SUPPORTING EDUCATORS

Free Lesson Plans

Click the (+) plus sign to read about and view the website for each free resource.

  • View lesson plans here.

    Seven different modules that include multiple lessons and resources created by Brianne Lolar, Panawahpskek Citizen & Wabanaki Studies Team Leader at the Maine Department of Education, working with many Wabanaki advisors.

    Grade Level: Pre-K - Grade 12

  • Learn more and view curricula here.

    OpenSciEd exists to change the status quo and remove the predictability about who succeeds and shows affection for the STEM fields. These lessons are intended for classroom educators.

    Grade Levels: Elementary, Middle, and High School; NGSS Aligned

    Topics covered: Light and matter, thermal energy, weather, climate, chemical reactions, metabolic reactions, matter cycling

  • View resources here.

    Winter Kids’ Learning Outside Guide makes it easy for educators to integrate fun, outdoor activities into their winter lessons. Early Childhood, Common Core Standards Aligned. Includes an online training module.

    Topics Include: Art, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education

    Grade Level: K - 8

  • View resources here.

    Teach ME About Food & Farms offers free lessons about Maine agriculture. Common Core Standards Aligned, Maine Learning Results Aligned

    Topics Include: Maine agriculture, aquaculture, school gardens, nutrition

    Grade Level: Pre-K - Grade 12

  • View Learning Resource Hub here.

    GMRI designs science learning resources to support educators to engage their students in authentic and current science about climate and ecosystem change. NGSS and Common Core Standards Aligned.

    Topics Include: Climate Change, Data, Ecosystems, Fisheries, Gulf of Maine, Invasive Species, Modeling, Outside, Scientific Investigation, Scientific Writing, Species Identification, Watershed

    Grade Level: K - 12

  • Click the links to view lessons:
    Outdoor Science Experiences
    Classroom and Schoolyard Experiences
    Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural Relevance

    Audience: Educators in outdoor science education settings

    Grade level: Primarily Grade 3-8 but adaptable for older and younger students

  • View resources here.

    Project Wild is a series of activities designed for all educators in PreK-12 settings. Project Wild activities provide wildlife-based conservation and environmental education meant to foster responsibility towards wildlife and natural resources. Aligned with NGSS, Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, and CCSS standards.

    Grade Level: Pre-K - Grade 12

    Topics Include: Terrestrial Wildlife, Habitats, Aquatic, Ecological Concepts, Wetland Wildlife, Birds, Student Connection to Wildlife and the World

  • View resources here.

    Project Learning Tree provides multi-disciplinary, hands-on lessons for all grade levels to help develop awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of the environment, and to build students’ skills to make informed decisions for sustaining the environment. Common Core, NGSS, C3, and Head Start Aligned.

    Grace Levels: Early Childhood, K-12, Family activities

    Topics Include: Multidisciplinary activities to connect children to nature; Sensory exploration to understand objects, spaces, people and interactions; K-2 learners’ relationship with nature and trees

  • Learning in Places is a pedagogy that centers racial equity, ethical, evidence-based decision-making, and just relations with the natural world. We offer materials for professional development, classroom learning, outdoor learning, and family engagement.

    Grade Level: Pre-K - 5th grade (and beyond) and their families

    View resources at the links below:
    Ethical Deliberation and Decision Making
    Complex Socio- Ecological Systems
    Phrenology
    Relationships In Socio- Ecological Systems
    Socio- Ecological Histories of Places

    Culture, Families, and Communities
    Family and Community
    Culture, Learning and Identity
    Nature-Culture Relations
    Power and Historicity

    Field Based Science Learning
    Modeling and Forming Explanations
    Wonderings, “Should We” and Investigation Questions
    Observations and Data Collection

  • View resource here.

    Growing Up WILD is an early childhood education curriculum that builds on children’s sense of wonder about nature and invites them to explore wildlife and the world around them. Through a wide range of activities and experiences, Growing Up WILD provides an early foundation for developing positive impressions about the natural world and lifelong social and academic skills. From the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

  • View Trout Kids lessons here.

    The Portland Water District (PWD) has coordinated the TroutKids Program since 2006. Students raise brook trout in a classroom tank, creating opportunities to learn about topics such as trout anatomy and physiology, ecology, human impacts, water quality, watershed protection, and Maine’s economy. The Program spans four to five months, beginning when classes receive approximately 300 brook trout eggs around late January. Over the next few months, students monitor tank conditions and brook trout development as the eggs hatch and trout grow.