that can take place in an outdoor setting. Each school receives a hard copy of Audubon’s Schoolyard Habitat Resource Guide that includes grade K–6 activities, supply resources, literature links and more.
This opportunity is offered as either a one-time workshop or as a series.

(Grades 5–8)
Help your students soar! Flying WILD provides activities and resources using birds as inspiration to get your students excited about the outdoors. Experience fun, hands-on STEAM-based activities and service-learning opportunities that can be integrated directly into your classroom or afterschool sessions. Take home the Flying WILD curriculum guide and resources to assist you in getting your students outside. Children can experience seasonal lessons to enhance their observation and critical thinking skills while developing a social consciousness about the world around them.

(Preschool–Grade 1)
Growing Up WILD is a national curriculum for early childhood educators. The workshop centers around building upon children’s natural sense of wonder about nature. Audubon educators will demonstrate a wide range of activities that are developmentally appropriate for children ages 3–7. The goal is to provide a foundation for developing positive impressions about nature while also building lifelong social and cognitive skills among preschoolers. Participants will receive a copy of the Growing Up WILD activity guide.

(Grades K–12)
Project WILD is an interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education program emphasizing awareness, appreciation and understanding of wildlife and natural resources. The program is designed for educators of all types who work with children from kindergarten through grade 12. Project WILD activities can be used to teach basic skills in science, social studies, language arts, math, art, music, and physical education. The activities are designed to be hands-on and are focused on teaching students how to think, not what to think.

(Grades K–12)
Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) is a global K–12 multidisciplinary water education curriculum designed for both formal and informal educators. Its goal is to promote knowledge, appreciation, and awareness of our water resources. The workshop will provide you with hands-on inquiry-based activities and lessons that support your classroom curriculum in science, math, language arts, and civics. Participants will leave with the latest edition of the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide.

(Preschool – Grade 12)
Project Learning Tree (PLT) is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and other educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12. Flexible, investigation-based activities – rich with STEM, language arts, and social studies – that meet state standards, CCSS, and NGSS. The hands-on lessons for young children integrate investigations of nature with art, literature, math, music, and movement. Participants leave with the PLT activity guide that includes dozens of multi-disciplinary activities.

(Grades 1–5)
Come learn techniques and activities for using your schoolyard or local park to engage your students in Earth Science lessons. Discover the basics of rock sorting and the rock cycle, mineral testing and special properties. Try some exercises that encourage educators to think about rocks like a schoolchild might. Then head outside to conduct some field tests on different soils. Come discover how the landscape was shaped by geologic processes on this incredible planet Earth! A literacy connection will also be included.

(Grades 4–12)
Join Audubon and uncover important geological events that created and changed the landscape in Rhode Island and New England. Examine rocks and fossils to discover what has been happening in our backyards over the past 600 million years. Learn how different types of rocks and fossils are formed, how landscape features such as mountains are built and how weathering and erosion have changed the scenery over thousands of years. Get up to speed on the prehistoric animals whose lives we can glimpse through the fossil record and bring back many ideas for taking your students on their own trip through geological time.

(Grades 3–8)
This workshop will inspire teachers to incorporate innovation and creativity in their classrooms by blending science, art, and music teaching techniques. Includes hands-on activities and experiments that address life science and physical science standards while building art connections. Come prepared to have fun! Participants will receive a packet of activities and resources they can use in their classrooms.