BRIT offers place-based and outdoor-inquiry workshops in life sciences, earth science, botany, environmental science and ecology for K-6 teachers and other interested educators. During workshops, program leaders guide you through background information and activities to help your students reach the National Education Standards and explore concepts and practice skills specified in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Workshops provide a chance for you to prepare for science studies with your students in a relaxed, supportive community of learners after school and during the summer.
Information about our upcoming programs are listed below. If you have any questions, please contact us by email or phone 817-332-4441.
with Mark Baldwin, Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
4:30 - 7:30 pm
* Registration opens on September 1, 2010 *
Location: BRIT Education Offices at Fire Station #5 (map)
Cost: $15 per person CPE Credits: 3 hours
Most people use maps only to help them get to a destination, but maps are also powerful tools for understanding the characteristics that make every place on earth unique. A Sense of Place map is a birds' eye view of a place showing its shape and context in relation to its surroundings. Not only is this type of map geographically accurate, but it also tells the story of a place from the point of view of the mapmaker(s). A sense of place map depicts how its physical setting influences it. Elements of setting include geography, topography, geology (soils and bedrock), hydrology (lakes, streams, and groundwater), weather and climate, forms of life, and historical events both cultural and natural.
The Roger Tory Peterson Institute's Sense of Place Mapping Teacher Professional Development Seminar trains educators to use maps and mapping technology to create a program of teaching and learning that focuses on your own community. Teachers and students who create sense of place maps learn what makes their home place unique from natural and cultural history perspectives.
The purpose of this workshop is to deepen the knowledge and broaden the opportunities to K-6 teachers to engage students in place-based outdoor inquiry in the environments around their schools while addressing science Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Participants will be introduced to a teaching/learning format that employs part of the community around their school (one square kilometer in size) as an outdoor laboratory for inquiry into natural and cultural history.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
* Registration opens on October 1, 2010 *
Location: Trinity River Audubon Center
Cost: $20 per person CPE Credits: 4 hours
The nature journal (also referred to as a notebook) is a flexible teaching tool that can be used in a variety of disciplines—inspiring children and their teachers to connect with their immediate environment through writing and sketching their observations and hypotheses. During this training, K-6 educators will practice sketching and observation techniques with a local artist, identify various types of age-appropriate journals, and explore ways in which journals can be created and utilized to assess learning outcomes.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
* Registration opens on October 1, 2010 *
Location: BRIT Education Offices at Fire Station #5 (map)
Cost: $20 per person CPE Credits: 4 hours
Seeds ARE sensational and you can teach about them using engaging activities that help students learn about models and the scientific inquiry process. During this program, educators will engage in interactive inquiry-based activities to learn content and strategies that meet specific K-6 science TEKS; receive resources they can use for their classrooms; and identify how the resources and activities can address non-science TEKS such as math, language arts, or art.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
* Registration opens on November 1, 2010 *
Location: Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge
Cost: $20 per person CPE Credits: 4 hours
Using inquiry-based activities, K-6 educators will identify parts, functions, and names of a variety of trees that are common in North Central Texas; explore the historical and cultural significance of these trees; and engage in activities they can use with their students.
ATTENTION FWISD THIRD GRADE TEACHERS! This event is directly related to BRIT's Great Tree Story Contest. Toward the end of the program, FWISD 3rd grade teachers will be invited to attend an information session about the contest and details regarding benefits of participation, guidelines, and submission dates.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
* Registration opens on February 1, 2011 *
Location: Fort Worth Botanic Garden
Cost: $20 per teacher plus $4 per family member CPE Credits: 4 hours
Using story maps, K-6 educators and their families will search for botanical treasures in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. During the first half of the program, teachers and their families will embark on an inquiry-based quest to identify various natural elements and to learn about their impact on our cultures. After enjoying a picnic provided by BRIT, teachers will meet together to discuss the impact and adaptation of the morning activities for their students while their families engage in outdoor playtime and stories facilitated by BRIT educators.
All professional development programs sponsored by BRIT utilize experiential, place-based, and inquiry-based techniques to facilitate learning. Every program includes teacher packets, food and beverages, resource information, and time for planning and reflection. The programs are aligned to the K-6 science Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS); however the programs also provide learning opportunities for language arts, math, social studies, and art educators.
We encourage you to bring your learning journal or field notebook with you. Be sure to wear comfortable clothes appropriate for outdoor activities. You might also consider bringing a water bottle; however, we will have drinks available.
