Virtual

AdventureSmart is a great resource to help teach students about outdoor trip preparation. The website includes guides, checklists, and a fun online game! You can also request an outdoor educator to speak to your group virtually in either French or English!

Inside Education offers free environmental & natural resource education in the form of grants, lesson plans, activities, videos, teacher guides, toolkits, classroom and field programs, youth summits, and professional development for all grade levels in a huge variety of topics and subject areas!

Alberta Food Matters is a province-wide organization that connects dietitians, teachers and local producers to each other and to information on projects that already exist in Alberta and across Canada. They are linked to Canada-wide organizations that also promote these initiatives (such as Food Secure Canada, Coalition for Healthy School Food, Farm2Cafeteria Canada, Farm to School B.C. etc. AFM are currently working on a pilot project called “Community Animators” that supports schools to undertake whatever they are dreaming of doing to bring local, sustainable
food to their students.
 

The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley has downloadable lesson plans about wildlife, conservation, and climate change for Kindergarten to Grade 9 science and social studies curriculum. They continue to improve these plans, including an ongoing collaboration with the Nakoda Youth Council to weave together Indigenous and Western perspectives and will continue adding lessons to the page. The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley truly welcomes teacher input and feedback for improving these resources. 

Furthermore, the Biosphere Institute is excited to visit teachers' digital classroom through your preferred online platform. They are happy to deliver short presentations in topic areas related to climate change, sustainability, and human-wildlife coexistence and are happy to work with teachers on a one-on-one basis to meet their classroom needs. Explore the programs here. Teachers can email education@biosphereinstitute.org to book a program or to reach out with any questions.

Another program is WildSmart, which teaches residents and visitors to live smart with wildlife. Programs include bear spray training sessions, wildlife awareness talks, classroom programs and interactive booths for youth, families, outdoor educators, people employed in the recreation and tourism industry, and outdoor recreationalists.

The programs help the Okotoks education community address sustainability issues and give students, teachers, administrators, and staff the ideas and resources necessary to take initiative at four levels of action: in the classroom, in the school, in the community, and in the home. The Town of Okotoks offers both field trip opportunities and educational presentations for kids and youth of all ages. From waste management solutions to caring for the Sheep River watershed, kids will learn about their impact on the earth and how to be mindful caregivers of our planet.

Virtual field trips include: Wetlands, Critter Dipping, Owls, and Marshes.

This interactive map shows wetlands in Canada including their specific wetland types: Bog, marsh, fen, swamp, or shallow/open water. 

Teachers can create an account for free on Skype in the Classroom and request virtual field trips for their class! Field trip topics include animals, ecology and conservation, and history and culture. Search by subject, age group, and location. 

Ag for Life has a full teacher resource page with videos, activities, lesson plans, and online educational tools. There are materials specific to elementary, junior high, and high school audiences. Topics include food, food waste, careers, sustainable development goals, STEAM, and tech & innovation in agriculture. 

The Alberta Prairie Conservation Forum has several educational programs, including educational materials and the Deep Roots educational videoconference, a 60-minute video conference offered to Grades 4-7 classes.

The Hot Planet, Cool Athletes program brings high profile athletes (Olympians, Professional Action Sports Athletes, etc.) into high schools for presentations (preferably a school-wide assembly) tied to provincial climate change curriculum. The presenting athletes provide an interactive presentation, sharing their story and connection to the issue as well as presenting the latest in climate science. The goal of the presentation is to leave students with a clear challenge around climate action. Visit the website to learn more and book a presentation for your school.  

The program was developed by the Centre for Climate Change at the University of Waterloo and is available at no cost to schools thanks to their partners including MEC, Arc'teryx, Patagonia, Clif Bar and others.