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Mighty Acorns (early elementary) The Mighty Acorns program, a Chicago Wilderness model environmental education program, connects urban youth (grades 4 through 6) with nature through direct experiences in stewardship and exploration and thereby broadens community involvement in the protection and restoration of natural areas in the Chicago region. The students participate in seasonal field trips to local natural areas to engage in stewardship activities such as seed collecting, brush cutting, and planting. Over 8,000 students per year from 80 schools are working with 20 Chicago Wilderness partners to help restore and preserve the native ecosystems of northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana. o learn more, please email Betsy Quail at bquail@fieldmuseum.org. <<back Earth Force (middle school) Through Earth Force, young people are changing their communities and caring for the environment now while developing lifelong habits of active citizenship and environmental stewardship. A national non-profit organization, Earth Force offers three programs, Community Action and Problem Solving, Global Rivers Environmental Education Network, and Earth Force After School which engage youth ages 10 to 14 in important problem-solving around environmental issues in their own community. For more information, check out the Earth Force website, or email us at scastillo@fieldmuseum.org. <<back Illinois UrbanWatch (high school) A joint program of The Field Museum, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and the Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois UrbanWatch is a citizen-scientist monitoring program that tracks the condition and extent of urban green spaces statewide. Illinois high school teachers, students, and adult volunteers conduct surveys of native species in local urban green spaces, such as schoolyards, corporate parks, and cemeteries. They then enter their data into an online database. These online reports are analyzed by scientists to identify long-term trends in the biological quality of the region’s urban areas and by land managers to adjust management plans to reach conservation goals. The data collected also provide a baseline for UrbanWatch participants to engage in conservation action projects focused on assessing environmental and ecological conditions. To learn more about the program, visit the UrbanWatch website, or email Kirk Anne Taylor at kataylor@fieldmuseum.org. <<back Junior Earth Team (high school) In 2001, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service continued support of the Junior Earth Team (JET) program, a collaboration between the Museum and the Chicago Park District, which engages urban teens in environmental programs and internships as well as provides immersion experiences in the wilderness for participants and "graduates". During the last year, over 100 teens—90% minority—have participated in the (JET) program at five Chicago Park District locations: Calumet Park, Humboldt Park, Jackson Park, Kelvyn Park and Margate Park. Calumet Park JETs conducted a Biological Urban Survey (BUS) at Hegewisch Marsh in the Lake Calumet region. They learned how to identify plants and animals in a selected quadrant and reported the results to Field Museum scientists for further study. The Field Museum values the JET program as a connection to underserved communities. ECP provides support through the Advisory Board and the ongoing process of integrating the JET teens into Chicago Wilderness organizations. <<back |
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