• Teacher Training
• List of Courses for Teacher Training

(Choose one, or combine several.) Start with a free familiarization tour of the center. We will introduce you to all of the environmental resources available to you at Shaver's Creek. You can learn about youth and adult program opportunities and become acquainted with the staff, trails, discovery room, bird-feeding station, bookstore, gardens, and the resident Pennsylvania wildlife. Let us show you what your group can do when you visit Shaver's Creek or when we come to your location.

Internationally Acclaimed Workshops
K-12 Environmental Education Curricula
(continuing education credits available; intermediate unit credits can be applied for)

• PROJECT WILD—Wildlife
  
• PA Songbirds
  
• PA Reptiles and Amphibians
  
• Keystone Aquatic Resource Education—Watershed Education
  
• PROJECT LEARNING TREE—Forests
  
• PROJECT FOOD, LAND, AND PEOPLE—Agriculture and Nutrition

These interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education workshops are regularly scheduled programs at Shaver's Creek. They are designed to familiarize you with a variety of curriculum activities. Each course provides you with an activity guide to use as a resource for your own classes. In some cases, intermediate unit credits or college credits are granted. As always, we can plan these workshops to suit your schedule or location.

Participants can learn how to gain an awareness, appreciation, and knowledge of the world around them and their place within it. Lessons help prepare students for making wise decisions about conservation practices and resource use. Subject areas include science, social studies, language arts, math, art, physical education, health, and music. Call today for dates of upcoming sessions.

Custom-Contracted Courses/Workshops
The staff has years of experience in environmental education. We help teachers increase awareness, knowledge, skills, and their ability to take action back in the classroom and school yard. We introduce new teaching techniques and help teachers develop creative hands-on lesson plans. Below are just a few of the many workshop topics that we can customize for your group at a location of your choice or here at Shaver's Creek. Choose one short workshop, or combine several for a full day or half-day of in-service. Parts of these workshops are held outside.

Create School Yard Bird Stations
Learn skills for turning your school yard into an outdoor classroom. Bird-feeding stations are a wonderful teaching tool and can be developed by teachers and students working together. Understand the components of an inexpensive station. Practice bird-observation techniques and record-keeping methods.

Cultural History—Creative Techniques
Humans have had an impact on this planet for a long time. How much of that impact did the first settlers have on this land? How did they live their daily lives? How do we gain an understanding of where we come from? In this workshop we will explore these questions through first-, second-, and third-person interpretive skills, which can be transferred back into the classroom. Other themes include character development, exploration of local homestead sites, springtime maple sugaring, cemetery studies, and historic crafts.

Environmental Education Resources Smorgasbord
Learn how to obtain and use a variety of environmental education resources. Gain new activity ideas to add to your bag of tricks. Curricula will come alive as you participate in sample lessons. Parts of this workshop are held outside.

Forest and Wildlife Management
Two-thirds of Pennsylvania is forested. Forests have had a major impact on our history and continue today as a major industry in Pennsylvania. Learn to teach about how foresters progress from tree identification (dendrology) through an understanding of forest ecology and forest inventory to development of sustainable forest and wildlife management plans.

Live Animals in the Classroom
Yes or no? We can help you answer this question. Learn interesting facts about the care of amphibians and reptiles. Discuss the benefits, concerns, and considerations involved with having animals of all kinds in your classroom. Learn skills for teaching with live animals. Ethical and legal issues related to captive animals are also addressed.

Nature Guiding in the Outdoors
This session provides tips and techniques for leading and managing children in the outdoors. Topics to discuss and practice include site selection, natural history, stationary and ambulatory activities, methods for directing and maintaining focus in the outdoors, and overall group management skills.

New Games
New Games are physically active games adaptable to a wide range of ages and abilities. Learn to lead these activities by participating yourself! These games are playable anywhere with little to no equipment. Participants can learn how to play hard, play fair, stay safe, and have fun.

Soils and Land-Use Planning
Soil is vital to humans and to general ecological health--misunderstood and overlooked by many. Learn how to demonstrate that soil is actually a dynamic and living component of the ecosystem. Teach how soil erosion and improper land-use planning can lead to loss of this valuable resource AND how we can prevent this.

Sustainable Agriculture
As farmers try to keep pace with an ever-growing population, while loss of agricultural land and environmental degradation continue, increasing numbers of people are looking to organic farming, composting, animal-plant relationships, and smaller-scale farms as an alternative. Learn what your students can do to help, as home gardeners and as consumers.

Teambuilding for the Classroom
We will lead your group through a series of challenges that you can use to encourage your students' cohesiveness and cooperation. Activities are designed to build confidence, develop trust, and increase communication skills. This session may be held outside and involves minor physical exertion. This workshop is also useful for enhancing staff relationships.

Watersheds and Waterways—Making Connections
Streams are everywhere and they are great teaching tools. Learn how to help your students acquire the skills to locate and map out your local watershed. Participate in hands-on activities: Biotic Index, Abiotic (Chemical) Testing, Riparian Zone Assessment, and Aquatic Fauna and Flora Inventory.

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