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A monthly publication about conservation in Missouri. Started in 1938, the printed magazine is free to residents of Missouri.
KIRKWOOD, Mo. — MDC invites teachers to attend a Discover Nature Schools (DNS) teacher training workshop for Nature Unhooked, the DNS aquatic instructional unit designed for grades 6-8. This program provides grant funding for middle school life science units to help cover equipment costs and field trips.
The workshop will be held Saturday, Aug. 20 from 8:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center in Kirkwood. The workshop is free of charge for educators. The nature center is located at 11715 Cragwold Road, near the intersection of I-270 and I-44.
“The Discover Nature Schools program is an excellent way to connect students of all ages with the benefits of outdoor learning and provides a place-based, experiential, approach to science education focusing on Missouri plants, animals and natural systems,” said MDC Conservation Educator David Bruns.
Nature Unhooked is aligned with the Missouri Learning Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. Emphasis of this unit is on student-centered and collaborative investigations of the properties of water, water cycle, biotic energy flow, biodiversity, and human impacts on aquatic ecosystems. A project-based learning component is also included in this unit. This workshop will cover lessons and activities from the unit as well as an outdoor, experiential approach to student learning. All materials will be provided.
Participants who teach this unit to 20 or more students will become eligible to participate in the non-competitive grant program for equipment and field trips that support the unit. Portions of this workshop will take place outdoors. Participants should dress for the weather and bring a sack lunch.
MDC’s DNS program provides no-cost curriculum units to teachers and schools in the state of Missouri. Curriculum units are available for preschool through 12th grade and help teachers and students meet required state learning standards. The Discover Nature Schools program continues to be very popular and is being used within every school district in Missouri.
The workshop is free however space is limited, and participants must register to attend the workshop. To register for the workshop, visit the MDC Teacher Portal at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/4S6, log on or create an account, click the registration tab, and complete the short form.
For questions, contact David Bruns at David.Bruns@mdc.mo.gov, or 314-301-1506, ext. 4212. For more information about MDC’s Discover Nature Schools program, visit mdc.mo.gov/education.
