WILDWOOD, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering a program that meets the educational curriculum needs of Missouri science teachers and includes unique grant opportunities. MDC’s Discover Nature Schools (DNS) curriculum accomplishes both goals, and it’s free.   DNS is aligned with the Missouri Learning Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards.

MDC invites teachers to attend a DNS teacher training workshop for certification in two of the program’s units Thursday, Oct. 31 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Rockwoods Reservation in Wildwood.  The workshop is free for teachers and educators and all materials will be provided.  Participants will learn ways to help students discover Missouri ecology in this one-day teacher workshop.

More typically held over two days, this workshop will be condensed into a one-day training covering both MDC’s Nature Unleashed unit, designed for 3rd to 5th grade students, and Nature Unhooked, created for 6th to 8th grade students.

During the workshop, teachers will become familiar with Missouri’s prairie, forest, and aquatic ecosystems through hands-on, outdoor activities. Attendees will learn about the DNS curriculum’s free teacher guides, student books, and science notebooks as well as the noncompetitive grant opportunities for classroom materials and field experiences.

Nature Unhooked emphasizes student-centered and collaborative investigations of water properties, water cycle, biotic energy flow, biodiversity, and human impacts on aquatic ecosystems. A project-based learning component is also included in this unit.

Nature Unleashed promotes understanding of Missouri habitats by exploring food chains and the roles of producers and consumers, as well as specialized structures and living and non-living factors. Emphasis of this unit is on student-centered and collaborative investigations of pond, prairie, and forest ecosystems.

This workshop will cover lessons and activities from each unit as well as an outdoor, experiential approach to student learning.  Participants should download the free SEEK mobile app by iNaturalist prior to the workshop at https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app.  Attendees need to bring their own lunch and appropriate clothing for the weather, as part of the workshop will take place outside.

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 DNS program is currently used within every school district in Missouri.

The workshop is free however space is limited, and participants must register to attend. To register via the online MDC Teacher Portal, visit http://short.mdc.mo.gov/4zi.

Rockwoods Reservation is located at 2751 Glencoe Road, off Highway 109 between I-44 and Highway 100.