Grade 4

Three Nations Energy provides teacher & student guides, videos, and fact sheets about the carbon cycle, methane cycle, climate change, energy efficiency, renewable energy, hydroponics, and gardening! The student guides allow for self-directed learning and include an activity, basic facts, and follow up challenges and experiments. The teacher guides can be combined with the associated factsheets. Alberta curriculum ties are identified for all activities.

These materials are available as a Basic, Advanced or General level. The Basic level has been designed for an elementary, junior high, or adult learner with less of a science or technical background. The Advanced level has been designed for a senior high student, trades person, or an adult with a strong science or technical background. The General level is more suited to a wider audience.

Guides include how to build a solar oven and solar air heating!

If you are an Edmonton school, participate in indoor food growing with a Little Green Thumbs garden! Sustainable Food Edmonton provides a free garden kit, supplies and ongoing support to teachers wanting to capitalize on cross-curricular and hands-on learning from fall to spring. Students participate from seed to harvest, growing and tasting veggies and herbs. The indoor garden is a great way to teach science, math, healthy eating, literacy, social, art and much more!
 

Fun for all ages, Sort it Right! teaches youth and adults how to sort waste materials into the black, green, or blue bins, as well as household hazardous waste drop-off and landfill throw 'n' go.

The City of Calgary also has a lesson plan to learn about how Calgary's recyclables are sorted, how Calgary's compost is made, and how to prevent food waste.

The Alberta Conservation Association provides guidebooks about Alberta's local wildlife, including: Ring-necked pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, ferruginous hawk, amphibians, reptiles, and guidebooks about friendly wildlife fencing and a nest box guide and instructions for making your own nest box!

The Alberta Hunter Education Instructors' Association provides free, downloadable and printable workbooks and videos for all ages on a variety of topics, including:

• Junior Wildlife 
• Know Your Knots 
• Survival Kit Essentials 
• Tick Awareness 
• Map and Compass Basics 

For Kindergarten and Grade 1

The Nature Immersion program provides children and participants time to explore and develop a relationship with nature. The activities that take place at a Nature Immersion program are unique to each location and the participants’ interests. Our Nature based program is designed to inspire a love for nature and help connect children with their natural surroundings. The program takes place primarily outside in a natural space close to the childcare centre or school (weather permitting).

The Nature Immersion program consists of:

• An educator will visit the classroom on a bi-weekly basis (approximately 3 visits per centre/school)
• Each session lasts anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours 

For Grades 4, 5, 6

Using the basics of play and discovery, Eco-Buddies is an innovative, holistic approach to environmental education and eco-literacy. Through outdoor activities, games, exploration, experiments, crafts, and conversation, children and teachers will apply concepts from the Alberta science curriculum to the ecosystem around them and learn how organisms in nature work together to build healthy ecosystems. During each visit the classroom will go outside to their neighbouring natural area and learn about the challenges that trees, plants, wildlife, and people will face with a changing climate and how these organisms can come together to form healthy and resilient ecosystems

The ECO-Buddies program consists of:

• 1-hour teacher workshop where the ECO-buddies specialist will introduce the program and will present key concepts that will be elaborated on during the program. *workshop for school programs only
• Three, 2-hour visits by the ECO-Buddies educator at a walking distance from the School

Toronto Outdoor Education Schools has put together a searchable database of outdoor education activities for all grades and subject areas. 

Nature Companion is a free app/website introducing many of the plants and animals found in Canada’s four western provinces. In just one app, you’ll find basic information about over 300 common plants, trees, birds, animals, insects, reptiles, and amphibians. It's available on or off line. Nature Companion provides short, easy-to-understand descriptions and colourful photographs along with a Did you know? section with interesting, unexpected details about each species. It’s free with no ads or sign up and can be installed on your phone or tablet directly from the Nature Companion website.

Little Green Thumbs is a classroom gardening program, and Caring for Our Watersheds partners with communities and mentors to create focused solutions to local watershed issues. This program is for students in High Prairie and Slave Lake.

The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society can come to your school or community group to teach about native wildlife, conservation, and create conversation around the implications of human activities on the health and safety of wild animals. A volunteer, partnered with one of their permanent resident owls or hawks (when available), will be delighted to help your group learn more about wildlife. Book a presentation today!