Great Bear Education Programs
Bear Basics Program | Bear News | BearEmail | Bear Honoring
Bear Basics Program
What do we provide in a Bear Basics Program? |
What's new in Bear Basics?
How do I schedule a program? |
The Bear Basics Educational Network
The Bear Basics program is an interactive and engaging presentation that educates thousands of Montana students on the natural history, behavior, and ecology of large North American predators. We focus primarily on black, grizzly, and polar bears but have expanded our circle to include two other notable natives: wolves and mountain lions. Living with top-level predators is a reality in Montana and we feel strongly that learning about these animals is an essential component for kids growing up. Even today, damaging misinformation exists surrounding our native predators and we have taken on the challenge of dispelling these myths.
Our program is unique for several reasons:
- We do not charge a presentation fee to schools, allowing us to reach a diverse array of communities regardless of school budgets.
- We screen and have bear biologists review the extensive amount of information that currently exists on bears and predators to remove the inaccurate or misleading information. As a result, we leave teachers with high quality, factual curricula and educational packets that they can use with their classes.
- Teachers have expressed to us how much they appreciate our providing a guest speaker to present our material and to interact one on one with the students.
What do we provide in a program?
We provide programs for grades K-12 as well as any interested adult or community group. Our standard program includes:
- An informative slide show/video clip on bear identification
- Hands-on interaction with bear skulls, pelts, claws, and track casts
- Creative activities and games highlighting bear and predator adaptations and ecological concepts
- Information regarding safe travel and responsible living in bear country
- Information packets on black, brown, and polar bears as well as wolves and mountain lions
- Post-visit classroom activities requested by teachers
If a group already has a solid background on bears and predators, we can customize our program to fit the needs of individual classrooms. Some of our program options include:
- The bear in myth and culture: Explore the role of bears in Native cultures
- Track casting: Create plaster track casts of bears, wolves, and mountain lions and discuss the many signs that animals leave behind in the wilderness
- Amazing adaptations: An in-depth discovery of the adaptations that enable bears and predators to survive.
top of page
What's new for the Bear Basics program?
In response to an overwhelming interest in the Bear Basics program, we have expanded our program to include additional program options, teacher resources, partnerships with other groups working on similar issues, and avenues for schools and classrooms to become more involved in bear conservation.
We are now offering the Bear Basics Field Programs. The field programs take students out of the classrooom and into a local park, schoolyard or trailhead. Students learn how to identify different carnivore signs, how to properly set up a campsite in bear country, how to avoid a negative encounter with bears and mountain lions, and how different carnivores survive in their natural habitats.
Also we have embarked upon a project to evaluate children's books and videos on bears with the eventual intent of distributing for free the highest quality materials into classrooms. There is an overwhelming amount of information, both positive and negative, available to teachers and we would like to act as a filter to identify the best resources. We are confident that the book and video project will ensure that the information on bears being taught to our children is both factual and appropriate.
top of page
How do I schedule a program?
Please call Jenny Rasche or Julie White, at 406-829-9378, to schedule
a program
The Bear Basics Educational Network
In order to promote high quality educational programs throughout the United States, the GBF is creating the Bear Basics Educational Network comprised of people dedicated to furthering bear education and conservation in their areas. We are currently developing instructor manuals that can be regionally adapted to facilitate community and school programs. Through this strategy, we wish to communicate place-based information, allowing people to connect more deeply with the wildlife that exists in their own back yards. If you are interested in learning more about the Bear Basics Education Network and how you can create an effective educational program in your area, don't hesitate to contact us.
top of page
Bear News
Our quarterly journal Bear News is distributed internationally in an effort to increase citizen action, education, and awareness about bears. Check Bear News for excerpts from the current issue, and our GBF Membership page for information on how to become a member and receive Bear News.
(Our Privacy Policy regarding Bear News subscription information.)
BearEmail
BearEmail is an email service (one to two emails a month) alerting members to important current news items concerning bears and bear habitat, upcoming field courses, and Great Bear Foundation happenings.
Subscribe to BearEmail.
Unsubscribe to BearEmail.
You don't need to be a member of Great Bear Foundation to subscribe to BearEmail.
(Our Privacy Policy regarding BearEmail subscription information.)
Bear Honoring
The 8th Annual
International Bear Honoring will take place May 4-6, 2007. The Honoring
is a celebration of the bears and the coming of spring. It is a recollection
of, and a tribute to, the ceremonies of Native American and First Nations
peoples that honored the return of the bears and their importance to
the land, as well the return of springtime. We are still in the planning
stages, but a full see our home page for a list of events! We welcome
all comers!
Email this page to a friend.
top of page
|
Home