The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a nongovernmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, aims to conserve the world’s largest wild places in 14 priority regions.WCS presents Field Sight brings the pioneering work of the Wildlife Conservation Society to the classroom. Pairing the insight of WCS educators with the expertise of field staff, videos and curated curriculum tools support STEM understanding. Students can dig into practical applications of biology, genetics, ecology, and more. For example, students learn from experts the way that maps, math, and modeling provide a bird’s eye view of how Earth is changing and what humans can do to protect it. They will hear directly from WCS staff about the work the organization is doing to protect the critically endangered Grauer’s Gorilla. Students will also learn that WCS has been working to protect American bison by partnering with the National Park Service to understand the genetic integrity of bison in federal herds. Curriculum tools created by educators bring this valuable information into the classroom to build deeper understanding of important interdisciplinary and crosscutting concepts.
Students are often fascinated to learn that Earth’s water today is the same water dinosaurs gulped down 65 million years ago. Dinosaurs are extinct but the water they drank and swam in is still here.
The US National Parks are the embodiment of a concept emerging from 19th-century democratic ideas to preserve the magnificent natural wonders of the land, making them available in perpetuity. Studying the national parks helps to illuminate these ideas and illustrate dimensions of US politics, economics, and society that resonate today.
National Geographic Education has launched a new grant program called the Learning Emergency Fund, which will award at least 50 grants to teachers to adapt or develop remote-friendly curriculum resources that use science, social studies, or geography to teach about pandemics, including COVID-19, or about social or environmental justice.