AWCC has teamed up with Bear Trust International and Inspired Classroom to develop science-based education programs rooted in research and ecology. All lessons meet Alaska and National Science Standards and address STEM goals.
What makes this curriculum unique:
- Free, web-based and project-based
- Students use real data from field studies on wild bears
- Students use wildlife science technology (GPA, GIA, population modeling tools)
- Lessons raise conservation awareness while honing skills in science, math, and technology
- STEM lessons teach environmental literacy at a global level
- Program provides “teach the teachers” workshops and professional development courses
- Program includes both a narrative component and a STEM component
Wood Bison Curriculum
The Wood Bison Curriculum is available for FREE. Click a tab below to find videos, fact sheets and more! Information and downloads are also available on Bear Trust International’s website. By design, this lesson does not require teachers to know anything about wood bison but meets a variety of standards. For a complete description and list, please see the end of the Teacher’s Guide.
Lesson Synopsis
This lesson uses the flipped learning model where teachers don’t stand before the class and lecture. Instead, students become wood bison scientists and “discover” the answers to real-world research questions through scientific inquiry. Using real-world data, students work individually and as a class to determine WHERE on the Alaskan landscape a captive herd of wood bison can be restored.
L1: Where will they roam?
STEM Lesson
- Teacher Guide and Student Pages
- Part II of the Slide Show, which includes results, graphs and other answers to questions. Part II of the slideshow is passcode protected and available only to teachers. If you are a school teacher or educator at an organization and want the passcode, it’s easy to get! Email Bear Trust International, here! They will verify your teaching status and then send you the passcode.
- Extension Lessons: Teacher Guide and Student Pages
- Ecology Cards
L3: Tracks & Trails
Natural History Lesson
Grizzly Bear Curriculum
The Grizzly Bear Curriculum is available for FREE. Click a tab below to find videos, fact sheets and more! Information and downloads are also available on Bear Trust International’s website. By design, this lesson does not require teachers to know anything about grizzly bears, but meets a variety of standards. For a complete description and list, please see the end of the Teacher’s Guide.
Lesson Synopsis
This lesson uses the flipped learning model where teachers don’t stand before the class and lecture. Instead, students become grizzly bear scientists and “discover” the answers to real-world research questions through scientific inquiry. Using real-world data collected over 30 years on grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, students work individually, in three teams and as a class to determine whether or not this grizzly bear population is biologically ready for delisting.
Ready for delisting?
STEM Lesson
- Teacher’s Guide
- Answer Key of the teacher’s guide is pass code protected and available only to teachers. If you are a school teacher or educator at an organization and want the pass code, it’s easy to get! Email Bear Trust International here! They will verify your teaching status and then send you the pass code.
- Introductory Video
Information
- SlideShow which includes results, graphs and other answers to questions. The slideshow is passcode protected and available only to teachers. If you are a school teacher or educator at an organization and want the passcode, it’s easy to get! Email Bear Trust International here! They will verify your teaching status and then send you the passcode.
- Ecology Cards
Individual Activity
Version A is designed to be more challenging and tasks students with doing calculations to fill in missing values in excel spreadsheets, graph data, and interpret findings. Version B is spiraled down a bit (cell values are filled in all of the excel spreadsheets).
Going Further
- Optional Extension Paper
- The Bear Essentials Curriculum Guide – 9 STEM lessons to teach ecological and conservation concepts, but is pass code protected and available only to teachers. If you are a school teacher or educator at an organization and want the pass code, it’s easy to get! Email Bear Trust International here! They will verify your teaching status and then send you the pass code.
- The Bear Book & Curriculum Guide – 8 STEM lessons to teach ecology, conservation, research and stories about the 8 bear species worldwide, but is pass code protected and available only to teachers. If you are a school teacher or educator at an organization and want the pass code, it’s easy to get! Email Bear Trust International here! They will verify your teaching status and then send you the pass code.
Bison in a Box
Interested in enhancing the wood bison experience for your students? Check out our Bison in a Box!
After a brief presentation by AWCC staff members, your students will have the chance to follow a guided video and manuals to restore the wood bison skeleton to its full size and shape! This kit consists of a real wood bison skeleton along with fasteners and all the necessary tools to rebuild the skeleton.
As the largest mammal in North America, wood bison once lived in Alaska and were thought to have gone extinct about 100 years ago. After discovering a small herd in Canada, AWCC brought a small population of bison to Alaska and began our own herd. In March of 2015, we helped to reintroduce the wood bison to the Lower Innoko/ Yukon River area – approximately 300 miles west of Anchorage.
Cost: FREE
Duration: up to 2 weeks
Age: Recommended for 6th grade and above.
Contact: Education Department for more information
Interested in learning more about AWCC and our animals? Click here to view more presentation options!