The Virginia Living Museum offers a broad selection of workshops and courses for school systems. Teacher training programs can be custom developed to meet your professional development requirements. Call 757-595-1900 ext. 216 for additional information.
2009 SUMMER TEACHER TRAINING WORKSHOPS
2010 registration coming soon
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with an hour for lunch (cafe available on site)
Location: The Virginia Living Museum
Fee: $50 for any workshop, includes all activity materials
Call: 757-595-9135 to register or click here to register online (2010 registration will begin soon)
June 29 or August 3, 2009
PRE-K SCIENCE DISCOVERIES (PART 1): BUILDING A FOUNDATION
Developed especially for teachers of 4 and 5 year old children, this activity-oriented, hands-on workshop features effective ways to channel the natural curiosity that young children have about the world around them. The workshop incorporates specimens from the museum’s collections, live animals and developmentally appropriate classrooms activities to introduce very young children to basic math and scientific thought processes. Teachers will take away a host of exciting activities that will bring science to life for their pre-K students.
June 30 or August 4, 2009
PRE-K SCIENCE DISCOVERIES (PART 2): CONTINUING THE FOUNDATION
This workshop, a continuation of Pre-K Science Discoveries Part 1, offers a whole new set of pre-K classroom science and math activities for 4 and 5 year old children. As with Part 1, this workshop also incorporates specimens from the museum’s collections, live animals and developmentally appropriate classrooms activities to introduce very young children to basic math and scientific thought processes. Teachers will take away even more exciting activities that will bring science to life for their pre-K students. You do not have to take Part 1 to register for this workshop.
July 1, 2009 (Closed)
CHESAPEAKE BAY ECOLOGY – Grades 3-7
Join us for this inquiry-based, activity-filled workshop; we’ll show you how the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the Chesapeake Bay translate into high-interest learning opportunities for your students. Using Bay education strategies, resources and activities in your classroom is like having a “multi-purpose tool” to use with your curriculum. We’ll show you how the Virginia Living Museum connects kids (and teachers!) to the Chesapeake Bay with “hands-on” natural history specimens, easy-to-use equipment and supplies, and a variety of engaging activities.
Aspects of the following science SOLs will be addressed:
3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.10, 4.1, 4.5, 4.8, 5.1, 5.5, 5.6, 6.5, 6.7.
LS.1, LS.4, LS.5, LS.7, LS.9, LS.10, LS.11, LS.12
July 2, 2009 (Closed)
A DAY ON THE BAY: CHESAPEAKE BAY FIELD STUDY – Grades 3-7
Spend a day learning about Chesapeake Bay ecology “in the field” with a Virginia Living Museum biologist instructor! We’ll explore Bay-side shallow water, beach, dune, tidal marsh and maritime forest habitats. Along the way, we’ll collect, observe and classify a wide variety of Bay plants and critters, while you learn an assortment of techniques and activities you can use with your students. You might not always be able to bring your students to the Bay, but you can bring some of the excitement of learning about the Bay to them!
Aspects of the following science SOLs will be addressed:
3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.10, 4.1, 4.4, 4.5, 4.8, 5.1, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 6.5, 6.7, 6.9 LS.1, LS.4, LS.5, LS.7, LS.9, LS.10, LS.11, LS.12
July 3 (July 3 is closed) or August 7, 2009
THE LIVING PLANT – Grades 4-7
Using specimens from the museum’s collections, living plants, activities and investigations, this hands-on, inquiry-based workshop examines a range of plant topics: plant parts and functions, the importance of pollination and pollinators, the life cycle of a flowering plant, and plant adaptations for survival in challenging habitats. Teachers will also learn how to preserve plants that they can use in their classrooms at any time of the year, and take away lots of materials for their own classroom plant studies.
Aspects of the following science SOLs will be addressed:
3.1, 3.6, 3.8, 3.10, 4.1, 4.4, 4.5, 5.1, 5.5, 5.7
July 13, 2009
THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST – K-2
Scientific thought begins with observation and curiosity. This workshop offers effective ways to channel the natural curiosity of early elementary age children and encourage them to develop the investigative skills that can make science exciting and relevant. Through the use of high interest inquiry-based problem solving activities this workshop will provide effective strategies that can help your students learn to make accurate observations, ask relevant questions, test their assumptions, analyze results and come to logical conclusions based on their own experience.
