Empowering Environmental Stewardship: A Guide to Resources for North Carolina Educators
North Carolina, blessed with diverse ecosystems from the mountains to the coast, recognizes the crucial role of environmental education in fostering a sense of stewardship among its citizens. To that end, a wealth of resources are available for educators across the state, aiming to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and tools to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards. These resources cater to a broad audience, encompassing formal K-12 educators, informal educators, and even the general public.
Professional Development Opportunities
APNEP Summer Teacher Institute
The Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP) supports various educational programs and initiatives to promote stewardship of the region's natural resources. One such initiative is the APNEP Summer Teacher Institute, a multi-day professional development workshop designed for formal educators (K-12, with targeted grade levels varying each year). The institute introduces educators to hands-on, inquiry-based, and outdoor methods of teaching about North Carolina's natural resources.
Environmental Education Certification
The North Carolina Office of Environmental Education encourages professional development in environmental education and acknowledges educators committed to environmental stewardship through its Environmental Education Certification program. This program is open to both formal and informal educators.
NCCAT Professional Development Programs
The N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) offers instructional programs reflecting a broad range of unique professional development topics for public school teachers and other educators (K-12). These programs feature challenging formats combined with professional learning communities to shape the NCCAT offerings.
Wildlife & Educator Workshops
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission leads these programs, generally open to the public for free or a nominal fee. They satisfy requirements for N.C. Environmental Education Certification.
Read also: EE Internship Guide
Virginia Water Educators
This directory strengthens and builds the network of highly-trained educators throughout Virginia who support formal classroom teachers conducting successful Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Educator Treks
The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences offers field experiences and workshops that allow educators to explore remarkable natural places across North Carolina and beyond. Participants gain practical ways to integrate the natural sciences into their teaching.
School Grounds' Workshops
The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences provides workshops to enhance outdoor learning resources on school grounds and incorporate them into all areas of the curriculum.
Educators of Excellence Institutes
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences created the Educators of Excellence Institutes to enable exemplary educators to experience the natural world in selected outstanding environments. The program aims to increase the use of reflection and direct environmental experience in teaching; inspire and recommit educators to the teaching profession; and create a statewide network of exceptional educators for continued support and learning. The program is designed for educators (K-12) currently teaching science in North Carolina, as well as administrators, environmental educators, and university professors who work with these teachers.
Sustainable Forestry Teacher's Experience
The North Carolina Forestry Association offers a multi-day residential professional development workshop demonstrating all elements of forestry in North Carolina. This program is designed to educate participants about forestry through presentations, tours, and hands-on lesson plans. Educators also receive the Project Learning Tree Curriculum, an award-winning, multi-disciplinary environmental education program. Preference is given to educators involved with a science curriculum or who demonstrate that the subject matter is applicable to their students (preK-12).
Read also: Tuition at Unity Environmental University
Project WILD and Aquatic WILD
These K-12 interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education programs focus on wildlife and aquatic ecosystems, respectively. They provide educators with detailed lesson plans, career exploration resources, and STEM activity extensions. Aquatic WILD workshops foster responsible actions toward wildlife and other natural resources, allowing students to take a leading role in investigating aquatic habitats and resources.
Growing Up WILD
This early childhood program builds on children's sense of wonder about nature and invites them to explore wildlife and their habitats, with an emphasis on promoting aquatic resource appreciation and stewardship. Through a wide range of activities and experiences, Growing Up WILD provides an early foundation for developing positive impressions about nature and lifelong social and academic skills. These 6-hour workshops are primarily oriented towards formal and nonformal educators who work with children ages 3-7. They include early childhood and classroom educators, home school teachers and park rangers. Participants trained in Growing Up WILD will receive a free Growing Up WILD activity guide and qualify for CEU credits, training hours, or NC Environmental Education Certification credits. Growing Up WILD has been aligned with the NC Foundations of Early Learning and Development (NC FELD).
CATCH Workshops
Caring for Aquatics Through Conservation Habits (CATCH) workshops use the CATCH curriculum guide to explore ways to teach about aquatic environments through fish biology, outdoor ethics, water safety and fishing skills. Techniques and activities are geared for children ages 8 to 15.
WILD: Special Topics Workshops
These workshops focus on specific species or agency initiatives and include activities that can be implemented with K-12 students in formal and non-formal settings. Examples include WILD: Bats; WILD: Black Bears; WILD: Raptors; WILD: Amphibians and WILD: Reptiles.
Curriculum and Lesson Plan Resources
APNEP Lesson Plans and Educational Resources
To foster education about the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary and the watershed that supports it, APNEP provides a database of lesson plans and educational resources tailored to our region. Curriculum Guides; N.C. Something Fishy about Estuarine Habitats; N.C. Lesson Plan Database; N.C. Lesson plans and resources from the N.C.
Read also: Impact of Environmental Education
River Basin Booklets
The Office of EE, in partnership with other DEQ divisions including the Division of Water Resources and the Wildlife Resources Commission, has created informative river basin education materials that can be ordered free of charge.
EnviroAtlas
The EPA provides interactive resources that allow users to discover, analyze, and download data, maps, and other information. Our resources are organized around the benefits people receive from nature or "ecosystem services".
