Connect, Explore, and Engage: John Muir's Boyhood Neighborhood

John Muir is known as the father of our National Parks. His boyhood was spent in Marquette County, Wisconsin where he found inspiration in the wilderness around him. In this Unit, students will learn about John Muir’s boyhood neighborhood and actively work to preserve it, connect with Muir’s many accomplishments, understand different environmental philosophies, and saunter in nature while observing and reflecting on the world around them. Students will Connect, Explore, and Engage through intentional time in nature, reflective writing, reading inspirational passages by Muir, and using technology to document changes over time.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Author: Tiffany Lodholz

Connecting Content to ELS Standards

Using a weekly assessment to link environmental studies content to an ELS standard.

Material Type: Other

Author: Kendra Liddicoat

A Cool Connection: Using a short story or a one act play to explore the environmental impact of electricity use

This activity uses the reading, A Cool Connection (as a short story or one act play), to increase student understanding of how electrical power gets to their home and to introduce the connections between environmental problems and personal consumption. The storyline revolves around a group of high school students seeking relief from a heatwave while planning activities for their Ecology Club. Topics introduced and assessed: • The steps needed to move electrical power from where it is produced to where it is consumed • The environmental costs of energy production • The social costs of not meeting electrical demand

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Joe Riederer

Elementary Orienteering

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.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Authors: Sandy Benton, Mary Peterson, Rick Clark

Environmental Literacy & Science Lesson Plan

This template is to be used in the “Connect, Explore, and Engage: Using the Environment as the Context for Science Learning” professional learning series. Sign into WISELearn to create your own copy of this resource and update the template and this abstract.

Material Type: Lesson

Author: Sandy Benton

February 2, 2022 Recording Connect, Explore, Engage with Standards for Culturally-Relevant Text Sets

View the recording of session with DPI Environmental Education Consultant, Victoria Rydberg to find out how these seven standards can help you connect, explore, and engage with environmental literacy in your curriculum! Designed and adopted by the state of Wisconsin in 2018, learn how these standards provide educators with strong themes to design text-sets for culturally-relevant learning.

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Sandy Benton

Going Out on a Limb-Plant Communities of Wisconsin Central Sand Plains

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.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Authors: Victoria Rydberg-Nania, Sandy Benton, Pamela Bilderback, Kristin Grooms, Michele Crispell

A Grab Bag of Nature Journaling at High Marq

This unit includes five nature journaling experiences implemented at High Marq Environmental Charter School during the 2021-22 school year. They are a bit of a grab bag in terms of subject and skills focus, but all included practices from How to Teach Nature Journaling by Emilie Lygren and John Muir Laws. Please Remix this template for your purposes.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Learning Task

Author: Skylar Primm

THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON PHENOLOGY OF INDIGENOUS NATURAL RESOURCES

The Bayfield High School Ojibwe Language Course focuses on teaching traditional Ojibwe lifeways while using the Ancestral language. Students will learn how the Ojibwe people historically depended on natural resources for their survival. One activity that occurs in the spring is the investigation of Plant Phenology. The students will further their investigation by looking into reasons why the Phenology of certain plants vary. The students will focus on the impact of climate change and how it poses many risks to phenological events in the plants used by the Great lakes Ojibwe. Students will list various plants, research, and record the phenological events of the plants. Students will compare their observations with the previous year to determine if the plants are impacted by Climate change.  Local tribal elders and harvesters provide traditional stories and observations to gain a historical information on plant phenology. Through this activity, Bayfield students learn about how climate change can alter the phenology of some plant species and might impact traditional harvesting.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Authors: Rick Erickson, rebecca boyd

Introduction to 2022 WL Advancing EL Through Culturally Relevant Texts

Slide Deck for Introductory Session held January 26, 2022

Material Type: Unit of Study

Author: Sandy Benton

Introduction to Environmental Literacy & Sustainability Standards

This resource shows how a teacher educator can unpack a general overview of the connect, explore and engage strands of Wisconsin's Environmental Literacy and Sustainability (WELS) Standards. While pre-service teachers will undoubtedly become immersed in WELS standards during their science and science methods courses, the integration of WELS standards from the very beginning of their teacher certification program is a proactive approach to learning.   The placement of WELS standards into the beginning of their program will hopefully increase the likelihood these future educators will  value this integration as a natural part of their teaching requirements rather than as an additional concept to squeeze in.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Homework/Assignment, Learning Task

Author: Corey Thompson

Investigating Water in My Backyard

This inquiry is designed for supporting students' independent exploration of water outdoors as well as the use of computer interactives. 

