Teacher Institute Program

Bring Nature to your Classroom,
and your Class to Nature

Friday, February 26, 2010
Download a Registration Packet
(includes an agenda and session details)

NEW PROGRAM IN 2010!
Ninety participating teachers enjoyed new sessions presented by some of our top researchers, librarians, and our newly hired Landscape Architect. (Sessions are described below - follow links to see handouts and presentations.)

Planning A Learning Garden For Your School Grounds
Audience: PreK-12 grade teachers and Ecology Club Sponsors
Presenter: Sue Jacobson, FASLA, Landscape Architect for The Morton Arboretum
Learning gardens can be planted to teach about prairies, to teach about ecosystems by attracting butterflies, birds and other wildlife, to teach about soils, and much more! Our Landscape Architect can help you get started with setting educational objectives for a learning garden and planning that garden for your school grounds. Or if you already have one, she can answer your questions and provide resources.
Presentation (.pdf)

Utilizing The Sterling Morton Library To Celebrate Arbor Day
Audience: PreK-12 grade teachers
Presenters: Rita Hassert and Nancy Faller, Librarians, Sterling Morton Library
Come and see what the Sterling Morton Library has to offer your classroom - particularly in terms of how you can celebrate our favorite holiday, Arbor Day! Our librarians are looking forward to sharing the Library's collection with you and your classroom.
Handout (.pdf) - Book lists

Planning A Self-Guided Visit To The Morton Arboretum
Audience: PreK-3 grade teachers
Presenter: Sherry Grande
There are many areas of the Arboretum that are great for self-guided visits with the younger grades. Explore the Children's Garden and our Maze Garden to discover ways to integrate them into your curriculum. Takeaway nature-related activities for your classroom.

Using Mounted Plants In Your Classroom
Audience: PreK-5 grade teachers
Presenter: Jason Sturner, Herbarium Assistant
By making leaf collections, your students can learn observation, classification, and documentation skills while learning about plant variations. Actual hands-on demonstration by some of our herbarium staff so you can get a start on your collection!
Handout (.pdf) - The Morton Arboretum Herbarium
Handout (.pdf) - "Notes on The Morton Arboretum Herbarium" by Ray Schulenberg
Handout (.pdf) - Herbarium Resources
Handout (.pdf) - Standards for Application of Botanical Nomenclature
Handout (.pdf) - Herbarium Label Examples
Handout (.pdf) - Mounting Herbarium Specimens
Handout (.pdf) - "How to Make a Plant Collection" by Steven R. Hill, Ph.D.
Handout (.pdf) - Preserving Leaf Color
Handout (.pdf) - Poison Ivy

Nature And Art In Your Classroom
Audience: PreK-5 grade teachers
Presenter: Patricia Sanborn, Education Program Guide
For younger grades, art is an excellent way to introduce nature education. Gain ideas and participate in some hand-on nature art activities.

Guided Field Opportunities For Prek-5 Classrooms
Audience: PreK-5 grade teachers
Presenter: Cate Linden, Education Program Guide
Participate in a guided hike with an Arboretum content expert to experience our K-5 offerings as your students would.

Winter Outreach Offerings For Prek-5 Classrooms
Audience: PreK-5 grade teachers
Presenter: Camille Grabski, Coordinator of School Programs
Our programs don't end in the winter! Participate in our winter outreach offerings from a student's perspective. We bring some of nature to your students in the form of skulls and pelts. We'll even bring our own microscopes for the older students to use during our program. .

Laboratory Offerings For 3-8 Classrooms
Audience: 3-8 grade students
Presenter: Barb Vrchota, Education Program Guide
Experience our laboratory offerings as your students would, while you learn about ecosystems and botany.

Guided Field Opportunities For 6-8 Classrooms
Audience: 6-8 Teachers
Presenters: Carol Krasula and Elizabeth Halleck, Education Program Guides
Participate in a guided hike with an Arboretum content expert to experience our 6-8 offerings as your students would.

Teaching Plant Biology Through The Arboretum's Collections
Audience: 6-12 grade science teachers and Ecology/Science Club Sponsors
Presenter: Kunso Kim, Curator & Assistant Director of Collections
Explore some of the 182,000 specimens in our collection with a staff member directly responsible for them. You will learn basic tree identification, how the different parts (such as leaves, flowers, branches) can provide information about the tree's or plant's family, and get answers to your questions. Help your students become more curious about fascinating world of plant diversity and help them to be more interested in learning about them. Are your students concerned about trees in their community? Learn about the conservation program at the Arboretum, find out about our tree breeding research being done, and discover how we're working to save trees from invasive species like the Emerald Ash Borer.

Integrating Soil Science Research Into Your High School Curriculum
Audience: 6-12 grade teachers and ecology club sponsors
Presenters: Bryant Scharenbroch, Urban Landscape Soil Scientist
Anne Marie Smith, Manager of School Programs
Learn soil science from an Arboretum researcher and how his research can be integrated it into your classroom through laboratory experiments. Learn about challenges faced by our urban forests, and how to help the trees your students see around them.
Handout (.pdf) - Experiments in Soil Science
Presentation (.pdf)

Hands-On Experiential Learning Opportunity For High School Students
Audience: 9-12 grade science teachers and Ecology/Science Club Sponsors
Presenters: Kurt Dreisilker, Manager of Natural Resources
Tricia Bethke, Education Program Guide
Participate as your students would in a new experiential learning program being offered by The Morton Arboretum. While learning about ecosystem ecology, high school students remove invasive plants, collect seeds and/or other projects that will very directly help the continuing restoration of our 1,700 acres of woodland, prairie and aquatic habitats. (Dates will be limited, and exact tasks based on weather and our restoration needs.) Be sure to dress for outside work (long pants, work gloves, no open-toed shoes, hat and long sleeves).

Guided Field Opportunities For High School Classrooms
Audience: 9-12 grade teachers and ecology club sponsors
Presenter: Jim Marshall, Education Program Guide
Participate in a guided hike with an Arboretum content expert to experience our 9-12 offerings as your students would.