F I V E R I V E R S M E T R O P A R K S

Five Rivers MetroParks is dedicated to protecting Greater Dayton’s natural heritage and providing outdoor experiences that inspire a personal connection with nature. EducationRecreation Conservation

25 facilities 16,000 acres protected Aullwood Garden MetroPark Carriage Hill MetroPark Cox Arboretum MetroPark Deeds Point MetroPark Eastwood MetroPark Englewood MetroPark Germantown MetroPark Hills & Dales MetroPark Huffman MetroPark Island MetroPark National City 2 nd Street Market Possum Creek MetroPark RiverScape MetroPark Sugarcreek MetroPark Sunrise MetroPark Taylorsville MetroPark Twin Creek MetroPark Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark Wesleyan MetroPark/Adventure Central 8 Conservation Areas 70 miles Recreation Trails River Corridors Recreation Facilities

Schools & MetroParks Students ParentsEducators Field Trips to our Parks Outreach programs at School Coordinating experiences for students Teacher Workshops Teacher’s Night Out OUTstanding Teacher Awards Educational Resources Chaperone field trips Support for Environmental Education Miami Valley No Child Left Inside OUTstanding Teacher Awards

Educators & MetroParks Field Trips Teacher’s Night Out OUTstanding Teacher Awards Workshops Education Resources Just for Teachers Teacher’s Field School Inquiry Adventures/Project WILD Would love to increase offerings! Education Kits Inquiry Adventures Kits Self-guided Materials/ Tools Green Schoolyards Ecology Hikes Stream Study/ Pond Study Ohio Wildlife Insect Investigations Fossil Study How Plants Grow Buds and Blooms

Teacher Field School

Project WILD Curriculum guides put together by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Council for Environmental Education Recognized as a professional development opportunity through Ohio Department of Education State Coordinator-Jen Dennison Updated list of workshops can be found on discovery/conservation-education-project-wild discovery/conservation-education-project-wild

Growing Up WILD National curriculum guide for early childhood Recognized as a professional development opportunity through Ohio Department of Education and Step Up To Quality approved through OCCRRA State Coordinator-Jen Dennison

Education Kits Inquiry Kits Birds Composting and Soils Farm and Agriculture Forestry Fossils Insects Mammals Wetlands and Aquatics Education Kits

Green Schoolyard Extension of Project WILD/Project WILD Aquatic Four Forms of Assistance WILD School Site Consultations WILD School Sites Small Grant Program WILD School Site Workshop WILD School Site Certification

Also known as WILD School Sites Outdoor Classrooms Habitats for Learning Green Space Green Room Schoolyard Habitats School Nature Centers School Vegetable Gardens

A Green Schoolyard is… … an amazing, stimulating and creative opportunity to become closer to nature. A GSY serves as a habitat or refuge for humans and wildlife to co-exist and learn from one another. Most importantly, a GSY re-establishes ties that are becoming lost in our digital world.

Why have a Green Schoolyard? Some startling finds: Children ages 8-18 spend 7-1/2 hours a day in front of media. (Kaiser Family Foundation (2010). “Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds. ) In a typical week, only 6 percent of children ages 9-13 play outside on their own. (Children and Nature Network, ) The key obstacles to overcome in getting youth to spend more time in nature are a lack of access, a lack of interest, and feelings of discomfort. (The Nature Conservancy Connecting America’s Youth to Nature Survey Results. Methodology: From July 28 to August 4, 2011, FM3 and POS completed 602 on-line interviews with American youth between the ages of 13 and 18. Quotas were established to ensure representativeness of the sample by age, gender, geography, and race.)

Habitat/Home for Wildlife

Accessible and Container Gardens Hanging gardens for access at any level accessible-garden.html Small planters can be reached from paved area and are small enough to be moved

Literature Gardens Jack in the Beanstalk Peter Rabbit Wizard of Oz

Sensation Gardens / Primary Village South

Get Outside Book Club

Ohio DNR Education Resources District 1- (614) District 2- (419) District 3- (330) District 4- (740) District 5- (937) Loaner Kits Supplemental guides Posters Life History Sets Field Guides WILDLIFE

Thank You! Lauren Asquith Education Specialist