ESRI Story Maps
Esri Story Maps let you combine authoritative maps with narrative text, images, and multimedia content. They make it easy to harness the power of maps and geography to tell your story. A database of created Story Maps on a variety of topics is also available.
Shad in the Classroom Program
Through the Shad in the Classroom Project, both teachers and students embark on a wonderful adventure in conservation science! Fish and Wildlife Service.
NWF Schoolyard Habitats
Since 1996, the National Wildlife Federation has worked to assist schools in the creation of Schoolyard Habitats®, which create and restore wildlife habitat on school grounds while providing outdoor classrooms for learning across the curriculum. There are currently over 5,000 schools and counting that have been certified through this program.
Field Trip Opportunities
A Time for Science Field Trip Programs
Field trip programs offer students a chance to move through the trails of the park led by highly trained educators for a hands-on learning experience that reinforces and brings to life the concepts that are taught in the classrooms. Field trips feature four distinct habitats - stream, forest, swamp and ponds - that are ideally suited to enhance the fundamentals of environmental science in a controlled setting. A Time for Science Nature and Science Learning Center (Grifton - Eastern NC) offers these programs for formal educators (Pre-K - 8).
Youth In Parks - Environmental Education
Friends of NC State Parks provides grants to fund transportation and support costs for field trips to NC State Parks. These grants are available to formal educators (K-8).
Every Kid in a Park
The National Park Foundation provides free passes to National Parks for 4th graders and their families.
Field Trips
N.C. Aquarium locations explore exhibits and educational programs. N.C. Aquariums offers field trips to Jennette's Pier, Roanoke Island, Pine Knoll Shores, and Fort Fisher for formal and informal educators.
Museum of Natural Sciences
The Museum has three different locations for field trips: the Museum in downtown Raleigh, the Museum at Whiteville (Columbus County, NC), and the Prairie Ridge Ecostation.
N.C. Estuarium Field Trips
The Partnership for the Sounds offers class outings and special programming for groups at the Estuarium, an environmental center that celebrates North Carolina's estuaries and coastal rivers. These field trips are available to formal educators (K-12) in Eastern NC.
School and Group Field Trips
The Reserve's Education Coordinator leads two different types of field trips on the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort. They offer a 2-hour guided nature hike across the western end of the island and a 2-hour boat ride with a short visit to our boardwalk at the east end of the island. N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve (Eastern NC) offers these to formal educators (K-12).
K-12 Field Trips
UNC CSI offers a variety of engaging K-12 programs that align with NC Essential Standards. The University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute (Wanchese) provides these for formal educators (K-12).
Classroom and Community Engagement
Classroom Visits
The N.C. Aquariums offer classroom visits and programs on various topics, including live animals, games, and hands-on learning, for formal and informal educators. These visits are available at Jennette’s Pier, Roanoke Island, Pine Knoll Shores, and Fort Fisher.
Park Ranger Visits
Park rangers are often available to come to your location to present educational programs for classes or organized groups. There is no charge for these programs. N.C. State Parks offers this service to formal and informal educators (K-12).
Community Outreach Programs
The NC Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs offers the NC Environmental Education Certification program and serves as the state's environmental education information clearinghouse. These opportunities and resources are offered by agencies, organizations, colleges, and universities throughout North Carolina. The office also identifies and promotes programs provided by the state's environmental education centers, including nature and science centers, arboretums, public gardens, museums, coastal reserves, zoos, aquariums and local, state, and national parks and forests.
Project-Based Learning Fellowship
The Project Based Learning (PBL) Fellowship provides a transformative experience for educators through immersive field work, ongoing mentoring, and gritty experiments with PBL best practices. Join the Museum and experienced PBL practitioners for a year-long fellowship or visit their blog to access PBL units created by Fellows. The fellowship is available to K-8 Teachers
Competitions and Challenges
Envirothon
The Envirothon is a fun, hands-on, natural science academic competition for teams of middle and high school students sponsored by the NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts with help in organization and implementation from the division.
Blue Heron Bowl
The Blue Heron Bowl is North Carolina’s state-wide National Ocean Sciences Bowl competition, a competition for high school students that tests ocean sciences knowledge. The winning team from the Blue Heron Bowl advances to the national competition.
Online Resources and Tools
Marine Ecosystems and Management: Coastal and Marine Conservation Online Games
A collection of role-playing/simulation games designed to educate stakeholders, professionals, students, and the general public about aspects of coastal and marine conservation, management, and adaptation.
Educator Resources
Drop a pin to see historic climate data, wildlife, stunning pictures, and more for any terrestrial location on the planet. Discover how patterns of human settlement and agriculture have changed the planet since 1700.
Networking and Collaboration
Sound Rivers Teacher Training & Partnerships
Sound Rivers welcomes opportunities to serve as a resource with teachers to provide programs tailored to lesson plans.
EENC (Environmental Educators of North Carolina)
EENC connects environmental educators across the state, providing networking opportunities, professional development, and resources to support their work. The organization offers mini-grants to support educators in implementing environmental education projects and recognizes excellence in the field through its annual awards ceremony. EENC also collaborates with other organizations, such as EarthShare NC, to further its mission of promoting environmental literacy and stewardship.
tags: #environmental #educators #of #north #carolina #resources
