Maine Audubon delivers a variety of nature-themed programs for kids in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Our educators work with teachers and community leaders to adapt our popular, standards-based Pre-K to 12 programs to the current demands and realities of teaching and learning–including virtual, hybrid, and modified in-person options.
Maine Audubon’s mission involves engaging people, especially youth, in conserving wildlife and wildlife habitat. Partnering with schools, enrichment programs, and community groups has been a core program line for the organization for decades. We specialize in outdoor/experiential learning, NGSS standards, multi-disciplinary curricula, and inspiring a culture of social and environmental responsibility.
We are excited to share our experience and resources to help your students achieve and thrive in these challenging times! We will partner with you to design and deliver customized programming/curriculum for your school or community group. Together, we can adapt our signature programs, community science field studies, or service learning projects to enrich your current units of study.
New and improved COVID-19 programming and resources include:
- In-person outdoor instruction starting at $120 per hour.
- Synchronous virtual instruction starting at $60 per hour.
- Asynchronous online instruction (including virtual field trips, pre-recorded videos, and bundles of screen-free activities) starting at $60 per instructional hour, with the option to add materials.
Fall Content and Curriculum Units by grade
Early Childhood/Pre-K (These themes align with PreK for ME Outdoor Learning topics in Units 1&2)
- Five* senses: Sensory exploration is fun and foundational to nature study! Use your senses of touch, smell, sight, and hearing to learn more about the world around you. (*sorry, no tasting!)
- Insects, worms, and slugs: Find, observe, and practice sorting and identifying “bugs,” then get creative with some bug art, web building, and more.
- Trees, fall leaves, & seed dispersal: Explore shape, color, and math concepts with fallen leaves, and learn about the many ways that seeds move!
- Animals getting ready for winter: What is the wildlife in your neighborhood up to right now? Learn about winter survival strategies and wildlife behavior through both observation and dramatic play.
K-2
- Animal adaptations
- Habitats of Maine
- Seasonal changes
- Plant and animal relationships
3-5
- Plant and animal adaptations to environmental factors
- Animal life cycles similarities and differences
- How energy and matter move through an ecosystem
- Using Community (Citizen) Science to solve real world problems
Middle+ (coming soon)
Ask about our custom-designed programs, sliding price scale, and grant-funded programming.
Workshops and Trainings
Maine Audubon educators can also provide trainings to help your school or organization build programming and instructional capacity. Please reach out to discuss which workshop topics might be helpful to your team. More information…
Examples of workshops include:
- How to bring learning outdoors
- Designing instruction for outdoor learning on remote days
- Ways to incorporate authentic STEM learning outdoors
- Community (Citizen) Science
- Introduction to curriculum guides (eg., Project WILD and Junior Duck Stamp)
- Custom designed workshops for your school
Special Programs
Junior Duck Stamp: Maine Audubon collaborates with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the annual Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program, a dynamic, multidisciplinary curriculum that teaches wetland and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school. The program encourages students to explore their natural world, invites them to investigate biology and wildlife management principles and challenges them to express and share what they have learned with others. This program and curriculum lend themselves to learning in a variety of forms, remote, hybrid teaching and in-classroom instruction. Learn more.
Fish Friends: Maine Audubon has participated annually in the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s educational Fish Friends program to highlight the significance of wild Atlantic Salmon. Raising salmon provides a concrete and accessible entry point into many topics that are important to our work: habitat needs and interdependence, stream connectivity and river restoration, and the power of bringing Traditional Ecological Knowledge together with western science. Through Fish Friends, participating classrooms and organizations like Maine Audubon receive eggs from local hatcheries and raise them through the beginning of their life cycle. Then, with expert guidance, the young salmon are released in local waterways. We are creating a series of short videos to bring our salmon to you this year. Visit maineaudubon.org/fishfriends to learn more.
For more information or to schedule a program, contact:
Catherine Griset, Lead Educator & Program Manager, Grades K-2, Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Falmouth
cgriset@maineaudubon.org or 207.781.2330 x211
David Lamon, Manager, Fields Pond Audubon Center, Greater Bangor
dlamon@maineaudubon.org or 207.989.2591
Linda Woodard, Lead Educator, Grades 3+, and Professional Development Manager
lwoodard@maineaudubon.org or 207.781.2330 x213
Molly Woodring, Early Childhood Education Program Manager
mwoodring@maineaudubon.org or 207-781-2330 x231