Science SOLS: K.1, 1.1, 2.1 and more
July 14 or August 12, 2009
GEOLOGY ROCKS! – Grades 5-9
Explore Virginia’s underground world of rocks, minerals and fossils! In this activity packed hands-on workshop, you’ll learn effective ways to make the rock cycle and other geology concepts fun and memorable for students. Using gem and mineral specimens from the museum’s collections, learn how geologists use color, hardness, specific gravity and other tests to identify minerals. Fossils are a great tool for connecting with student’s curiosity and imagination, and you’ll learn how to use easily obtained fossil specimens to reinforce student’s understanding of ancient life with classification and graphing skills. At the end, you’ll take home real geology and fossil specimens to use in your own classroom.
Aspects of the following science SOLs will be addressed:
5.1, 5.4, 5.7, 6.1, LS.1, ES.1, ES.2, ES.5, ES.6, ES.7, ES.8, ES.10
July 15 or August 13, 2009
SCHOOLYARD ECOLOGY – Grades K-5
Science is right outside your classroom. This activity-filled workshop will show you how you can use any schoolyard to teach scientific investigation thought processes and reinforce basic life and earth science concepts including animal adaptations, habitats, interrelationships between living things, weathering and erosion, and much more. Workshop activities focus on Life Processes, Living Systems, and Earth Patterns / Cycles / Change SOLS and are designed to make science exciting and relevant for your students because they involve real life investigations.
Aspects of the following science SOLs will be addressed:
K.1, K.6, 1.1, 1.5, 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 2.7, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 4.4, 4.5, 5.5, 5.7
July 16, 2009
WEBS OF LIFE – Grades K-5
This inquiry-based workshop utilizes hands-on classroom activities, real specimens from the museum’s collections and live animals to make the concepts of food chains and webs come alive for your students. Like detectives, we’ll use methods of scientific investigation to explore energy flow through land and water-based food chains, look for clues to classify types of consumers, discover the importance of producers and decomposers, and learn about strategies and adaptations animals have for finding food and avoiding predators.
Aspects of the following science SOLs will be addressed:
3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.10, 4.1, 4.5, 5.1,
July 17, 2009 (July 17 is closed) or August 6, 2009
EXPLORING HABITATS - Grades K-4
Take a tour of the world’s habitats in this hands-on workshop. Through activities and games, we’ll examine various land and water habitats, compare and contrast their living and non-living components, and look at adaptations and seasonal changes within the animal community. As we explore from the rainforest to the poles, we’ll also examine some of the conservation issues facing the habitats of our world.
Aspects of the following science SOLs will be addressed:
K.1, K.6, 1.1, 1.4, 1.5, 1.7, 2.1, 2.5, 3.4, 3.6, 3.10, 4.5
August 5, 2009
AMAZING ANIMAL ADAPTATIONS – Grades K-2
This inquiry-based workshop is filled with hands-on classroom activities that will help your students better understand that animals, including people, have specific adaptations for living in a variety of habitats. We’ll examine the basic needs and life processes of land and water animals, compare animal babies and their parents, explore animal life cycles, and compare, contrast and classify animals based on various characteristics.
Aspects of the following science SOLs will be addressed:
K.1, K.2, K.6, K.9, 1.1, 1.5, 1.7, 2.1, 2.4, 2.7
August 10, 2009
THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST – Grades 3-5
Solving science mysteries can be as exciting as getting caught up in a good detective story. This inquiry-based workshop features effective techniques that you can use to help your upper elementary age students better understand the process of scientific investigation. Learn how to help your students make careful observations and develop hypotheses, test their assumptions through experiments, understand and control variables that can effect the outcome, collect, organize and interpret data, and come to logical conclusions based on real results.
Science SOLS: 3.1, 4.1, 5.1 and more