Wild Treasures Program Description (ALL)
Our local program is available for middle school classes within 50 miles of Keene, NH. If your school is beyond 50 miles, you can still participate in our Do It Yourself Program.
Wild Treasures begins with students trying to solve a variety of engaging problems introducing them to big ideas about sustainability: waste, exponential growth, cycling, feedback loops and entropy. It ends with a class transforming the way their school operates based on these principles of sustainability.
Through real problem solving science, students investigate their school's sustainable practices, create and present a persuasive proposal for changing their school's operation, and then turn their school board approved proposal into action.
Win FREE UNLIMITED SUPPORT from a WT Teaching Assistant. WT Teaching Assistants are graduate students who are typically enrolled in the Science Teaching Certification program in the Department of Environmental Studies. Complete each phase of the program and earn another round of FREE UNLIMITED SUPPORT from a WT Teaching Assistant. If your school is within 50 miles of our campus, that support can include multiple on-site visits.
The successful completion of each phase of the program earns your class another round of FREE UNLIMITED SUPPORT from a WT Teaching Assistant for the next phase. A Wild Treasures' Teaching Assistant can help your class earn a distinguished Governor's Sustainability Award.
If you are interested in participating this fall, submit an application to: Jimmy Karlan, Senior Project Manager, Wild Treasures, Antioch University New England, 40 Avon St. Keene, NH 0341
What follows is a summary of Wild Treasures' 4 major phases (Challenge, Research, Proposal, & Action). Each summary provides links to all of its associated curriculum.
Local Program Steps
1. Challenge
The classroom-based Challenge Trail can be completed in 6-8 classes, depending on the size and length of your class. You pick the deadlines that work for each of the other three phases and work backwards from those target dates. You can determine how much time you want to give each phase of the program. Remember, this curriculum is extremely flexible and can be sprinkled in and around your other teaching responsibilities.
If you are a 5th-8th-grade teacher interested in hands-on, minds-on, student centered, student directed, real problem solving interdisciplinary science teaching, you will enjoy playing with the DIY curriculum described below.
In a forest along a winding path surrounding an 800,000-ton landfill and a symphony of sounds produced by a very active Keene Municipal Waste Recovery and Transfer Station, you can find Wild Treasures' Challenge Trail. Along the trail, small groups of 5th-8th graders truy to solve a variety of surprising problems designed to introduce them to 5 big ideas about sustainability: waste, exponential growth, cycling, feedback loops and entropy. If they solve all the problems, they walk away with their first of 3 free teaching assistant awards! The highly experiential, student-centered, playful, yet challenging nature of the Challenge Trail will inspire students to start the next phase of Wild Treasures.
If they solve all the problems, they walk away with their first of 3 Teaching Assistant Awards!
See the Pre-Visit checklist to learn more about what you need to do to prepare for a visit to the Challenge Trail. Please contact Jimmy Karlan to schedule a Challenge Trail visit.
2. Research
Within 20 days of completing the challenge trail, classes are expected to submit a Request for Wild Treasures' Teaching Assistant Support. This will activate a process for earning your awarded online and on-site support from an Antioch University New England graduate student during this Research phase of the program. By the end of January, a full research report is due to your Wild Treasures Teaching Assistant. Research Reports that meet WT criteria are eligible for additional WT Teaching Assistant support during the Proposal phase.
3. Proposal
Now that your students have become sustainability experts, help them apply what they have learned to change the way things work at your school. Antioch graduate students are available to help your class work together to craft a proposal to the School Board to get permission to move forward on implementing these projects. Successfully presented and accepted proposals are eligible for a final $500 WT bucks.
4. Action
Make it happen! From recycling systems to organic lunch items to tree-free paper, Wild Treasures participants are making a difference at their schools. Your students will be able to put their plan into action and make the world a little bit more sustainable. Schools that complete their project are eligible to win a Governor's Sustainability award.