Through a series of three learning experiences, taking place across multiple weeks, students will participate in inquiry-based learning about the county in which they live and learn. Students will write informative pieces to teach others about the natural and cultural communities of Adams County.

Recommended resources that Lucille Barr has used in her classroom. Lucille has graciously shared them with the Advancing Environmental Literacy through Culturally-Relevant Text Sets group.

The "Dairy Products in Wisconsin" unit for high school English Language Learners focuses on enhancing various linguistic skills through practical and engaging activities. I created this slideshow as a daily launch for mini-lessons in ag-themed language activities for my students in Food Science learning English as an additional language.

This template is to be used in the Connect, Explore, Engage professional learning series. Sign into WISELearn to create your own copy of this resource and update the template and this abstract.

Context:The teachers facilitate an author study every year among our K-2 unit. This year, we wanted to focus on local authors who have written picture books that address both cultural and environmental literacy. The books included in this unit by Miranda and Baptiste Paul. These texts teach about the water cycle, the life cycle of plants, how our environment impacts our recreation, and how individuals can rally their communities to make improvements in their environment.  understanding.About the author: Ned Dorff has been teaching for 20 years. He has taught regular, gifted, special, and alternative education classes. Ned holds a master’s degree in Environmental Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

This unit begins and ends with the motivating reality that my fifth graders are responsible forthe raspberry patch on our school grounds. Since they are responsible for maintaining,harvesting, and caring for this patch in general, it is a logical connection that they should beknowledgeable about it. In the end, it is a true learning-by-doing experience. It should benoted that this is an ongoing recurring type of unit that we come back to with variousexperiences throughout the school year.

Authors: Tiffany Lodholz, Morgan May, Jenny GrimesSchool: High Marq Environmental Charter School, Montello School DistrictUnit Title: Garden MathGrade Level: 7-12Content Area(s): Environmental Science, MathematicsContext:High Marq Environmental Charter School is a project and place based school that serves grades 7-12 in Marquette County, Wisconsin. Each week our students participate in a full day field experience designed to connect, explore and engage with the outdoors. These five lessons were all a part of those experiences. Our focus this year was on gardening. All of these lessons took place in the school garden on campus, Our school district has a greenhouse for us to start seeds in and our garden uses primarily raised beds. The students also traveled to a local greenhouse to purchase supplemental plants, soil, mulch, hay, and other accessories.

Through a study of the Central Sand Plains region of Wisconsin, students will participate in learning experiences both in the classroom and outdoors, so that they can recognize and identify natural divisions and forest types within this region. Students will learn how the conditions essential for a native forest community can help us make decisions about what foods grow best in our region. They will write a research piece to compare and contrast the life cycles and structures of two plants, one forest and one garden plant) we have studied.

Developing environmentally literate citizens is the primary goal of environmental science.  One of the four components of environmental literacy is "connecting to nature".  Culture plays a key role in the way individuals connect to their environment.  Understanding culture also supports the development of a culturally responsive classroom and helps students develop an understanding of environmental justice, another key concept of environmental science.  This lesson helps students explore their own culture and compare and contrast it with other cultures.

Author: Ned Dorff, Teacher, Aldo Leopold Community School, Green Bay Area Public SchoolsUnit Title: Monarch MathGrade Level: 2nd gradeContent Areas: Mathematics, Science, Social StudiesContext: Second grade students engaged in a seven-lesson integrated math, science, and social studies unit of study of monarch butterflies, migration, life cycles, and habitat needs. The unit concluded with students proposing environmental actions to help protect and support the endangered Monarch butterfly.

Unit Title: Near Nature Exploration Developed by Tiffany Lodholz, High Marq Environmental Charter School Grade Level:6-12 Content Area(s): Environmental Science, Science, ELAOver the course of a semester students in grades 6-12 engaged in various nature journaling activities that allowed them to connect, explore, and engage with the environment around them. Students participated in monthly phenological observations, discovered ways to use nature journaling for scientific study, and developed new techniques for looking closer and making deeper, more meaningful observations.A series of five outdoor nature journaling lessons are described:Qualitative PhenologyNature JournalingSAUNTERBug RadnessFrog Fest!

