Ideal for remote, hybrid, or in-person implementation, the Urban Nature Partnership helps teachers harness the positive effects of nature on students’ social-emotional well being through a combination of in-school and outdoor science learning that is both rigorous and accessible.
Teacher teams in grades K through 3rd are invited to apply for this grant-funded teacher professional development program focused on best practices in science instruction and connecting classroom learning with familiar and accessible place-based outdoor experiences.
This application is now closed, but learn how Remote Science on the Go can bring the science of local nature and ecosystems into your classroom, by clicking here.
Program Highlights
- In-Class Support
- A locally focused, NGSS aligned five lesson Remote Science on the Go curriculum in English and Spanish
- Digital and print materials to support your classroom learning plan and outdoor student field trip experiences
- Three Nature Museum educator virtually taught lessons, including a virtual lesson, a virtual field trip workshop, and a school yard field trip experience
- Professional Development
- Earn up to 12 PDCHs
- Three after-school professional development workshops focused on Nature Museum curriculum, best practices in outdoor education, and planning student connections to local nature
- Three Museum Educator lesson modeling visits
- Three collaboration meetings
- Outdoor Learning
- Connect in- and out-of-school learning through outdoor exploration, with the support of Nature Museum educators
- Materials to support Museum Educator-led schoolyard outdoor workshop with students and teacher-led schoolyard experience
Remote Science on the Go by Grade
Grade K: Nature Changes the Neighborhood
DCI: ESS2.E
Explore how local plants and animals change the land and the flow of water.
Grade 1: Plants in Their Places,
DCI: LS2.A
Notice where plants grow and discover how their needs are met in these places.
Grade 2: Making Sense of Butterflies
DCI: LS1.D
Explore the ways butterflies find out about the world around them, and how they respond to the information they collect.
Grade 3: Our Nesting Neighbors
DCI: LS2.C
Investigate how populations of common (and uncommon) birds vary across the city, and what those patterns reveal about birds and their habitats.
Program Components Timeline
- Application and registration deadline: January 7, 2021
- Remote Science on the Go implementation: February 9 – March 26, 2021
- Teacher PD workshops: February 9, April 13, May 26, 2021, 4-6pm
- Schoolyard Museum Educator-led experience: May 2021
How to Apply
Teachers and their administrators must commit to full participation in all the program components listed above, and have at least three classrooms participating per school. This grant-funded opportunity is open to schools serving communities with demonstrated need.
Application closes January 7, 2021. Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis. School teams will be notified of their status in this program on or before January 14, 2021.
Questions? Reach out to us at teacherprograms@naturemuseum.org.
If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it. Perhaps this is what Thoreau had in mind when he said, ‘the more slowly trees grow at first, the sounder they are at the core, and I think the same is true of human beings’.
Sobel, David. (1996). Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education. Great Barrington, MA: Orion Society.
Do you ever wonder how a butterfly gets its colors? Or how turtles hibernate? Do you wonder how birds know where to migrate each year? For over 160 years, the Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum has served a unique role in the city of Chicago connecting children of all ages to nature and science through immersive exhibits, fun family events, important conservation research and in-depth education programs, inspiring the wonder in all of us.