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Free materials for teachers available from IDNR
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[AUG.
10, 2004]
SPRINGFIELD
-- Teachers heading back to their classrooms are encouraged to
supplement their lessons with free, Illinois-specific educational
materials and programs from the Illinois Department of Natural
Resources. The department's
Educational Services Section offers a wide variety of free natural
resources materials that are correlated to the Illinois Learning
Standards.
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Posters, activity books, CD-ROMs, DVDs
More than 20 posters
are available, most with supplemental information, on topics
including trees, birds, insects, threatened and endangered species,
frogs and toads, snakes, turtles, rivers, and wetlands. Activity
books and worksheets are available in classroom sets. Topics include
trees, birds, prairies, insects and state symbols. The CD-ROM
formats include information, lessons, student activities, nature
sounds and video. Five videos in DVD format help explore natural
resources of Illinois without leaving the classroom.
Resources on loan
Items for loan
include the “Illinois Tree Trunks” and the new “Illinois Wild
Mammals Trunks.” The trunks are large plastic containers full of
resources. Each
Illinois Tree Trunk has lessons, videos, posters, tree
"cookies," lumber samples, rubber leaves, seeds, tree sampling
equipment and more items related to trees and forestry. The
Illinois Wild Mammals Trunks are filled with field guides,
CD-ROMs, a DVD, fur samples, skulls, track and scat replicas,
lessons, activity sheets, posters, and other items. Suggested loan
time for the trunks is two weeks. For information about both trunks,
visit
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/
classrm/teach.htm.
Grants
Schoolyard Habitat
Action Grants of up to $600 can provide funds for schoolyard
wildlife habitat improvement projects. Applications are due by Oct.
15. Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grants of up to $500 per
teacher can pay for transportation, substitute teachers, equipment
and other items to take students outdoors to study the biodiversity
of our state. The two application periods per year have deadlines of
Oct. 15 and Feb. 15. Information and application forms for both
grant programs can be found at
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/
classrm/grants.htm.
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Teacher workshops
Illinois ENTICE
and
Project WILD, WILD Aquatic, Learning Tree and WET workshops for
educators offer continuing professional development units as
teachers learn about natural resources concepts and receive
classroom-ready supplemental materials. For more information about
these programs and to view workshop schedules, visit
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/index.htm.
Federal junior duck stamp design
contest
An art contest for
grades K-12 promotes wetland and waterfowl conservation. For more
information, visit
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/
classrm/ribbon/main.htm.
National Arbor Day poster contest
Arbor Day poster
competition for fifth-grade students focuses on forests, tree
diversity and tree planting. Application packets are mailed to the
schools each fall and are also available online at
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/
classrm/poster.htm.
More information on all of the free
materials available to teachers from the Illinois Department of
Natural Resources is available by contacting the department's
Educational Services Section at (217) 524-4126, by e-mail to
teachkids@dnrmail.state.il.us
or on the Web at
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/
classrm/teach.htm.
[Illinois
Department of Natural Resources
news release]
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