Session 1: Choose Your Path and the Good Red Road - Eagle Ridge Singers and Friends, Jimmy Lakota, Jo Lakota

(45 minutes) What are your choices?  Whatever you choose, travel the Native American Way of conscious living on the earth.  Learn through Native American song, dance, and stories of this thoughtful way of living and gain a new perspective on your impact, your conscious choices. CCSS: ELA SL / ILS: NGSS ESS3,SSG2

Session 2: The History of Science as told by Mark Twain - Warren Brown

(45 minutes) Mark Twain said "Inventors are the creators of the world—after God." This presentation is a first-person Chautauqua-style program by Warren Brown as Mark Twain. You will journey on water, land, and air, sharing insights from the Diaries of Adam and Eve to friendships with inventors and thoughts about Galileo and Newton. CCSS: ELA SL

Session 3:  Tribal Tales from the RIver’s Edge - Brian FOX Ellis 

(45 minutes) Native people have lived here for at least 10,000 years. Hear some of the stories we might have told 1000 or more years ago that celebrate relationships with water and the wild world. CCSS: ELA SL, ILS: NGSS ESS2-4 / SS.G.2

Session 4 : Creating a River Song - Barry Cloyd

(45 minutes) Create an original song based upon the importance, beauty and need for the wild places, with a specific focus on the absolute necessity of clean water for all of our well being, enjoyment and continued survival. CCSS: ELA SL, W / ILS: NGSS ESS2 / SS.G.2 / FA-MU:Cr1-2-3

Session 5: A Visit with Virginia Eifert - Claire Morrical

(30 minutes) Virginia Eifert was one of America’s favorite nature writers, Rachel Carson’s mentor and best selling author of 18 books and thousands of articles. Her field guides to birds, bugs, and mushrooms are relished by those who know them and her style of writing, while rounded in good science, is warm and enchanting. CCSS: ELA SL, ILS: NGSS ESS2-4 / SS.G.2

Session 6: Zoo Conservation, Making a Splash! – Peoria Zoo

(45 minutes) With 3-4 of the Peoria Zoo ambassador animals, we will focus on the importance of clean water fro each of the species and their habitats and how water connects us all. CCSS: ELA SL / ILS: NGSS LS2 • http://www.peoriazoo.org/

Session 7: Backyard Habitats - Wildlife Prairie Park

(30–40 minutes) Backyard Habitats: Here is your opportunity to meet 5 different animal ambassadors (a mammal, reptile, bird, amphibian, etc). Get an overview of each of these animals and then talk about what each requires in order to thrive in their habitats. Learn how the public can get their own backyards certified as wildlife habitats!  CCSS: ELA SL / ILS: NGSS LS2

Session 8: Water Cycle Adventures - Susie Grana Ingram, Forest Park Nature Center

(45 minutes) Take a trip around the water cycle in this informative, interactive session focused on how all water sources on earth are interconnected. Students will participate in a movement activity and meet a live animal that relies on clean water for survival.

CCSS: ELA SL / ILS: NGSS ESS2 / SS.G.2 • http://www.peoriaparks.org/forest-park-nature-center/

Session 9: Clean Water It’s for the Birds - Dr. Travis Wilcoxen

(30 minutes) It’s easy to see how polluted water has an impact on animals that live in the water, like fish and frogs. The truth is, clean water is extremely important for animals that spend much of their time in the air, like birds. In this session, students will learn about how pollutants in water such as lead, mercury, and pesticides can cause problems for many kinds of birds, from ducks to eagles. CCSS: ELA SL / ILS NGSS LS2 / PD&H 22 C

Session 10: Amphibians as Indicator Species - Douglas Holmes, herpetologist

(45 minutes) Find out what amphibians can tell us about the health of our environment while learning about the effects of chemicals on amphibians, the importance of amphibians, what you can do to protect them and how you can get involved by your actions. CCSS: ELA SL / ILS NGSS ESS2, LS2, SSG2 • http://www.peoriazoo.org

Session 11: Native Plants - Make and Take a Seed Ball - Rachel Mitchell

(20 minutes) Discover the many benefits that native plants can bring to your community, your yard, and beyond. The students will make a seed ball using air dry clay, soil, and native wildflower seeds. CSS: ELA SL / ILS NGSS LS1, LS2 https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1035133.pdf

Session 12: The Diversity of Life in Illinois Waters - John Marino, Aquatic Ecologist

(30 minutes) Explore the variety of living things in our freshwater systems and how we interact with them.  Learn about how biodiversity is important for supporting the benefits provided to people by rivers, lakes and wetlands. Learn how monitoring diversity is valuable for evaluating how people are affecting these systems. Hear about how aquatic ecology research is useful to improve understanding of diversity and examine a variety of organisms, including aquatic snails, insects, tadpoles, and others! 

