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Provided by: Illinois Department of Natural Resources |Published on: May 19, 2025
Articles/Websites
K-12
Synopsis
This Illinois Department of Natural Resources website details over ten free learning activity lending opportunities available throughout the state of Illinois.
There are a variety of topics on natural resources that can be connected to climate change education, including birds, fossils, insects and spiders, invasive species, prairies, trees, and wild mammals.
These resource trunks are packed full of ready-to-go resources including Illinois specific posters, field guides, equipment, lesson plans, hands on student materials, books, and audiovisual media.
All contents of the trunks and field trip packs are free to borrow and aligned to NGSS and Common Core learning standards.
Prerequisites
Trunks must be picked up and returned to lending sites and may require a deposit.
Many lesson plans and supplemental materials are available in English and Spanish.
CD-Roms and DVDs are included in some of the trunks and may require additional classroom equipment to view.
Grade bands with specific grade level recommendations are given, but most trunks can be adapted for K-8 with many extended through hgh school.
Differentiation & Implementation
Trunks can be used as culminating experiences for a variety of units.
These resources can be used to teach about climate change across all grade levels, as so many opportunities exist to provide students with relatable Illinois-specific examples and experiences.
There are endless possibilities for extensions of these trunks, including gallery walks of specific species the students learned about, poster presentations, pamphlets to provide information on how climate change is affecting biodiversity in Illinois, and discussions about solutions to problems facing the Illinois specific examples that students can learn about with these resources.
Students can learn more about being part of solutions to climate change through citizen science programs in Illinois using this website.
Scientist Notes
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Related Teaching Resources
All resources can be used for your educational purposes with proper attribution to the content provider.
