3:00pm-5:00pm

Hosted by the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher on Zoom

Led by: Becky Skiba, with Aquarium animal cameos by Gail Lemiec

This will be a virtual class that will consist of two 2-hr. zoom meetings spaced a day apart and 2 hrs. worth of active and creative independent work. Participants must attend both sessions in order to earn 6 hrs. credit for the workshop as well as the book that will be mailed after attendance is confirmed. The Aquarium at Fort Fisher will also be showcasing some of their avian friends and sharing a bit of history about them.

You must attend both the Session 1 and Session 2 class. We will be investigating ways to adapt lessons to a virtual format as well as review how to do these activities in person.

There will be an opportunity to earn up to 4 additional hours by joining a guided bird hike offered near you to help you develop your bird ID skills, further understand how to teach about birds to mixed audiences, and get you outdoors and honing those observation skills while enjoying the experience. This is something that can be delayed in lieu of COVID precautions.

Targeted for the middle-school audience, though widely adaptable, Flying WILD offers practical hands-on classroom and outdoor field investigation experiences connecting real-world experiences in bird biology, conservation and natural history. Through activities involving language arts, social sciences and math experiences, coupled with community outreach and service learning applications, Flying WILD offers a whole-school approach to environmental education using birds as the focus.

Participants of this 6-hour workshop receive the Flying WILD: An Educator's Guide to Celebrating Birds along with materials specifically about NC wildlife. The Guide provides activities that teach students about birds, their migration, and what people can do to help birds and their habitats. Many activities can be used to teach classroom lessons or to initiate service-learning projects that help birds and their habitats. The Guide helps middle-grade students, teachers, and community volunteers implement a bird festival at their school.

Participants are eligible for Criteria I credit of NC OEE Environmental Education Certification and school teachers receive CEU credit.

Please contact Becky Skiba (Rebecca.skiba@ncwildlife.org) for specific workshop questions or Gail Lemiec for logistics questions (Gail.Lemiec@ncaquariums.com).

For assistance with registration, please call 910-772-0542.

Registration fee: $25  (fee includes live animal cameos from the Aquarium and all Flying Wild instruction and materials)

Advanced registration is required and participants must attend both sessions to receive credit.

You will just need to click on the May 4th date to reserve your spot for both dates.

Sea Turtle Exploration

Saturday, July 10th, 2021

9 AM - 3:30 PM

The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher presents Sea Turtle Exploration, a curriculum designed to help educators engage students in the fundamentals of STEAM through ready-to-use, standards-based lesson plans focused on sea turtles. Now you can join us from the comfort of your own home in a virtual edition of the workshop on Saturday, July 10, 2021. You will be sent a workshop kit beforehand to prepare you for a hands-on teacher workshop exploring our curriculum and activities.

Aligned with Common Core standards, your class will be able to “adopt” a turtle and learn about its care and growth. By adopting our sea turtle, you will receive updates several times a year with information including the turtle’s current weight and length. Each class will also receive a certificate of participation.

By the end of the workshop, you will be familiar with the website and curriculum and how to implement the lessons in your own classroom or with your own audience. This workshop also includes virtual meet-and-greets with several animal ambassadors. The Sea Turtle Exploration workshop will count towards NC Environmental Education Certification (Criteria I) and consists of 6 contact hours (three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon) that may count toward CEUs for teachers.

The cost of this teacher workshop is $25. This fee includes animal ambassador cameos, workshop materials, and access to curriculum. The registration cut-off for this workshop is June 30th, 2021 to ensure the workshop kits are sent out to participants in time. The Oak Island Beach Preservation Society will pay the registration fee for any formal or informal Brunswick County Educators.

For additional workshop information contact Gail Lemiec at gail.lemiec@ncaquariums.com.