Teachers resources | Birdwatching, fishing, hiking | Kankakee River Valley Forest Preserve District

Teacher's Resources

Dear teachers, parents, grandparents, scout leaders and all others who work with young people. I hope you and your young people enjoy the resources on this page

If you would like a program at the Kankakee River Valley Forest Preserve, please give us a call and we can custom design a program for your class that fits your curriculum. Our outdoor programs are hands-on observation activities where students become familiar with the scientific method and use some of the field techniques practiced by restoration, wildlife and environmental biologists. For studying natural history during those times of the year when the weather is inclement, there are also many science based activities and materials at the Shannon Bayou Environmental Education Center in Aroma Park.

There is no charge for programs at the Kankakee River Valley Forest Preserve.

GENERAL:

http://www.fws.gov/educators/

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service education page - great resources for families, children, youth and educators

http://education.usgs.gov/

United States Geological Survey educational page -Biology, Geography, Geology, Water, and much more...

http://www.epa.gov/epahome/educational.htm

Environmental Protection Agency educational resources

http://www.nps.gov/learn/

(National Parks Service education page)

https://naaee.org/about-us

North American Association for Environmental Education

http://www.epa.state.il.us/kids/teachers/materials-resources/index.html

(Illinois Environmental Protection Agency educational materials & resources)

http://ed.fnal.gov/

(website of the Fermilab Science Education Office)

http://www.projectwild.org/

Project WILD is a wildlife-focused conservation education program for K-12 educators and their students.

https://www.fieldmuseum.org/educators

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/online_interactive.htm

Field Museum online interactives

http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html

The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. On more than 10,000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history

http://www.epa.state.il.us/kids/teachers/materials-resources/index.html

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/

Illinois Department of Natural Resources

http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/CLASSRM/aquatic/index.htm

Illinois Department of Natural Resources

http://www.mammalsociety.org/aboutmammals/index.html

http://community.discoveryeducation.com/resources/science

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/

Illinois Natural History Survey

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/index.html

University of Illinois Extension

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/taxaform.html

A list of the major groups of life - Eukaryotes, Bacteria, Archaea, Viruses

https://www.nps.gov/teachers/index.htm

National Park Service educational resources

http://sciencespot.net/Pages/nclsslnks.html

Environmental education resources

http://wilderdom.com/

A project in natural living and transformation

http://www.sas.org/

(society for amateur scientists with a section on youth education, science projects &

ANIMAL TRACKING:

http://www.bear-tracker.com/

ASTRONOMY & EARTH SCIENCE:

https://www.nasa.gov/stem/foreducators

(NASA STEM resource center for educators and students offers a variety of free educational material to enhance the instruction of mathematics, science and technology)

http://www.spacescience.org/education/instructional_materials.html

Space Science Institute

http://www.astrosociety.org/education/activities/astroacts08.html#19

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific provides a great many links to online resources as well as lesson plans and activities that can be downloaded

http://near.jhuapl.edu/ed/index.html

http://161.58.115.79/education/astro/astropubs/universe.html

To order Universe at Your Fingertips, providing a multitude of classroom lessons and activities

BATS

http://habitat.ms11.net//bat/bathome.htm

Bat house page; plans approved by Bat Conservation International

http://www.batcon.org/home/

Bat Conservational International website

BIODIVERSITY

http://www.eol.org/

Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is a free, online collaborative encyclopedia

http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange

CLIMATE CHANGE on The Nature Conservancy website

ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY: EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/chf/pub/educational_mat.php

INSECTS & ARTHROPODS:

http://iitc.tamu.edu/lesson_plans.html#7-8

http://tolweb.org/accessory/Jumping_Spider_Vision?acc_id=1946

http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/

http://www.naba.org/

(North American Butterfly Association)

http://www.butterflies.com/

ENVIRONMENT & POLLUTION:

http://www.epa.state.il.us/kids/teachers/environmental-pathways/

PLANTS:

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/plantpollination/

PRAIRIE:

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/tallgrass.html

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairielinks.html

(links to prairie web sites)

http://ed.fnal.gov/help/prairie/Prairie_Res/index.html

http://ed.fnal.gov/help/prairie/4prairie/

(FermiLab prairie projects; lesson plans grades 4-5

http://ed.fnal.gov/data/prairie_resources.shtml

(FermiLab web links to online prairie resources)

http://ed.fnal.gov/data/life_sci/prairie/

(FermiLab prairie advocates project and quadrat study project)

SEEDS FOR EDUCATION - GRANTS FOR SCHOOL GARDENS:

http://www.wildones.org/seeds-for-education/

WATER:

http://www.pacinst.org/

http://www.americanrivers.org/

WETLANDS:

https://wisconsinwetlands.org/

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/everglades/FEwetlands3.html

WOLF:

http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/justkids/wolfquest.asp

Learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park through WolfQuest. WolfQuest is a web-based video game that simulates the wolf's quest for prey that it must hunt to survive.)