Beyond the Museum
Educator resources
GEMS
GEMS (Great Explorations in Math and Science) is an inquiry-based, standards-supported approach to learning developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) at UC-Berkeley. Thanks to generous funding from Redding’s McConnell Foundation, a private non-profit organization whose mission is to help build better communities through philanthropy, Turtle Bay has been established as a GEMS center, allowing north state teachers access to cutting-edge teaching materials and intensive workshops presented by the staff of LHS and local teachers who have become GEMS-trained associates. For a current schedule of workshops and other GEMS offerings, please e-mail your inquiry to mharper@turtlebay.org.
At your school
Famous Artists Portfolio Program
This long-standing free program allows parents, teachers, and/or community members to present reproductions of significant artworks to students in the classroom. Portfolio prints are organized into nearly sixty age-appropriate themes. Follow-up art activities are suggested for each portfolio. No artistic experience is necessary–merely an enjoyment of working with children and a belief that art matters. In order to borrow portfolios, you must have completed training in a prior year or participate in the annual training offered in September. Call (530) 242-3148 for more information.
Forestry Outreach
Sustainable Forests, Sustainable Communities is a mobile forestry education exhibition that brings information on sustainable forestry to you. Contemporary forest-management issues are discussed using forest science as a foundation. Supporting curriculum is available to educators using the trailer as a teaching tool. Exhibits installed in the 48-foot-long trailer are designed to teach basic concepts relating to forest resources and management, forests and ecosystem balance, the importance of sustainable forestry to local communities and animal habitats, the role of fires in forests past and future and the effects and control of catastrophic wildfires. Call (530) 242-3151 for more information.
Links
- www.lawrencehallofscience.org/ GEMS ® and information.
- www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/virtualforest/ Virginia 4H Forestry for Kids.
- www.fs.fed.us/ucf/, USDA website: Urban and Community Forestry.
- www.fs.fed.us/rm/fire_game/ Interactive computer forest management and fire tracking/prediction game.
