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Biodiversity Education: Curricula

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Here are curricula we know about that focus on biodiversity, either in Washington or more generally. We invite you to let us know about other education resources.

Washington’s biodiversity

Celebrating Wildflowers

The Celebrating Wildflowers Educators Program promotes understanding, appreciation, and conservation of native plants and their habitats by emphasizing their aesthetic, recreational, biological, ecological, medicinal, and economic values.

It uses wildflowers as a window into native plant communities—from the Olympic Peninsula rainforests, to westside lowland forests, to mountain and alpine meadows, to the dry shrub-steppe sagebrush communities of eastern Washington.

The program addresses one of the most critical environmental issues in the Northwest today—the loss of habitat and biological diversity—by focusing on one of the area's most spectacular and accessible natural resources, wildflowers.

Department of Ecology curriculum guides

The Washington State Department of Ecology offers a number of K-12 programs, including “Discover Wetlands,” “Project WET—Water Education for Teachers,” and “A-Way with Waste.”

Evergreen State:
Exploring the history of Washington's forests

This is a curriculum project for Washington schools developed by Connie Y. Chiang with Michael Reese at the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest in the Department of History at the University of Washington.

It includes information and primary documents related to the history of Washington's forests. These materials provide students with an opportunity to investigate attitudes toward and uses of this natural resource. For middle school, high school, or university students.

Noxious Weeds

The Washington State Noxious Weed Board has a variety of educational materials, including a coloring book. See also the National Park Service curriculum “Aliens in Your Neighborhood.”

Partnership for Arid Lands Stewardship

The Partnership for Arid Lands Stewardship (PALS) is building a library of resource cards provide information on the arid lands of the Columbia Basin.

The cards cover a wide range: pillbugs to porcupines, lupine to cryptogamic crust. Each resource card contains background information, suggested activities, and additional resources including curricula, books, and websites.

The resource cards are developed by the PALS Partners: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory education staff and scientists, and by teachers who have participated in the PALS Teacher Institutes.

Project Learning Tree

Sponsored by the Washington Forest Protection Association, Project Learning Tree (PLT) uses the forest as a "window on the world" for students.

Goals include understanding our complex environment, stimulating critical and creative thinking, developing students' ability to make informed decisions adn remain open to future information, and to instill in students the confidence and commitment to take responsible action on behalf of the environment.

PLT lessons have been correlated to the Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs). A new addition is Exploring Environmental Issues: Biodiversity for secondary students. It aims to give a broader view of concepts and connections: biological, political, cultural, ethical, and economic.

General biodiversity

The Biodiversity Collection:
A review of biodiversity resources for educators

The World Wildlife Fund and the North American Association for Environmental Education put together The Biodiversity Collection, a compendium of environmental education resources on biodiversity. It highlights 47 of the best curricula for grades K-12.

After a general overview of biodiversity as a theme, they outline evaluation criteria along with suggestions on how to link to related resources, websites, and organizations. Each listing includes a curriculum summary, grade level, subjects, publisher, and comments from reviewers.

National Biological Information Infrastructure

The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is a broad, collaborative program to provide increased access to data and information on the nation's biological resources. Its website includes a list of K-12 teaching units and resources, on everything from creating a schoolyard habitat to understanding ecosystem management.

National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science

The aim of the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science is to promote the development and dissemination of innovative materials and sound educational practices for case teaching in the sciences.

Their website provides access to an award-winning library of case materials, including “Watch Your Step: Understanding the Impact of Your Personal Consumption on the Environment,” “The River Dammed: The Proposed Removal of the Lower Snake River Dams,” and “Exotics.”

National Geographic Society

The National Geographic Society has created Wide World maps and an Educator’s Guide. These are designed to help bring into the classroom the wonders of biodiversity and the urgency of conserving it. The Educator’s Guide offers lesson plans and activities on subjects like map fundamentals, biodiversity, and ecoregions.

North American Association for Environmental Education

The North American Association for Environmental Education offers a Biodiversity Activities page that includes links to programs such as “Flying Wild,” on bird conservation, and “Crickets in the Classroom” with lesson plans for using crickets to study scientific concepts.