FREE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM FOR K-12 EDUCATORS
The Teaching Safari consists of four full-day, onsite sessions at Brookfield Zoo (two weekdays and two Saturdays) and two 60-minute virtual sessions. In addition to attending and participating in these classes, participants will engage in ongoing reflection on professional growth, and create and revise a lesson plan applying program content to practice. Content and strategies explored on the Teaching Safari are informed by Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and the Danielson Framework.
OVERVIEW
✔ Enhance your content knowledge of conservation, animals, and ecosystems.
✔ Explore effective, equity-minded classroom strategies to support student inquiry, critical thinking, conceptual understanding, argumentation based on evidence, student ownership, and engagement in all subject areas.
✔ Discover new ways to develop conservation awareness in your students and to enrich learning through zoo resources and exhibits.
✔ Reflect on your classroom practice, engage in discussion with other educators, and receive individualized, written feedback from experienced zoo educator program facilitator on a lesson plan that you create and revise during this program.
✔ Connect and expand your professional learning community by becoming a part of our Brookfield Zoo Teaching Safari Network and enjoy free registrations for designated online and in-person professional development events.
✔ Teaching Safari participants who complete all course requirements may elect to receive 35 free professional development hours or two (2) free graduate semester hours from Dominican University.* Participants who complete the Safari will also receive a Certificate of Completion from Brookfield Zoo and four (4) complimentary zoo passes for immediate family.
ITINERARY
Our safari begins with a two-day expedition focused on Brookfield Zoo’s Great Bear Wilderness, inhabited by brown bears, polar bears, bison, and the bald eagle! As you learn about these amazing animals, you will explore a variety of inquiry-based, student-centered teaching strategies that you can apply in your classroom across subject areas.
Teachers will also participate in an onsite, two-day "variety expedition" adventure combining educator professional development to support student learning as we explore The Swamp, The Living Coast, Hamill Family Wild Encounters, Hamill Family Play Zoo, and other animal habitats throughout the zoo.