Teachers: Use these activities and background materials about Minnesota natural resource topics in your classroom. For outdoor lessons, see outdoor lessons for K-12 students.
Fish and Wildlife
- Wildlife education – Fact sheets, web cams, teaching guides, lessons, activities, and games
- Fish and fishing education – MinnAqua activity guide with 39 detailed, illustrated lessons, including a macroinvertebrate keys that you can use in the field for grades 3-5
Forests
- Forest education – Facts about invasive & native species, biomes, leaf colors, history of forestry, careers
- Teachers' Guide to Arbor Month – Nine lessons spanning grades K-8 about trees that can be used any time of the year
- All About Minnesota’s Forests and Trees: A Primer - Full PDF of a book about forests in Minnesota that covers tree biology, biomes, forest history, and current uses of trees. Grades 5 and up.
- Wildfire Prevention - Download Smokey Bear materials (K-8) and learn about Firewise Communities: Reducing the Risk of Wildlife (9-12) lessons.
Land and Natural Resources
- Ojibwe and Dakota PLT lessons – Lessons on the natural world through an indigenous lens for grades K-8
- Prairies – Fact sheets about Minnesota’s prairie biome
- Minnesota Conservation Volunteer Magazine Young Naturalist articles with teachers guide - Stories about Minnesota plants, animals, and nature written for grades 3-8, with teacher’s guides
Minerals
- Public Land and Mineral Ownership: A Guide for Teachers – Resources to supplement 9-12 grade discussions on Minnesota’s history, government, and geography.
- Mining Lessons and Activities – Includes fact sheet and activities: cookie mining, layer cake core drilling, birdseed mining, and bingo game.
- Geology of Minnesota: A Guide for Teacher – Guide for 6-8 teachers and others who have an interest in understanding Minnesota’s geology.
Water
- Water conservation educations – Minnesota-based activities, games, and lessons