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive

Authors: Victoria Rydberg-Nania, Sandy Benton, Ruth Ann Lee

Iskigamizigan (Sugarbush)

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School has an annual sugarbush within a few miles of the school.  During the Spring sugarbush season, students are bussed to the site, by class, to do the variety of daily tasks required to successfully produce maple syrup.  The LCO middle school students follow the Ojibwe traditions.  They hear the traditional stories, learn words and phrases in the Ojibwemowin language, tap trees, collect and boil sap, chop wood and build fires. The students learn about tree identification, photosynthesis, and aging trees using cross sections.  They also learn about the importance and uses of Maple trees.  The students learn that the environmental conditions needed to make maple syrup are only found in a very small part of the world that includes Wisconsin.  The combination of hands-on exploration and culturally - relevant texts personalize the learning experience for this region.   

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Authors: Rick Erickson, Tammy Moncel

“January Thaw” from A Sand County Almanac

Through this interactive, hands-on lesson, students will read and gain an understanding of Aldo Leopold’s essay, “January Thaw”. This lesson is best taught in January and/or when animal tracks are present outside.

Material Type: Lesson, Unit of Study

Authors: Sandy Benton, Brittany Hager

K-12 Forestry Lesson Guides - LEAF - Wisconsin’s K-12 Forestry Education Program

he LEAF Wisconsin K-12 Forestry Lesson Guide includes complete interdisciplinary units for teaching students about forests and forestry in Wisconsin. Subject areas addressed in the lessons include Arts, English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. The Wisconsin Model Academic Standards and H. Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory were referenced during the development of the guide. The LEAF Lesson Guide is based on principles outlined in the LEAF Conceptual Guide To K-12 Forestry Education in Wisconsin. Unit-Based Lessons The unit-based lessons are divided by grade levels: K-1, 2-3, 4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12. Lessons build upon one another to provide connectivity in the students' educational experience. When taught as a unit, these lessons provide students a well-rounded understanding of forestry in Wisconsin. You may find that they are also effective when taught individually and integrated with other classroom material. Each lesson includes an introduction, step-by-step procedure for activities, and a conclusion. Formative assessment is woven throughout each lesson. Questions with answers are provided to help teachers follow the level of understanding of students. Summative assessment ideas are listed at the end of each lesson. Suggested activities have students apply what they have learned in a new way.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: University of Wisconsin Stevens Pont

Landforms of Adams County, WI

Students will use hands-on models, maps, and the natural landscape to describe landforms in our area and and develop and understanding of the effects of water and wind on these landforms. Prior to these lessons, students will have had experiences with the use of "I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of" protocols as well as field journaling. This is a unit for second grade landforms that culminates in a visit to Roche-A-Cri State Park.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Authors: Victoria Rydberg-Nania, Sandy Benton, Deb Clark, Samantha Stormoen, Melissa Osborn

Lesson

This lesson uses the an inquiry-based approach to learning modified from the BEETLES Learning Cycle to explore wind and wind energy. 

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive

Authors: Victoria Rydberg-Nania, Sandy Benton, Melissa Ruether

Mandaamin, Mashkodesimin, Okosimaan: The Three Sisters (Corn, Beans, Squash/Pumpkin)

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe school is a Bureau of Indian Education/Tribally controlled school catering to students who are themselves tribally enrolled or a descendant of a tribal member. Our school has a close working relationship with the Lac Courte Oreilles College Extension program, including access to the college farm. In an effort to encourage students to learn where their food comes from, make more informed decisions about what they eat and how what they eat impacts the environment, students are introduced to indigenous teachings regarding companion planting of food crops. Though the growing part of this project is long term, students learn about the process of seed development, understand the length of time it takes for a plant to mature and ultimately provide food sources. An additional benefit to this project is that it provides students with a sense of nurturing as they help their plants thrive. 

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Rick Erickson, Wendy Fuller

Middle School Ecosystem Dynamics & Interactions Unit - Phenomena Found in Agriculture

What do Prairie Chickens Need in Order to Survive Today's Prairie? This middle school unit covering ecosystems, animal behavior and symbiosis was developed through the Storyline approach. Middle school students will be figuring out why prairie chickens have a very unique dance and understand the role cows play to help ensure the dance takes place. Using this approach, students engage in science concepts to help ensure the survival of the prairie chicken.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Middle School Science: Health Care Careers

Air pollution is commonly a result of human activities, but in turn can be harmful to human health and also the environment. Air pollution can make it more difficult to breathe, particularly for people who have asthma and for the elderly, but anyone who spends time outside can be affected by poor air quality. Exposure to air pollution can cause respiratory infections, heart disease, and lung cancer.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Katie Feuerhelm