The Madison Metropolitan School District recently rolled out their suggested Virtual Learning schedule for students and – hooray! – “Go Outside” is included right there with “Academics” and “Communicate.”

District leaders clearly recognize the importance of getting moving and spending time outdoors for children’s health and wellbeing during these unprecedented times, and have included these aspects in the planned student day.

And Nature Net is here to help inspire you on these outdoor adventures. Nature Net sites offer supplemental activities to support traditional schoolwork in the form of suggested activities, daily live-posted events and interviews with environmental educators, virtual hikes, phenological observations, or weekly outdoor challenges or “treasure” hunts. 

Ideas & Activities from Nature Net

• Dane County Parks: Explore BINGO – Tag #DaneCountyParks on Facebook or Instagram with photos of your BINGO adventure
• Henry Vilas Zoo: Bringing the Zoo to You – check in every Thursday to find out what the Zoo creatures and their caretakers are up to
• International Crane Foundation: Quarantine With Cranes – weekly K-12 activities to stay engaged with cranes of the world and the work of the Crane Foundation
• Madison Children’s Museum: MCM at Home – To support families of young children, MCM at Home will focus on activities and videos that particularly appeal to older babies through preschool-age children—although older siblings may find themselves sucked in as well! Plus, check out new additions to the MCM YouTube Channel.
• MSCR: Safer At Home Virtual Outdoor Club – Being outside can be a source of calm and comfort and we’re hoping during these wild times these videos will inspire you to enjoy the natural world in whatever way you can
• Welty Environmental Center: Welty YouTube Channel – safer at home means queue the Welty online learning. Learn about spring equinox, goldenrod galls, and more
• Bethel Horizons: WildLife Wednesdays – check out Bethel’s weekly nature adventures

Ideas & Activities from our Nature Net Friends

• BudBurst – Nature is all around us! We invite you and your family to join Budburst and take time to be outdoors, to enjoy nature, and to observe how plants in your yard and community change with the seasons.
• C&NN: Finding Nature – We are in awe of the resiliency and creativity of the children and nature movement in responding to this crisis. We’ve compiled these tools and resources from key partners and leaders around the world.
• MG&E Earth Day Fun Book – Woo-hoo! There is much to celebrate! A day to remind us to learn about how to protect our precious Earth and put our ideas into action to be Earth-friendly each and every day!
• National Environmental Education Foundation – a list of ideas for keeping up with nature learning while at home.
• Riveredge Nature Center – Riveredge now has a YouTube channel – stay in touch with nature and what you can do outside with Riveredge educators.
• The Safe Outdoors Fun Challenge – a 30 day walking & biking challenge for students & families
• Urban Ecology Center “In My Backyard” – Look! Just outside the window, down the street, in your local park. It’s your “Backyard Classroom!” Ding-Ding, nature is in session! Check out these resources for fun, lessons, and how-tos.

Other Ideas for Nature Engagement

• Citizen Science opportunities – there are many ways your free time can be used to give back to science  – here are a few links to get started:
  • Nature Net Blog – the 2020 February Nature Net News just happens to be about Citizen Science and includes several links and ideas for participating 
  • UW Arboretum  – Summary of citizen science opportunities at the Arboretum
  • iNaturalist – “Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed.” iNaturalist shares your findings with scientific data repositories to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe
• Fifty Environmental Activities Kids Can Do at Home – From a local Madisonian and Director of Wisconsin Environment
• Great Lakes Bioblitz 2020 – Educators, families, and students are invited to participate in the Great Lakes Bioblitz in yards (and outdoor spaces that respect the stay home and social distancing practices required at this time.) Now through May 20, 2020
• SnapShot Wisconsin – Can you identify that animal on the trail? Snapshot Wisconsin offers a fun and educational activity for anyone to do from home. Great for students or anyone looking to pass some time and enjoy Wisconsin’s wildlife.

Resources for Teachers – Distance Learning Ideas

• Our Climate Our Future – A resource for teachers created by the Alliance for Climate Education to help educate students on climate science
  • Remote Learning Option 1 – Start by assigning the 40-minute Our Climate Our Future video, along with an accompanying worksheet, available in Google Doc form – don’t forget to delete the answer key pages from the student copy! For more challenging questions, you can adapt the discussion guide into a worksheet format or assign it as a remote pair-share discussion guide.
  • Remote Learning Option 2 – Next, assign one or more of the twelve short student readings on climate topics, each with an accompanying worksheet. Topics include black carbon, ice cores, methane hydrates and more. Readings are for middle to high school grade level. Check out the readings and worksheets.
  • Remote Learning Option 3 – Lastly, have students watch several youth climate stories from the interactive Climate Stories Map and use this teacher-made graphic organizer as a prompt. As always, I want to hear what you need from us to better support your teaching of climate science, climate justice and impacts and climate solutions. Write me back with your thoughts and ideas.
• MG&E Earth Day Fun Book – Woo-hoo! There is much to celebrate! A day to remind us to learn about how to protect our precious Earth and put our ideas into action to be Earth-friendly each and every day!
• National Environmental Education Foundation – a list of ideas for keeping up with nature learning while at home.
• Rivers2Lakes – Lake Superior and watershed curricula for all grade levels
• The Safe Outdoors Fun Challenge – a 30 day walking & biking challenge for students & families
• Skype a Scientist – We have thousands of scientists ready to chat! ​Teachers can choose the type of scientist that will fit their classroom. Families stuck at home during this pandemic can also get a scientist virtually into their living room!