Nature Unfolds
Festus Elementary School has agreed to host a teacher professional development workshop on the Discover Nature – Schools instructional unit, Nature Unfolds. The workshop will be led by Sam Faith, Education Consultant for the Missouri Department of Conservation, in two sessions, from 3:30 to 6:30 pm on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, November 8th and 9th. Completion of this training (both three-hour sessions) qualifies participants to apply for the Nature Unfolds grant offered by MDC to support schools that implement the instructional unit. The workshop is free of charge to all Missouri educators.
Nature Unfolds helps K-2 students learn about life cycles, seasons, weather, and basic needs of plants and animals. The instructional unit includes a student book titled See How the Turkey Grows, a science notebook, and teacher guide. Since Nature Unfolds meets state learning goals, students will learn required topics and be able to apply the information to problems and real situations.
Activities in the teacher guide and the picture book are designed to last throughout the school year, giving teachers the tools to help students experience the environment outside the classroom all year. In warmer months, the book has activities like growing flowers from seeds and observing a caterpillar turn into a moth or a butterfly. Cold month activities include measuring snowfall and discussing the color changes in trees.
Enrollment is limited to 20 participants.