What Project WILD Is...

• An award-winning interdisciplinary, supplementary education program emphasizing wildlife.
• Educators, wildlife professionals, and concerned citizens willing to transcend individual differences about issues to support a process of educational excellence for young people.
• People working together to learn about wildlife and its habitat.
• Easy to use, Project WILD is a great way to supplement your curricula and charge up the imagination of your students!
• An education program that teaches young people HOW to think; not WHAT to think.
• Easily integrated into all major subject and skill areas, and it is particularly well suited to science.
• Cross-referenced to specific textbooks and state frameworks.

• Elementary Guide (K-6)
• Secondary Guide (7-12)
• Aquatic Guide (K-12)

WILD activities are organized around a conceptual framework that consists of these major themes:

• Awareness and Appreciation of Wildlife
• Human Values and Wildlife
• Wildlife and Ecological Systems
• Wildlife Management and Conservation
• People, Culture and Wildlife
• Wildlife Issues and Trends: Alternatives and Consequences
• Responsible Human Actions

Project WILD is a supplementary education program. As such, WILD activities can be used sequentially or in clusters. Each activity includes objectives, method, background for the teacher, materials needed, procedures, evaluation suggestions, recommended grade level, school subject area(s), skills, duration, group size, setting, concept, and key vocabulary.

In addition to the activities, the Project WILD guides include a glossary and several cross-reference indexes to help teachers incorporate wildlife-related concepts into their daily teaching strategy.

How Were the materials developed?

WILD was developed through a joint effort of the Western Regional Environmental Education Council, an organization representing state level education and natural resources agencies from the 13 western states, and the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

The project WILD activities were developed jointly by classroom teachers and wildlife experts, and then rigorously field tested through two years of formal evaluation in classroom settings.

California and Project WILD

In California, Project WILD is sponsored by the California Department of fish and Game through the sale of personalized environmental license plates. The Aquatic guides are funded by the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Program.

How Is WILD being implemented?

The Project WILD guides are provided at no cost through a workshop format only. During the workshop each participant is provided with the Project WILD guide(s) at no charge. (To obtain the Aquatic guide, prior training in the Elementary or Secondary guide is required.)

About WILD Workshops

The workshops, open to classroom teachers, environmental educators, and youth group leaders, convey the philosophy of the Project and show how easily the activities can be integrated into existing curricula. No previous knowledge of wildlife is required to attend a workshop.

A Project WILD workshop is an exciting experience? Participants engage in a variety of activities and become familiar with how to use wildlife-related concepts to cultivate or enhance student learning.

Workshop leaders provide workshops throughout California on an ongoing basis. In addition, training is provided periodically for county, district, and school personnel and others interested in becoming certified to conduct Project WILD workshops.

Project WILD has been unanimously endorsed by the State Board of Education. It has also been endorsed by the National Council for the Social Studies and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. It is consistent with recommendations of the National Science Teachers Association.

Project WILD is also...

• Exciting instructional strategies
• Balanced and fair, neither pro nor con on value-sensitive issues
• Concept-oriented
• Designed for diverse teaching and learning styles
• Extensively reviewed, tested, and evaluated
• Useful in all school subject and skill areas
• Exemplary "science and society" instructional activities
• Effective methods for teaching problem-solving and decision-making Sponsored and supported by state agencies responsible for wildlife and education, in association with major national and international organizations and agencies concerned with wildlife, education, and the environment
• Praised by professional educators, wildlife biologists, parents, and students

Project WILD, Department of Fish and Game; Conservation Education,1416 Ninth Street,Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 653-3857.