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Wildlife Conservation Education: Free Lessons Featuring Inspiring Role Models
Conservation Nation is helping diversify the conservation movement by funding and supporting conservationists from underrepresented communities while educating and inspiring the next generation of leaders.
With Conservation Nation Academy we hope to inspire youth both in the classroom and outside of it. Our education programs expose students from underserved communities to the outdoors — a vital first step to help them engage with nature — connect them to our conservationists, give them access to incredible role models, and provide them with the confidence to explore STEM programs and see themselves as conservation champions.
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SOUND SCIENCE: BASICS OF BIOACOUSTICS
What if students could listen to nature in an entirely new way—and discover it has been speaking all along? In this free NGSS-aligned Sound Science lesson, students explore bioacoustics, the science of understanding nature through sound. Through engaging videos and discussion, they learn how animals use sound to communicate and how scientists study animal behavior to help protect ecosystems. Students then become sound scientists in a hands-on Sound Map activity, comparing environmental sounds to discover how listening can reveal the health and story of a place.
Teacher Favorites
This interactive lesson takes you into the lab with Dr. Darya Tourzani from Colossal Biosciences, the De-Extinction Company, to learn how scientists use DNA to save endangered animals.
Get students outside, curious, and noticing the world around them! Guided by a birding expert, your class will learn simple, no-gear-needed ways to spot, hear, and record bird activity—then connect their findings to real scientific data. Fun and hands-on, it’s the perfect way to turn any schoolyard into a living science lab.
Tiny but mighty—this hands-on lesson brings insect conservation to life for your students! In Tiny Messengers, students explore leaf litter, assess insect habitats, and learn how biodiversity reveals the health of our planet. Featuring real-world scientists and standards-aligned activities, this lesson is perfect for grades 5–8 and includes a short video, worksheets, and outdoor exploration. Free, flexible and field-tested!
Dive into the world of manatee conservation with this interactive storytelling game! Students step into the shoes of community members living near a marine sanctuary, exploring real-world challenges, competing priorities, and creative solutions to protect manatees. It’s hands-on, thought-provoking, and a perfect way to spark critical thinking about wildlife and community.
LIVE! LESSONS
Once thought extinct, the Mindo Harlequin Toad has made a surprise comeback—and students are invited to join the search! In this LIVE Conservation Nation lesson, conservationist Gaby Sandoval shares real field data and stories from Ecuador’s cloud forests as students learn how science and community action can save species from extinction.
Mangroves are among the most powerful ecosystems on Earth, and one of the most threatened. Join Conservation Nation LIVE! with Kenyan conservationist Fredrick Kioko Kilonzo to find out how these amazing coastal forests protect shorelines, shelter wildlife, and lock away carbon, and how communities are fighting to restore them using real scientific data.
One of the world’s rarest turtles lives in India’s rivers, and students can help explore how to save it. In this LIVE! lesson, students join researcher Ayushi Jain to see how scientists track the critically endangered Cantor's giant softshell turtle using real conservation data and local ecological knowledge (LEK) to protect species on the edge of extinction.
Additional Activities
Help your students challenge stereotypes and explore their understanding of what a conservationist is.
Ask your students a series of "would you rather" questions that lead them to green careers that might suit their personalities.
Encourage your students to practice mindfulness outdoors through a collection of short and simple activities you can do in your schoolyard.
Introduce your students to some amazing young scientists working on the frontlines of wildlife conservation.
Encourage your students to explore and articulate their personal beliefs about nature and wildlife conservation.
Engage your students in a fun movement game to challenge some common myths and test their knowledge about wildlife.
Special Content
Be a Friend to Cicadas
2025 will be an emergence year for the periodical cicadas of Brood XIV in the United States. This is an amazing opportunity for educators to use our unique bilingual educational resources to help replace fear with fascination and inspire the next generation of nature champions!
Be a Friend to Cicadas
2025 will be an emergence year for the periodical cicadas of Brood XIV in the United States. This is an amazing opportunity for educators to use our unique bilingual educational resources to help replace fear with fascination and inspire the next generation of nature champions!
Special Content
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We will randomly draw one name quarterly to win your choice of binoculars or a set of nature books!
