
Teacher Resources
The Forest Preserve District offers a variety of professional-development opportunities for educators and loan boxes for use in the classroom.
Professional Development Opportunities
The Forest Preserve District offers a variety of professional development opportunities and research-based instructional practices for teachers in natural sciences and cultural history. Teachers participate in hands-on learning experiences and receive resources for their classrooms or discovery at forest preserves on their own.
Our opportunities are also open to home-school and nontraditional teachers.
County-wide Teacher Institute Day
Blast from the Past: Witness Trees of Illinois
Discover the special place witness trees have in the history of Illinois. Used by surveyors in the early 1800s, witness, or “bearing” trees, were sought out as landmarks for creating the earliest state land surveys and plat maps. Some of these trees are still standing today and can be used as a lens to bridge the gap between science and social studies, as well as connect us to our past. Join educators at St. James Farm in Warrenville where science and history converge. Through a variety of activities, learn the role these trees played in the urbanization of Illinois, why they are still important today, and how oak trees are critical to local ecosystems. Then complete a STEM-based learning project to catalog potential witness trees. Take ideas back to the classroom to get your students engaged in similar data collection projects at school. Major portions of this program will be outdoors, and participants should dress for the weather. Registration is free.
Friday, March 1
St. James Farm in Warrenville
Register here.
Nature Discovery Loan Boxes
The Forest Preserve District and Illinois Department of Natural Resources partner to offer educational loan boxes and supplemental materials that introduce students to DuPage County’s natural sciences and cultural history. Each box contains suggested lesson plans, activities, books, specimens or replicas, and other materials to create a deeper connection to an area of study. All materials tie into Next Generation Science Standards.
Forest Preserve District and IDNR loan boxes are free to reserve up to 14 days. You can pick up loan boxes Wednesday – Friday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Forest Preserve District headquarters at 3S580 Naperville Road in Wheaton. For more information, call 630-780-7127.