Teacher workshops are presented at your school. Relevant field trips can also be arranged. Workshop times and activities may be flexible.

All programs involve live animals, a lively presentation of relevant background information, engaging hands-on activities, creative make-and-take sessions and a wealth of classroom-tested interdisciplinary lesson plans and resources that will engage your students, develop critical and creative thinking skills, and motivate them to become life-long stewards of our precious natural world.

Lessons and activities are adaptable for students in grades K - 8. Teacher Inservice credit can be arranged.

All workshops are presented by Sandy Beck. To discuss program fees and to schedule a Wild Classroom Teacher Workshop, please e-mail or call us at (850) 562-8542.

Presentation Title: Tigers of the Sky, an Interdisciplinary Unit on Native Owls
Workshop Time: 6 hours, plus one hour for lunch
Setting: Indoor and outdoor
Methods: Hands-on, Presentation and Make & Take
Activities: Presentation with live, native owls (science, language arts, social studies); write and illustrate wild poetry (language arts, art); dissect owl pellets and reconstruct prey animal (science, art, language arts); outdoor camouflage activity (science, math); microscope feather study (science, language arts, art).
Intended Audience: Elementary and Middle School Teachers
Preferred Group: 30 or fewer participants
Equipment Needs: tables and chairs, projection screen, electricity
Abstract: She is a skilled hunter who can hear a mouse's heart beat 30 feet away and see better beneath a moonless sky than we can at noon. The owls which capture our own imaginations also provide inspiration for creative classroom activities. In this session, you will meet (up close!) and learn about Florida's native owls, participate in four engaging, hands-on activities and receive exciting lesson plans and resources to take back to your own classroom. Teachers also receive "Owls Are the Tigers of the Sky," a film about our native owls by Sandy Beck.

See photos of a Tigers of the Sky workshop presented for Leon County School teachers on April 6, 2010.

Presentation Title: Wild Words for Wild Wings, an Interdisciplinary Unit for the Birds
Workshop Time: 6 - 7 hours, plus one hour for lunch
Setting: Indoor and outdoor
Methods: Hands-on, Presentation and Make & Take
Activities: Identify common, native songbirds and birds of prey using PowerPoint slides, field books, recordings and the Internet (language arts, science, social studies); identify, compare and contrast adaptations that enable birds to survive in their habitats (science, math, language arts); determine the cause/effect roles played by humans in the environment (social studies, science, math, language arts); use the Internet to follow and learn about bird migration (technology, language arts, social studies, science, math); create action projects that help conserve Florida's birds and the habitats we share (all subjects); create a personal field notebook with bird ID's, sketches, poems, and nature notes (art, language arts, math); cook suet, a creative treat for backyard birds (math, art, language arts) build a wooden nest box (math, language arts, art).
Preferred Group: 12 - 24
Equipment Needs: large tables and chairs, computers (preferred, but not necessary), electricity, projection screen.
Abstract: Watching birds is something you can do for a few fleeting moments as a bright red cardinal flies by, or something that might become a life-long passion. You can do it by sitting inside looking out the window, or by hiking in the woods with a pair of binoculars. But all who take time to notice birds and hear their songs have in one thing in common -- they take greater joy in the world around them than the average person. With about 220 different species of birds, some permanent residents and others seasonal visitors, Leon County is truly a bird-lover's paradise! Research has also shown that students who learn to focus and notice the details that separate a blue jay from a blue bird, also learn to focus on the details that make them better readers, writers and scientists.

The Wild Classroom