Resources for Teachers
Now available from the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection: exciting educational resources for teachers! Each kit contains biological specimens and activities to enhance your curricula. To reserve your educational materials, please contact Heather Prestridge.
The TCWC has been added as an outlet for educational trunks created by Texas Parks and Wildlife. The following are descriptions of the materials we have on hand from TPWD. View other educational trunks from TPWD here.
Bucket-o-Bass
K-12
This is a five-gallon bucket filled with preserved freshwater fish. It comes complete with fish, tongs, and activities.
Activity objectives:
Bucket-o-Drum
K-12
This is a five-gallon bucket filled with
preserved saltwater fish. It comes complete with fish, tongs, and activities.
Activity objectives:
*It is the same as Bucket O Bass except it is for saltwater fish.*
Texas Wetlands Discovery Trunk
K-12
These trunks contain lesson plans, books, posters, videos, Texas Amphibian Watch materials (including a frog and toad calls cd-rom) and field equipment to guide students in their investigations of wetland habitats. The trunks emphasize hands-on learning both in the classroom and in the field. Suggested activities at different grade levels for a 1- to 3-week study of Texas wetlands are correlated to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.
Other kits from the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection
Kits listed below were designed by staff and interns of the TCWC. We have more educational materials and specimens that can be loaned to schools, just ask!
Texas Mammals
K-6
This kit contains common mammal skulls and plaster track castings. Students will identify the skulls through the use of a dichotomous key, and learn more about each mammal through independent research projects.
Sea Shell Discovery
K-6
Containing over 15 different shells from Texas Mollusks, this kit is versatile enough to be used from kindergarten through 6th grade. Activities include a dichotomous key and a shell trading game. Students will learn to identify different shells, and discover how early Americans used shells in every day life.
Educational Modules from the Agricultural Extension 4-H Program
Working together with the Texas Cooperative Extension, the TCWC is proudly offering educational modules for loan to schools. These modules are best utilized in common areas of schools where multiple teachers can have access to them.
Wildlife Success Stories
K-6
The Wildlife Success Stories module is a very interactive, student friendly module that teaches youth the importance of endangered species. The concept of endangered species is sometimes hard for children to understand. The module presents information about five endangered species; the red-cockaded woodpecker, Bald Eagle, Shortnose Sturgeon, black-footed ferret, and the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle and explains what measures are being taken to protect them. Species which once were endangered and that have been helped through wildlife management were featured as wildlife success stories. These were the white-tailed deer, the wood duck, the alligator and the wild turkey.
Components of the entire program include:
White-tailed Deer
K-6
The White-Tailed Deer Module was created to help teach youth about wildlife in Texas and the economic importance of natural resources in general. This excellent, educational module was developed by Extension experts in wildlife and communications. It was designed to be "hands on" for youth and be easy to implement for teachers.
Components of the entire program include:
