The Florida Youth Naturalist Program Instructor Field Guide contains the curriculum to guide instructors through 24 hours of teaching. It includes 10 experiential lessons with hands-on activities, journaling, field trips ideas and more!
Purchase the field guide online from the UF/IFAS Extension Bookstore.
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In this introduction, students will gain an understanding of ecology, biodiveristy, and relationships among ecosystems and species. This is to provide an overview of important themes that will be prevalent in each of the following three chapters that focus on individual ecosystems.
Students will become familiar with terms such as "ecology," "community," "biodiversity," and "niche" through fun group learning activities to enhance their retention. In their hands-on experience activity, they will learn about species classification by creating their own phylogenetic tree. Once students complete this lesson, they are ready to move on to the ecosystem chapters: Uplands, Freshwater, and Coastal ecosystems!
As Billie the raindrop, completes the introduction chapter, he travels through each of the three ecosystems covered in our Field Guide and meets several friends. Billie will land in an uplands landscape where he meets Lilly the Gopher Tortoise. He then flows through a freshwater ecosystem where he befriends Kylie the Kingfisher, and finishes his journey at the coast where he finds Pauline the Manatee! Each of these ecosystems are covered in their own chapter, with each consisting of three lessons. Keep reading below to learn about the contents of each chapter and see if you can spot Billie's friends!
Expand each picture to learn more about the three lessons provided in each ecosystem chapter!
View an example of a lesson from the Field Guide here: Field Guide Lesson 1 Example
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Also included in the guide are "supplemental side bars," which offer extra information, tips, and connections for learners that instructors can incorporate into their teaching. Among these are service-learning opportunities in the community, jobs related to the book topics, tips for the instructor, and suggestions for students of how to do more in-depth learning at home. In addition to the side bars, there are also materials included for students to add to their Field Journal, in which they work on throughout the course!
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