Teacher Resource Center

Our Teacher Resource Center is designed to provide resources and materials for teachers to use in their classrooms. We offer a variety of lesson plans, games, and activities to guide you in exploring habitats and nature with your students.

Sign-up! From slideshows to live birds, we have many programs and presentations listed below that are available for local classrooms. If you have questions or want to schedule a program or be added to our teacher database to receive bi-annual updates of our in-school programs, please contact our Programs Coordinator by email or at (408) 252-3740.

Available Resources listed below:

• Activities from our Library
• Online Presentations
• Audubon Adventures
• Classroom Visits
• Wetlands Discovery Program
• Nature Walks for Scout Troops

Activities from our Library

We keep a variety of lesson plans, games, and activities at our headquarters in Cupertino, where they are organized by topics of interest, such as birds, habitats, and endangered species. We welcome educators to view and photocopy these resources. In addition, Science CDs and videos, Education Kits, bird nests, and mounted birds in plexiglass cases are available to checkout. The Teacher Resource Center Index contains a complete listing of our available resources.

Online Presentations

We have three downloadable presentation packets to use in your classrooms. These packets contain a color slideshow and a full script zipped together in one convenient folder.

• Birds Around Us focuses on backyard and schoolyard birds. It includes a student journal, which students complete while watching the slideshow.
• Wonders of Wetlands describes the different types of wetlands, the history of wetlands, and the plants and animals found there, including 15 of the most common birds seen in Bay Area wetlands. It was developed to compliment our Wetlands Discovery Program.
• Wetland Birds presents over 35 different species of birds found in our wetlands. It focuses on behavioral and biological characteristics.

Audubon Adventures

Audubon Adventures classroom kits consist of four sets of environmentally focused newsletters, posters, and a classroom resource guide for teachers. The National Audubon Society develops these kits for forth to sixth grades. Subjects from previous years include autumn wildlife, animal talk, marine mammals, amazing snakes, spring songbirds, dragonflies and damselflies, and the hidden world of ponds.

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Classroom Visits

Our dynamic volunteers visit classrooms at the request of teachers. They present an environmental education unit using one of our existing programs, such as the slide show Bird Skins and Nests or a bird walk using binoculars at your school site. Classroom visits fill quickly, so please schedule three to four weeks in advance!

Wetlands Discovery Program (WDP)

Since 1988, thousands of school children have explored rich, unique, local habitats by participating our flagship education program, the Wetlands Discovery Program. With the help of our volunteers, students are introduced to wetland habitats, birds, and ecology through hands-on classroom activities. These engaging activities prepare the children for a field trip to local wetlands where docents supply binoculars then guide them through the habitat to investigate the birds, plants, and animals that live there.

If you are a teacher that is interested in participating this year, read the newly revised Wetlands Discovery Program Introduction. Read this even if you have participated before since we are constantly updating it.

After reading this introduction, view the available program dates for this school year in our WDP Calendar. Note: dates are available on a first-come-first-served basis and it is not scheduled until you receive a confirmation message from our Programs Coordinator.

After your program, it is very important that you fill-out the Teacher Evaluation form so we can keep improving this program in the future.

Visit "Avery the Avocet" after your wetlands fieldtrip.

Last modified February 2010