Teaching resources

Tools for teaching – Gear to help you get students outside, investigating and learning about the natural world

Acorn Naturalist - California-based company that offers school supplies, science and nature activity kits, and hands-on educational resources for parents, teachers, naturalists, camp leaders, outdoor educators, homeschoolers, preschool, and after school educators. One of our long-time supports and sponsors, Acorn Naturalists is your go-to site for teaching materials. 

The Outdoor Learning Store - A charitable social enterprise offering excellent outdoor learning equipment & resources with 100% of proceeds going back to supporting outdoor learning non-profit initiatives! 

Pedagogy – How to Teach

BEETLES Pedagogy Resources Learning sessions, with follow-up activities and routines, to help outdoor educators deepen their understanding of research-based science pedagogy.

Grow-Outside A Social and Emotional Learning Toolkit for Residential Environmental Learning Centers (applicable to all outdoor instruction settings)

Tools for Ambitious Science Teaching Provides a vision of ambitious science instruction for elementary, middle school and high school classrooms.

Curriculum – What to Teach

Air Quality Resources from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

BEETLES

• Resources for Outdoor Science Experiences Three types of resources for field instruction: Student activity guides, how-to videos, and additional instructor support materials.
• Resources for Indoor Science Experiences Curriculum resources and support for indoor science experiences to complement the outdoor science field experience.

California Coastal Voices A project-based learning tool developed by the California Coastal Commission, exploring and communicating coastal science, engineering, and policy in middle and high school.

California State Parks Offering the Parks Online Resources for Teachers & Students program, a FREE distance learning program that uses interactive videoconferencing to assist K-12 educators teach Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards in the context of California State Parks.

California Department of Conservation NGSS-based earth science learning resources and teaching materials for K-12 educators.

EEI Curriculum California's groundbreaking, first-in-the nation K-12 environmental education curriculum.

Kiss the Ground This free middle-school curriculum, developed in partnership with Life Lab, is designed to introduce young people to the magic of soil and the fascinating connection it has to the food we eat, our health, and our climate. The five-lesson curriculum, written to serve as supplemental material for the Next Generation Science Standards, teaches about the carbon cycle, photosynthesis, soil science, and various agricultural practices before it concludes with a regenerative soil-based project. 

NASA From the Joint Propulsion Laboratory and Cal Tech, an activity graphing sea-level trends.

Nature Journaling A free comprehensive guide for educators, parents, and those wishing to mentor others to develop journaling skills, by John Muir Laws and Emily Lygren.

Project Learning Tree Multi-disciplinary, hands-on environmental education lessons for all grade levels.

Project Wet Complete lesson plans from water education specialists.

TickSense Tick education, by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation