CWF Education

International Year of Biodiversity
The United Nations proclaimed 2010 the International Year for Biodiversity to safeguard the variety of life on earth. With nearly one-third of the world’s species at risk, it is vital that we all learn more about the environment and our responsibility as citizens to protect biodiversity. To celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity, CWF Education was drawn to the work of award-winning children’s book creator Wallace Edwards, author of Alphabeasts, Monkey Business, Mixed Beasts, The Extinct Files and The Painted Circus. CWF Education created a new biodiversity poster featuring one of Wallace Edwards’s paintings to promote the campaign. This creative approach is earning top grades with teachers, who have praised CWF for the new resource and created innovative ways to use the poster for community outreach.

CWF Education’s fall campaign reaches educators at the beginning of the academic year, so they can plan their lessons incorporating CWF Education’s online and print resources and programs.

CWFEducation.ca
CWF Education resources are housed online, at CWFEducation.ca. This site continues to evolve and grow to net new learners and fulfill the needs of established wildlife educators. In addition to providing workshop registration forms, news updates and program outlines, there are also links to a wide range of wildlife-based curriculum resources.

In 2009, CWF Education also partnered with a team of artists from the Wilderness River Expedition Art Foundation to build an interactive project allowing visitors to participate in a five-week journey along the rivers and through the forests of northern Quebec and Labrador. Students from across Canada were invited to read details about the expedition’s itinerary, submit questions to the artists and follow their progress on a satellite map. Participating students were entered in a draw for a live presentation about the Boreal Expedition 2009 at their school.

Learning About…Units
In addition to resources offered through WILD Education professional development experiences, CWF Education offers educators annual Learning About… units to promote conservation themes and support the Wild and Blue School Youth Programs.

Learning About Wildlife, Unit 27
During National Wildlife Week, CWF Education launched its Learning About Wildlife units. In 2009, new units on native plants were developed and delivered to 16,000 schools across Canada. Over 10,000 educators who are registered in CWF’s Educator Network received a personal URL to access our conservation education inventory.

Learning About Watersheds, Unit 3
During Rivers to Ocean Week, CWF Education launched its Learning About Watersheds units to all schools and members of CWF’s Education Network. In 2009, the focus was on the conservation theme: Water’s Worth It: Care, Conserve, Commit.

CWF Receives Award for Education
On December 3, 2009, CWF was presented with an award for its leadership in conservation education by RCE Saskatchewan, the Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development. The award was presented for the transition of Project WILD, Below Zero, Project WET and the Native Prairie Curriculum Project to the Canadian Wildlife Federation from the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority.