Virtual School Programs

Virtual School Programs

One of our highly educated, professional program leaders will deliver a virtual classroom program about natural sciences and DuPage County's cultural history. Programs are designed to meet national learning standards, including Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. 

We offer programs throughout the academic year (Sept. 1 through June 1), and most are available Monday through Friday. 

View the available virtual school programs and descriptions below. Then, click the green button to complete and submit a form to request a virtual school program.

Request a Virtual Program

Preschool

Maple Syrup: Get Sticky

Maple Syrup: Get Sticky

Students are introduced to process of making maple syrup, and explore related natural resources and the human connection to nature. Thirty-minute virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • SL.K.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.1.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

Mathematics

  • K.CC.4 Counting and Cardinality: Count to Tell the Number of Objects
  • MP.2 Mathematical Practice

Social Science

  • SS.G.1.K Geography: Human-Environment Interaction: Place, Regions, and Culture
  • SS.H.1.K History: Change, Continuity, and Context
  • SS.EC.2.1 Economics and Financial Literacy: Economic Decision Making
  • SS.H.3.1 History: Perspectives

NGSS:

  • K-ESS3-3 Earth and Human Activity

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Trees
People & Places from Illinois' Past

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Suggested Reading List (PDF)

Maple Leaf Coloring Page (PDF)

Vocabulary List (PDF)

Wildlife and You

Wildlife and You

This program increases students’ interest and awareness in the natural world. The importance of respecting wildlife and the proper ways to interact with and observe native wildlife are reinforced. Thirty-minute virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • SL.K.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

NGSS:

  • K-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity
  • K-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Wild Mammals

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Coloring Page (PDF)
Vocabulary List (PDF)
Suggested Reading List (PDF)


Kindergarten & Grade 1 

Animal Exploration

Animal Exploration

Students learn about three different groups of vertebrates: birds, mammals, and reptiles. The adaptations of these animals and how they are unique from one another will be discussed. Thirty-minute virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Offered seasonally Sept. – Oct. & April – June during academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • SL.K.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.K.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.1.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.1.2 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.1.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

NGSS:

  • K-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
  • 1-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
  • 1-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variations of Traits

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Amphibians & Reptiles
Illinois' Birds
Illinois' Wild Mammals

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Feathers, Fur and Scales (PDF)
Vocabulary List (PDF)
Suggested Reading List (PDF)

Maple Syrup: Get Sticky

Maple Syrup: Get Sticky

Students are introduced to the process of making maple syrup, and explore related natural resources and the human connection to nature. Thirty-minute virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • SL.K.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.1.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

Mathematics

  • K.CC.4 Counting and Cardinality: Count to Tell the Number of Objects
  • MP.2 Mathematical Practice

Social Science

  • SS.G.1.K Geography: Human-Environment Interaction: Place, Regions, and Culture
  • SS.H.1.K History: Change, Continuity, and Context
  • SS.EC.2.1 Economics and Financial Literacy: Economic Decision Making
  • SS.H.3.1 History: Perspectives

NGSS:

  • K-ESS3-3 Earth and Human Activity

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Trees
People & Places from Illinois' Past

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Suggested Reading List (PDF)

Maple Leaf Coloring Page (PDF)

Vocabulary List (PDF)

Wildlife and You

Wildlife and You

This program increases students’ interest and awareness in the natural world. The importance of respecting wildlife and the proper ways to interact with and observe native wildlife are reinforced. Thirty-minute virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • SL.K.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL1.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL1.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL1.4 Speaking and Listening: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

NGSS:

  • K-ESS2-2 Earth’s Systems
  • K-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity
  • K-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
  • 1-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Wild Mammals

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Coloring Page (PDF)
Vocabulary List (PDF)


Grades 2 & 3

Farm Food Chain

Farm Food Chain

Students explore the role of water and what plants need to grow; learn what lambs need to grow and develop; learn how honeybees help pollinate our crops; investigate how food is produced and how transportation changed how people are supplied with food; and learn how farmers changed the land to grow food more efficiently. One-hour virtual program for 10 – 120 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday, Thursday & Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  •  SL.2.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.2.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.3.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.3.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

    Social Studies

  • SS.H.1.2 History: Change, Continuity, and Context
  • SS.EC.1.3 Economics and Financial Literacy: Economic Decision Making
  • SS.G.2.3 Geography: Human-Environment Interaction: Place, Regions, and Culture
  • SS.EC.3.2 Economics and Financial Literacy: Exchange and Markets
  • SS.G.3.2 Geography: Human Population
  • SS.G.3.3 Geography: Global Interconnections 

NGSS:

  • 2-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
  • 3-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
  • 3-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits 

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Suggested Reading List (PDF)
Baby Farm Animals (PDF)
Vocabulary List (PDF)

Maple Syrup: Sap to Syrup

Maple Syrup: Sap to Syrup

Students learn the process of making maple syrup and explore related natural resources and the human connection to nature. Thirty-minute virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • SL.2.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.2.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.3.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
Mathematics
  • MP.2 Mathematical Practice
Social Science
  • SS.H.2.2 History: Change, Continuity, and Context
  • SS.G.2.2 Geography: Human Population

NGSS:

  • 2-PS1-4 Matter and Its Interactions
  • 3-LS3-2 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Trees
People & Places from Illinois' Past

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Suggested Reading List (PDF)
Tools of the Trade (PDF)
Vocabulary List (PDF)

Meet the Reptiles

Meet the Reptiles

Students are introduced to the scientific concept that animals are grouped by shared characteristics. This program focuses on reptiles and how they differ from other terrestrial vertebrates through activities, discussions, and presentation of live reptiles. Thirty-minute virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

