The Missouri Department of Conservation’s Discover Nature Schools (DNS) program began in 2008 to promote and teach scientific learning and skills through lessons that are engaging, hands on and Missouri-specific. Teachers participating in DNS have noticed many benefits for their students, including improved mental and physical health, higher standardized test scores and reduced attention-deficit problems.
The program has since grown from a middle school aquatics-focused curriculum to offering curriculum for pre-K through high school, with students exploring scientific concepts outdoors. Along with this growth, the MDC also must keep in mind new Missouri Learning Standards.
“With the recent update of the Missouri Learning Standards by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, we knew it was time to update our DNS curriculum,” said MDC’s Curriculum Coordinator, Mary Beth Factor.
To align with the new Missouri standards, the upcoming kindergarten, first and second grade DNS units will change to meet these new standards for all science subjects. This includes physical and life sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering and technology sciences. The new units will be available in Fall 2022.
“This has never been done before with the DNS units,” Factor said. “We have aligned all lessons to the Missouri science standards and updated them to introduce students to Missouri-specific topics such as black bears, turkeys, pollinators, birds and so much more.”
Students can now participate in immersive activities like exploring how fireflies communicate using light, engineering turkey calls to explore how sound is created and investigating push/pull forces of a black bear as they eat.
More changes to the curriculum will include:
• Grade-specific units for kindergarten, first and second grade rather than one bundled K-2 unit
• Alignment with all Missouri Learning Science Standards instead of only life science standards
• Teacher kits available to classroom teachers trained by a local conservation educator
• Fully colored teacher and student guides for each unit
“We are also updating the MDC Teacher Portal to include classroom pages with digital resources aligned to specific lessons in the units. These support materials will include videos, audio clips, printable classroom handouts, and so much more. We are working hard to ensure our curriculum is relevant for today’s classroom,” Factor said.
If interested in ordering this new curriculum or other DNS units at no-cost for Missouri classroom teachers, visit the MDC Teacher Portal at education.mdc.mo.gov. Classroom teachers may also receive the DNS teacher kit and field experience grant after participating in training. To find your local conservation educator and schedule training, visit mdc.mo.gov.
If you plan to implement this curriculum in your classroom this fall, please email Ljames@msta.org to share your experience.