WDFW offers fish, wildlife, and wildland lessons for school-age learners

OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW)’s new fish, wildlife, and natural resource-themed lesson plan program for elementary, middle school, and high school students is launching its first live event on Friday.

The Wild Washington lessons are developed for teachers, homeschool parents, youth groups, and informal learning experiences. In the live broadcast “Beavers, Nature’s Engineers” at 10 a.m. on Jan. 22, students will have the opportunity to engage with a WDFW wildlife conflict specialist who helps beavers and landowners coexist.

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Photo by WDFW

“Getting kids connected to nature is key to protecting the future health of our waterways, landscapes, fish, and wildlife,” said WDFW Director Kelly Susewind. “The Wild Washington lessons are a way for us to help caregivers, community partners, and schools bring natural science – which exists right on the other side of every window – into the lives of today’s youth in relevant, tangible, and exciting ways.”

Themed around the state’s diverse flora and fauna, Wild Washington lessons and are designed to equip students with the knowledge, social, and emotional skills needed to think critically, and problem solve around natural resource issues. Activities encourage students to explore various points of view and collaborate with others to find ways to move forward on real-world challenges.

Wild Washington lessons are interdisciplinary and align with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s state and national environmental and sustainability learning standards. Lessons have modifications embedded for distance learning but have also been developed for use in the classroom.

The program currently consists of a series of 14 lessons, with a new lesson released on the WDFW website each Friday through June 11, 2021. Lessons are available for three different student grade levels: 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.

WDFW is the state agency tasked with preserving, protecting and perpetuating fish, wildlife, and ecosystems, while providing sustainable fishing, hunting, and other outdoor recreation opportunities.