Gain content knowledge and plan a future field trip to the Museum for your students and earn CPDUs in the process.  Our teacher workshops are hands-on, multidisciplinary, and standards based. We provide you with activities that can be taken right into the classroom.

All teacher programs enable you to earn one CPDU per hour of participation. For workshops more than 15 hours, you may also earn graduate credit through Aurora University or National-Louis University, or Lane credit through Chicago Public Schools.

Registration

You may register for these programs one of two ways:

1. Print and mail the registration form with payment to:
   Registration Office
   Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
   2430 N. Cannon Drive
   Chicago, IL 60614

2. Print and fax the registration form with credit card payment to 773-549-0607.

For more information e-mail teacherprograms@naturemuseum.org.

Important Registration Information

Registration forms are processed in the order they are received and according to availability. Payment can be made via school/personal check, money order or credit card.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations must be received in writing no later than two weeks before the program date to avoid cancellation fees. To cancel your reservation, please email the Nature Museum at teacherprograms@naturemuseum.org or fax 773-549-0607.

Saturday Teacher Workshops

New! Saturday Teacher Workshops.

Love our Field Trip Workshops for students? The Nature Museum now offers Teacher Workshops that align with our popular student programs. These three hour professional development sessions dig deeper into the very same topics your students explore during their field trip to the Museum. Learn new STEM-centered science content and teaching strategies, and discover new ways to incorporate the Nature Museum into your science lessons.

• All workshops are from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. unless otherwise specified.

• Teachers earn 3 CPDUs per workshop.

• Workshops are recommended for a particular grade range but are open to teachers of all grade levels.

Register your class for a Field Trip Workshop and receive $15 off a Saturday Teacher Workshop. Remember, class space is limited so register early!

Pre-K and K

Bugs Alive
February 16th, 2013
There’s more to insects than their six legs and 3 body parts. Interact with live insects from the Nature Museum’s collection and discover new ways to foster classroom inquiry in the early childhood classroom. 

Teenie Greenies
June 1st, 2013
Discover new ways to bring nature into the classroom and capitalize on early learners’ natural curiosity Get a guided Green Building and Grounds Tour for inspiration in your classes. 

Grades 1 and 2

Metamorphosing Monarchs
May 11th, 2013
Studying insects, life cycles, migration, native species, or citizen science in your classroom? Join us for a comprehensive workshop about butterflies. Featuring butterfly adaptations, specialized butterfly gardens, and exploring our Judy Istock Butterfly Haven. 

Grades 3, 4, and 5

Classroom Composting
February 9th, 2013
Green your classroom while conducting a science investigation. Discover how worms can recycle food and paper waste and enhance soil quality. Teachers will build a worm compost bin for the classroom and leave with a do it yourself guide for red worm care.

From Soil to Plate
April 13th, 2013
Take an in-depth look at edible plants! We will provide a feast of new and surprising information about the parts of plants, their functions, and how humans use these different parts for food. 

Ecology Rangers
May 18th, 2013
This outdoor-focused workshop highlights local prairie, woodland, and wetland ecosystems. Learn about native wildlife species and how the plants and animals of local ecosystems interact with their surroundings.

Grades 6, 7, and 8

What’s the Buzz About Honey Bees?
April 27th, 2013
Get an up close look at these amazing creatures and learn about honeybee behavior, their role in the production of the foods we eat, and the challenges they face as a species.

Credit Courses

The Nature Museum collaborates with local partner institutions to offer dynamic workshops designed to enhance educators' science content, knowledge and teaching practices.

Fostering Early Childhood Inquiry
March 16, 2013 at the Chicago Botanic Garden
March 23, 2013 at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Fee: $150
Grade level: PreK-2
CPDU credit: 15, Lane credit: 1, Graduate credit: 1 (additional fee)

Children are naturally curious about the world. Learn how to encourage this curiosity through inquiry, and help young students develop science process and critical thinking skills. Explore how to lead science and nature based conversations, and integrate natural objects, the outdoors and simple experiments into your teaching. Take home practical classroom strategies and a nature toolkit to use with young students.

ENTICE Workshops

Sponsored by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), these workshops are part of the ENTICE (Environment and Nature Training Institute for Conservation Education) program.

For registration questions, contact the IDNR at 217-534-4126 or dnr.teachkids@illinois.gov. To register for ENTICE workshops visit the IDNR at www.enticeworkshops.com.

For more than 150 years, the Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum have been collecting, assembling and maintaining a variety of natural history specimens. Learn about the Museum’s collections and why collections are important for both scientific and educational purposes. We’ll discuss how to build and maintain a collection, guidelines for collecting natural materials and how to use collections in the classroom. Participate in numerous hands-on activities, including pinning dead invertebrates, and take home many supplemental resources.