Field Guides

Community as Classroom: An Urban Field Guide to Community-based Environmental Science Education The Urban Field Guide is a grant-funded project of the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board, developed by teachers in member school districts of Cooperative Educational Service Agency #1 (CESA #1).

The purpose of the Urban Field Guide is to provide substantial information regarding accessible environmental field experiences in urban and suburban settings, meaningful connections to the Wisconsin model Academic Standards for Environmental Education, integration of the curricula, and instructional opportunities and materials designed with a constructivist approach.

This field guide includes a variety of sites in southeast Wisconsin but by no means includes all of the many potential field trip sites in the area. The designers of the field guide and writing team focused on those sites that would be especially appealing to those educators who have not taken advantage of the community as classroom to date as well as those who do.

Other considerations include active engagement of students, real life problems to be solved in student-centered activities, and connections to the lives and interests of students. Performance-based authentic assessments are encouraged.

The Urban Field Guide offers guidance for all field trips, breaking the trip into activities to do prior to the visit, during the visit, and after the visit. Sites are categorized by Nature Centers/Farms, Waste Management/Recycling, and Water Treatment, and entries include:

• Name
  
• Location of the site and a map
  
• A contact person
  
• Availability and fee information
  
• A breakdown of the facilities offered at the site, including restroom information
  
• Clothing recommendations
  
• Site highlights
  
• Suggested learning activities
  
• Suggested student assessment
  
• Additional resources

For more information on how to access this guide, in print or on CD, please contact Bill Kean, at 229-5231.

Grant Park Field Trip Guide

This report, created in 2002, is intended to provide helpful information about Grant Park to use when visiting with a group of elementary/middle grade children. It describes a walking tour through the park with topics to discuss at various locations along the way. It also has several hands-on activities to try with students, both while at the park and also as pre- or post- activities to complete in the classroom.

Please click the document link below to download this guide.

1.62MB	Grant Park Field Trip Guide