September– June
academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • SL.2.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.2.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.3.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.3.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

NGSS:

  • 2-LS4-1 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
  • 3-LS3-2 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
  • 3-LS4-2 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
  • 3-LS4-3 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Amphibians & Reptiles

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Reptile Groups (PDF)
Vocabulary List (PDF)
Suggested Reading List (PDF)


Grades 4 & 5

Maple Syrup: The Science of Syrup

Maple Syrup: The Science of Syrup

Students explore the science of making maple syrup and how food and energy come from nature. Forty-five minute virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • CCR.SL.2 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.4.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.5.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

    Mathematics
  • MP.2 Mathematical Practice

Social Science

  • SS.EC.2.4 Economics and Financial Literacy: Exchange and Markets

NGSS:

  • 4-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
  • 5-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Trees
People & Places from the Illinois' Past

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Suggested Reading List (PDF)
Crossword (PDF)
Vocabulary List (PDF)

Wildlife Detectives

Wildlife Detectives

Students discover how to identify wild mammals that live in DuPage County by studying skulls and bones, learning basic natural history and using techniques that unravel wildlife mysteries. One-hour virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • RI.4.1 Reading Standards For Informational Text: Key Ideas and Details
  • RI.4.2 Reading Standards For Informational Text: Key Ideas and Details
  • SL.4.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.4.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • L.4.6 Language: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
  • RI.5.1 Reading Standards For Informational Text: Key Ideas and Details
  • RI.5.2 Reading Standards For Informational Text: Key Ideas and Details
  • SL.5.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.5.2 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.5.3 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

NGSS:

  • 4-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
  • 4-LS1-2 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Wild Mammals
Skulls
Tracking 

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Crossword (PDF)
Vocabulary List (PDF)
Suggested Reading List (PDF)

Grades 6 - 8

Behind the Scenes of a Wildlife Hospital

Students take a virtual tour behind the scenes of Willowbrook Wildlife Center, a native wildlife rehabilitation center, and explore the process of caring for an animal from admission to the final goal - release back into the wild. One-hour virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Offered seasonally during academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards met:

Common Core:

  • SL.6.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

  • SL.7.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

    SL.8.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

NGSS:

 

  • MS-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Maple Syrup: Energy Transfer

Maple Syrup: Energy Transfer

Students explore the process of turning tree sap into maple syrup and explore the science of how food and energy come from nature. One-hour virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday – Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

ELA/Literacy

  • CCR.SL.2 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.6-8.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

Mathematics

  • MP.2 Mathematical Practice

Social Science

  • SS.G.2.6-8 Geography: Human Population
NGSS:
  • MS-LS1-6 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Trees
People & Places from Illinois' Past

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Crossword (PDF)
Vocabulary List (PDF)

Grades 9 - 12

Blanding's Turtle Recovery

Blanding's Turtle Recovery

Students discover what factors have led to the decline in Blanding's turtle populations, then explore the different management techniques that have gone into the recovery effort of this endangered species. One-hour virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Offered seasonally during academic year
Monday - Friday

 

Standards met:

Common Core:
  • SL.9-10.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
  • SL.11-12.1 Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration
NGSS:
  • HS LS 2-2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
  • HS-LS2-7 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
  • HS-LS2-8 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
  • HS-LS4-5 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

    Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Amphibians and Reptiles

The Evolution of Agriculture

The Evolution of Agriculture

Students investigate and discuss crucial changes in farming technology over the past 125 years including transportation, expanding markets, the development of agri-business, and modern issues such as genetic engineering, feed additives, consumer safety, and environmental effects. Ninety-minute virtual program for 10 – 120 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday, Thursday & Friday

Standards Explored
Common Core:

Social Studies Standards

  • SS.G.3.9-12 Geography: Human Population
  • SS.G.6.9-12 Geography: Geographic Representations, Human-Environment Interaction, Population
  • SS.G.8.9-12 Geography: Geographic Representations, Human-Environment Interaction, Population
  • SS.EC.8.9-12 Economics and Financial Literacy: National and Global Economy
  • SS.H.4.9-12 History: Perspectives

NGSS:

  • HS-LS2-7 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Pre-Activity Sheets:

Vocabulary List (PDF)

College

Comparative Vertebrate Biology

Comparative Vertebrate Biology

Students compare the anatomy and lifestyles of the four main groups of terrestrial vertebrates, including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. One-hour virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday – Friday

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Amphibians and Reptiles
Illinois' Birds
Illinois' Wild Mammals
Owls

Conservation Biology: Blanding's Turtle Recovery

Conservation Biology: Blanding's Turtle Recovery

Students discover what factors have led to the decline in Blanding's turtle populations, then explore the different management techniques that have gone into the recovery effort of this endangered species. Ninety-minute virtual program for 10 – 30 students. $1 per student.

Offered seasonally during academic year
Monday - Friday

Loan Box Links:

Illinois' Amphibians and Reptiles

The Evolution of Agriculture

The Evolution of Agriculture

Students investigate and discuss crucial changes in farming technology over the past 125 years including transportation, expanding markets, the development of agri-business, and modern issues such as genetic engineering, feed additives, consumer safety, and environmental effects. Ninety-minute virtual program for 10 – 120 students. $1 per student.

Academic year
Monday, Thursday & Friday


Ask a Forest Preserve Expert

All Grades

Do you have a topic that requires expert advice but don't see it here? A Forest Preserve District expert will meet virtually with your students to explore your questions. For examples of the types of questions we can answer, please visit our PBL page.

On This Page

Preschool
Kindergarten & Grade 1
Grades 2 & 3
Grades 4 & 5
Grades 6 - 8
Grades 9 - 12
College

 
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