Arizona schools benefit from free online curriculum
New mountain lion unit unveiled by Arizona Game and Fish Department

Photo courtesy Arizona Game & Fish 
On Dec. 14, Ron Sieg, left, Arizona Game & Fish Department Flagstaff regional supervisor; Shelly Shepherd, Arizona Game & Fish Department Flagstaff information and education program manager; and Karen Schedler, Arizona Game and Fish Department environmental education program manager; visited Flagstaff Middle School to introduce its new Mountain Lion curriculum.

Photo courtesy Arizona Game & Fish On Dec. 14, Ron Sieg, left, Arizona Game & Fish Department Flagstaff regional supervisor; Shelly Shepherd, Arizona Game & Fish Department Flagstaff information and education program manager; and Karen Schedler, Arizona Game and Fish Department environmental education program manager; visited Flagstaff Middle School to introduce its new Mountain Lion curriculum.

PHOENIX -- Recent studies show American students being passed by their peers in other nations when it comes to math and science test scores. Now, Arizona teachers have a new resource to help kids learn more about science and the natural world: free, new environmental education lessons available online from the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

The new curriculum called "Focus: WILD Arizona," was unveiled Dec. 14 at two special events, one at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson and the other at Flagstaff Middle School in Flagstaff.

Local students got to try out the lessons on the spot. Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer and Flagstaff Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Katherine Gill also took part in the events and expressed their support for the new curriculum.

"We're making the mountain lion lessons and all of the rest of the environmental education lessons available for free through the Arizona Game and Fish Department's website at azgfd.gov/focuswild," said Karen Schedler, the department's environmental education program manager. "Teachers can either download the lessons, or they can request a free CD-ROM."

The complete environmental education package is available online to schools, home schools and other organizations that want to help children learn about the natural world. All of the new lessons focus on wildlife, and they also focus on science, social studies, math and language arts. The curriculum is calibrated to the Arizona Department of Education's academic standards and the North American Association for Environmental Education's "Guidelines for Excellence."

"I'm a former classroom teacher, so I wanted this new curriculum to be fun for the students and easy for the teachers to use," says Eric Proctor, who works for the Game and Fish environmental education section and helped create the new lessons. "We emphasize hands-on projects that get the kids involved, especially in the outdoors."

The new lessons were developed with funding from the Arizona Game and Fish Department Heritage Fund, which takes money from Arizona Lottery ticket sales and uses it for conservation efforts like protecting endangered species and educating our children about wildlife.

The new curriculum is just one of many efforts by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to provide Arizonans with information about how to better coexist with mountain lions and other urban wildlife in our state. The department also offers brochures, posters and other materials about mountain lions, which include safety tips for living in and recreating in mountain lion country.

In addition, the department is conducting an ongoing study with the University of Arizona that uses satellite technology to monitor the movements of mountain lions and learn more about their behavior in urban areas. More information about mountain lions is also available at the department's website, azgfd.gov.

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