Project Wild
Project WILD provides interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education curriculum and materials that focus on wildlife.
Project WILD programs and materials assist learners of all ages to develop the awareness, knowledge, skills, and commitment to act responsibly in matters concerning wildlife. Nebraska’s Project WILD Program offers educator workshop including: Project WILD, Aquatic WILD, Growing Up WILD and Flying WILD. Additionally, we offer many advanced workshops focusing on specific topics such as bats, pollinators, insects and birds. Workshops are free and provide educators with curriculum guides and resources.
Project WILD Workshops
Developed in 1983 by the Council for Environmental Education, Project WILD and Aquatic WILD are award-winning curriculum guides designed to help educators incorporate wildlife and conservation into their classrooms or programs. Lessons are interdisciplinary and promote critical thinking. Additionally, lessons can easily be used to meet Nebraska State Educational Standards for math, science, language arts and social studies.
Both Project WILD and Aquatic WILD teach lessons such as life cycles, habitats, wildlife populations, biodiversity, land management, and human-wildlife interactions. Project WILD focuses on terrestrial habitats including prairie, forests, urban and farm land. Aquatic WILD focuses on aquatic habitats including rivers, lakes, oceans and wetlands.
In Nebraska, Project WILD workshops provide training for both Project WILD and Aquatic WILD guides. Participants of Project WILD workshops can expect to learn not only content knowledge but also skills to implement activities into their setting. Workshops provide participants with both the Project WILD and Aquatic WILD guide.
Project WILD is supported by the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission through the use of funds from hunting licenses and fees.
Early childhood education is critical to developing well-rounded adults with good critical thinking skills. Research has shown that quality early childhood education has a lasting impact on a child’s entire life – let Growing Up WILD be a part of your early childhood student’s day.
Growing up WILD provides an early foundation for developing positive attitudes and behaviors about nature and life-long social and academic skills. This award-winning early childhood curriculum guide is for educators of children ages 3-7. The guide builds on children’s sense of wonder about nature by providing age appropriate, interdisciplinary lessons. Each thematic lesson includes multiple activities which teach math, reading, letter recognition, science, social studies as well as social-emotional skills.
Growing Up WILD is supported by the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission through the use of funds from hunting licenses and fees.
Birds are all around us. Whether you are at a school, nature center or your own backyard, you can find a feathered friend. Use Flying WILD to help teach about Nebraska’s birds!
Initially designed to help schools or groups facilitate a Birding Festival, this dynamic guide can also be used to teach classroom or program lessons focusing on a wide range of birding topics. These interactive activities teach lessons such as adaptations, migration, habitats and conservation.
Although the guide is designed for educators of students in grades 5-8, the lessons are easily adapted to be useful for 4th through 12th grade students.
Learning about Nebraska’s wildlife species, natural resource conservation and biodiversity does not stop with Project WILD, Growing Up WILD and Flying WILD. Join the Nebraska Project WILD team for an advanced workshop focusing on a wide range of wildlife topics – bats, pollinators, insects and more.
Advanced workshops provide educators – both formal and non-formal – with the knowledge content and skills to teach students about Nebraska-specific topics.
Project WILD resources
A variety of resources are available to educators who incorporate Project WILD into their classrooms. These resources include: