Last modified: Thursday, March 20, 2008
People working together for children, the land and its resources
What is Project WILD
Project WILD is an interdisciplinary conservation education program emphasizing wildlife. The program is designed for pre-K through 12th grade educators and other youth group leaders. Project WILD capitalizes on the natural interest that children have in wildlife by providing, hands-on activities that enhance student learning in all subject and skill areas. Project WILD educational materials are provided to educators through practical, interactive workshops. (See Utah Project WILD Training Schedule.)
Project WILD is also:
- An international network of students, educators, parents, community leaders, educational administrators, representatives of resource agencies and conservation groups;
- Ideal for teaching science, social studies, language arts, math, art, physical education, and music;
- Correlated with State Standards and easily integrated into all subject areas;
- Innovative techniques for teaching basic skills;
- Balanced and fair, neither pro nor con on value-sensitive issues;
- Designed for diverse teaching and learning styles;
- Effective methods for teaching problem-solving and decision-making;
- Extensively reviewed, tested and evaluated
Project WILD...
- Makes learning relevant to students;
- Incorporates problem-based learning;
- Uses multiple contexts to teach concepts;
- Takes students out of the classroom and engages them with real-world examples
- Employs research-based strategies such as:
- cooperative group work with duty assignments
- graphic organizers /concepts mapping
- active engagement to increase student retention
- using models to clarify concepts and encourage their use by students
- inquiry investigation
- addressing different learning styles, including visual, auditory, verbal, kinesthetic, and tactile
Project WILD trainings...
- help educators develop new skills and practices;
- are relevant to the individual needs of teachers;
- offer ideas to prepare and modify lessons to meet specific curriculum and classroom needs;
- provide opportunities to share expertise with collegues;
Project WILD goal
The goal of Project WILD is to assist learners of any age in developing awareness, knowledge, skills, and commitment to result in informed decisions, responsible behavior, and constructive actions concerning wildlife and the environment upon which all life depends.
Why Project WILD?
Human population growth is increasing exponentially. As our planet grows more crowded every day, natural and wild places are rapidly diminishing, and so is wildlife and its habitat. Project WILD helps students and others learn that people can use natural resources wisely and share the earth with wildlife.
How was Project WILD developed?
Project WILD was developed through a joint effort of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Western Regional Environmental Education Council. The materials were written by educators, resource agency personnel and representatives of private conservation groups. The materials have been extensively tested in classroom settings and are evaluated on an ongoing basis. Project WILD has received numerous awards and endorsements on local, national and international levels. Project WILD has been awarded the President's Environment and Conservation Challenge Award for Education and Communication.
Who can use Project WILD?
- Project WILD is for classroom teachers, environmental educators, park and nature center personnel, Scout, Camp Fire and 4-H leaders, and others who work with young people;
- Project WILD activities develop conceptual skills such as analysis, classification, description, estimation, evaluation, inference, hypothesis formation, problem solving and synthesis;
- Project WILD is appropriate for gifted students and impaired learners as well as mainstream students;
- Project WILD can be used indoors and outdoors by nature centers, museums, zoos, parks, camps, wildlife refuges and youth groups as well as schools.
Project WILD Activity Guides
The core of Project WILD is its activity guides. The Project WILD guide contains 113 activities, the Aquatic WILD guide contains 40 activities and the new Science and Civics: Sustaining Wildlife guide, for grades 9-12, has 350 pages of activities and resources. All are presented in lesson-plan format, which includes objectives, methods of teaching, background information, references available, a list of materials needed, and ways to evaluate learning. The Project WILD guides help incorporate wildlife-related concepts into classroom curriculum, and each activity is designed to teach one or more of the following concepts:
- awareness and appreciation of wildlife
- human values and the wildlife resource
- habitat and ecological systems
- wildlife conservation
- cultural and social interaction with wildlife
- environmental issues and trends, alternatives and consequences
- ecological systems and responsible human actions
These concepts are the basis for the curriculum framework of Project WILD. For each activity, the guide lists objectives, background information, suitable grade levels, reference to the school curriculum, skills developed in the lesson, and ideas for expanding and evaluation of the lesson. Each guide also includes a grade level, subject, topic and skill index, as well as a glossary of terms.
Project WILD in Utah
Project WILD in Utah is offered through trainings statewide. Participants receive:
- The basic K-12 Project WILD activity guide
- The Aquatic WILD activity guide
- A subscription to Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' Wildlife Review magazine containing a Project WILD wildlife education article
- Posters
- Correlation to Utah State Core Curriculum
- Utah-specific materials developed to meet the Utah State Core Curriculum
- Access to an extensive resource library of videos, wildlife resource trunks and other wildlife education materials
Cost: $20.00
Credit available: 1.0 semester hours graduate credit from USU for additional 30.00 or Certificate for Hours of Participation at no additional cost.
Many trainings are offered through cooperating school districts.
Contact information:
Diana Vos
(801) 538-4719
DianaVos@utah.gov
Utah Project WILD training schedule
- Project WILD
Dates: Fri., April 11, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and
Sat., April 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Location: Department of Natural Resources, Salt Lake City, Utah
Download more information — (PDF format)
- Early Childhood Project WILD
Dates: Fri., April 18, from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and
Sat., April 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Location: Department of Natural Resources, Salt Lake City, Utah
Download more information — (PDF format)
- Project WILD, Project WET and Project Learning Tree Combination Educator Training
Dates: Starts June 23 at 9:00 a.m. Ends June 25 at 4:00 p.m.
Location: Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area
Download more information — (PDF format)
Also see Utah's Wonderful Wetlands training schedule.
Project WILD wildlife education resources
Project WILD educator survey
Click here to take survey
Project WILD national Web site
Visit the Project WILD national office Web site.
Other Utah wildlife education programs
- Flying WILD
Flying WILD is a new bird conservation education program now available in Utah through the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' Project WILD program, in partnership with the Council for Environmental Education.
- Utah Wetlands Education Program
Designed for 4th-grade educators, the Utah Wetlands Education Program includes school and field-based experiential activities to help teachers meet Utah State science core curriculum requirements.
- Science & Civics: Sustaining Wildlife
New: Project WILD program for secondary educators
Detailed information flyer — (PDF format, 544 KB)
- School yard habitat grant programs
— Application for School Yard NatureScaping Grant Project WILD, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources — (PDF format, 16 KB)
— Grant-in-Aid Program, Utah Native Plant Society
— Schoolyard Habitats, National Wildlife Federation
- Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest
Contest information
For all students from kindergarten through high school.
Federal Junior Duck Stamp Web site
Contains links to Jr. Duck Stamp contest rules and results from the previous years' contests.
For additional information contact Diana Vos at (801) 538-4719 or DianaVos@utah.gov.