Author: Tammy Moncel, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School Middle School, Integrated ScienceProtection of freshwater on Earth is a global responsibility but the Native American efforts to protect the Great Lakes Freshwater is of particular interest to the people throughout Wisconsin. The movie “Bad River” is a relevant perspective of some key arguments from the view of the water protectors in Native American communities. This documentary highlights Native speakers and the defiance of the Bad River tribe required to stand up to oil companies. This movie was used at the end of our school year (coinciding with the release date of the documentary) to promote understanding of the Native American perspective of issues that have been a great source of media attention throughout the state of Wisconsin. A major part of understanding the importance of freshwater protection includes an understanding of the water cycle. The very simplified version of the water cycle includes precipitation, evaporation and condensation. The handouts of these words with pictures and Ojibwemowin translations gives students a starting point to talk about water as a closed system with continuous recycling in nature. My students were able to connect the English vocabulary meaning to the descriptive Ojibwemowin translation.

NGSS standards require students to not only think like scientists, but to communicate in the manner that scientists do as well. Creating the conditions and providing the structures and supports for science discourse are key! Join FIELD Edventures and guest speaker, Suzy Zietlow, Discovery Charter School Teacher, and 2022 NSTA Conference presenter as she shares strategies and routines. Nature Journaling for Science Instruction.

This recording from February 16, 2022 will enable viewers to learn alongside Skylar Primm, advisor and co-lead teacher of High Marq Environmental Charter School, Montello, WI as we explore ways to incorporate phenology studies along with nature journaling for science instruction.

The is the recording of the online collaboration of the BEETLES and Nature Journaling WISELearn Group collaboration on March 2, 2022.

Slight shifts in lesson structures can meaningfully engage learners inequitable and culturally-relevant inquiries. Experience instruction in ways that people really learn and share your ideas for implementation. Come prepared with a nature journal or paper, pencils, and colored pencils as you view and participate in these recorded experiences.

Cynthia Bachhuber, introduces us to the wide range of sources available and delve into how historians use these sources to construct our histories. We’ll explore how archives are created, what it means to use these materials as a critical thinker, and how you can access physical and digital primary sources as an educator. Primary source material may be included as texts as you develop your text sets in this project. Find out how historical resources can support learning in all content areas.

Speaker: Cynthia Bachhuber is a librarian/archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society where she focuses on outreach & instruction - making history accessible and relevant.

The collaborative online conversations and chats have resulted in document of resources entered into the chats for each of the sessions of Advancing Environmental Literacy through Culturally-Relevant Text Sets.

The document is a work in progress and contributions of group members will be added and revised with on ongoing collaborations.

This is a collaborative document of resources recommended by members of the Using BEETLES and Nature Journaling for High Quality Science Instruction. It is compilation of the ongoing chats of the Zoom meetings of the group.

Updates and revisions will occur throughout the collaboration by members of the group.

Author: Lucille Burr GrignonCurrently teaching from my Indigenous Homestead/Gardens. Ancient Roots Homestead in Bowler, WisconsinAncient Roots Homestead collaborates with students, elders, community members in the surrounding Tribal Nations– both Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee and beyond. We recognize all students learn in different ways. Some students join us in person, while others join us virtually. People of all ages are invited to tell stories, garden, connect and reconnect, preserve food, make music, create art, and learn different Indigenous life skills, and more.Maple Sugar season is a beautiful time for learning. So much is happening in the world around us, all we have to do to learn is observe. The seasons change, the trees grow and develop. From the tapping of the trees, boiling down, canning, educating, and processing. It is very beautiful from beginning to end. The lessons learned while working with maple trees can be directly applied and used in our own lives.The culturally-relevant text sets offer different perspectives for students to see as well as wonderful conversation starters. Students learn of different careers within the Indigenous World. Some of those careers being: Traditional Seed Keepers, Gardeners, Knowledge Keepers, Storytellers, and More!

Author: Lela Schwitzer, Bonduel Elementary School, BonduelGrade: 1stIn the CKLA Knowledge Domain 8 Animal Habitats, I used Native authors, an Indigenous documentary on sturgeon, our school woods/stream, a local sturgeon webcam, and my Menominee heritage to extend students’ knowledge of the freshwater habitat to promote their environmental capacity to protect area waters similarly as the books’ characters do. The overarching question is Who Are Water Protectors? I used the picture books to provide background knowledge on water protectors and to learn how others interact with water in their area. The documentary conveyed how the Menominee people are connected to the freshwater fish, sturgeon, and how this fish’s survival is important because Namo’o is the keeper of our stories. The webcam connects all students to the sturgeon and gives access to experience their return to spawn. Visiting our school woods and the stream that flows through it provides a meaningful reason to be a water protector to preserve this natural resource for future Bonduel Elementary students. Further, students are given the opportunity to sign a Water Protector Pledge after discussing it at home with their families. Students will be offered an opportunity to clean the freshwater watershed of our school stream on Earth Day. The hope is that students will become lifelong protectors of natural resources.