Project WILD is a hands-on professional development workshop that emphasizes awareness, appreciation, and understanding of wildlife and natural resources. The workshop is designed to meet the needs of K-12 educators in both formal (classroom) and non-formal (nature centers, museums, zoos, parks, scouts) settings. Throughout the workshop, educators will get a chance to model interdisciplinary activities that include subjects such as:

• Art
• Language arts
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies

Upon the workshop’s completion, educators will receive their own copy of either one or two of the award winning guides filled with over 100 lesson plans that include STEM extensions, career connections, and more! The two guides include the terrestrial guide and the aquatic guide.

Why Go WILD?

Since its inception in 1983, more than 1.3 million educators have been trained in the Project WILD curriculum worldwide. Project WILD curriculum materials adhere to strict efforts for balance and objectivity and are backed by sound educational practices and theory. Here are a few other reasons to try out a WILD workshop:

• Free or low cost professional development funded by license fees
• Activities aligned with state and national standards
• Activities are flexible, easily adapted, and often require few resources to administer
• Activities develop conceptual skills such as analysis, classification, description, estimation, evaluation, inference, hypothesis formation, and problem solving
• Activities include indoor and outdoor components
• Educators may be able to receive 1 MSDE continuing education credit for attending 3 out of 5 workshops with certified trainers (CPD: 18-66-13R)
• Workshop attendance is eligible for Maryland Green Schools professional development credit
• Educators receive WILD guide(s) upon workshop completion

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How to go WILD: Attend a Workshop

The only way to receive Project WILD materials is to attend a 4-6 hour professional development workshop. During the workshop, participants will model activities and will learn about resources and ideas to teach about local wildlife. To find a workshop near you, check out our Workshop Schedule page.

Want a private training? In addition to open workshops, we can also visit your facility and train your staff for free. A minimum of 15 participants is required, and workshops can be tailored to your school or facility’s needs. For example, workshops can be elementary-focused, STEAM focused, NGSS focused, etc. Please note: full workshops require 6 hours of training time.

In addition to educator workshops, once a year, a train-the-trainer facilitator workshop is held. Facilitators are a core group of volunteer educators that are qualified to lead Project WILD workshops. Educators who attend the Facilitator Workshop learn tips for successfully conducting their own workshops. Facilitators will receive all the resources needed to plan and conduct their workshops, plus ideas for making their workshops fun and relevant. To see a list of Facilitator materials, please click here.

Project WILD training Partners

     

 

To get more information on upcoming workshops or to schedule a workshop for your organization, please contact:

Sarah B. Witcher
410-260-8566
sarah.witcher1@maryland.gov
Department of Natural Resources
Wildlife and Heritage Service
580 Taylor Avenue, E-1
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

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