CCSS: ELA SL / ILS: NGSS LS4

Session 13: Nicolina’s Turtle Co - Youth Action in Conservation

30 minutes) for Grades 3 and 4 - Nicolina’s Turtle Co. was started in 2019 by Nicolina Pappas, then 8 years old, as a way to encourage people to use less single-use plastic. By sewing straw pouches and selling them with metal straws, NTC has raised over $30k for conservation efforts, including funding classroom outreach through local partners, starting a camp scholarship fund, and adopting animal ambassadors  Learn why Nicolina’s Turtle Co. was founded and how their activities have grown within their community and schools over the past 5 years and reached other surrounding communities with their Skip the Plastic Campaign.  CCSS: ELA SL/ NGSS ESS3 / https://nicolinasturtleco.com/skip-the-plastic

Session 14:  Getting Active Outside: Why is Connecting with Nature and Disconnecting from Screens Important??? - Shae Birkey(60 minutes) There are so many positive ways to connect to the outdoors. Whether it is through active or passive recreation, the end result is fostering a love for the outdoors. Through experiencing the outdoors, especially at a young age, advocacy for its many wise uses can be established resulting in the betterment of society and the long term sustainability of our long-standing American outdoors heritage. CCSS: ELA SL / ILS: SS G.2 / PD&H 22 •https://www.naem.org/our-community/profiles/shae-birkey

Session 15: Dr. Coldwater's Time Machine and the World of Water - Matt Jones

(40 minutes) What is dihydrogen monoxide? How does it impact your health? your community? What can we discover about its wondrous properties? Investigate with the engaging and inquisitive Dr. Coldwater - a nineteenth century scientist with an eye to the future. CCSS: ELA SL / ILS: NGSS ESS2, PS1 / SS G.2 / PD&H 22

Session 16: Extreme Event Game - Prairie Research Institute and the Illinois Association of Floodplain and Stormwater Management

(90 minutes) The Extreme Event Game is a hands-on role-playing game that gives participants a taste of what it takes to build community resilience in the face of disaster. Players work together to make decisions and solve problems during this engaging, fast-paced disaster simulation. Come pit your wits and skills against the elements to help your community become more resilient! When the crisis is over, we’ll debrief and open the floor to discuss our successes and what we could have done better. We'll consider how we can develop as people and communities that are ready for whatever the environment may throw at us.

CCSS:ELA SL/NGSS ESS2D, ESS3 https://labx.org/our-programs/extreme-event/

Session 17: SEWSATION: Repair, Reduce, Recycle - Sewsation Apparel Sustainability Club at Bradley University

1:00-1:45

(45 minutes) Try your Hand at Repair! Clothes are thrown away everyday as a result of the endless trend cycles, and consumerism only makes the problem worse. Sewsation Apparel Sustainability is a Bradley University student club that aims to combat this issue at the local level. Learn about a wide variety of events ranging from donation drives to clothing repairs. Raise awareness about the environmental impact of fast fashion and help create a culture of repair and rescue where people see clothes as valuable and worth taking care of. CCSS:ELA SL/ILS: NGSS ESS3/PD&H 24

Session 18: Students Taking Action: P2D2 and more! - Pontiac Township High School Environmental Science(40 minutes) Hey! If you have a passion for the environment and clean water, come check us out P2D2! The International Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program (P2D2) was started as a way to prevent misuse and abuse of prescription drugs while keeping them out of our water supply. But that's not all...learn about the other action projects we have taken on. Come check us out!  CCSS: ELA SL / ILS: NGSS LS2 https://p2d2program.wordpress.com/

Session 19: Three R Gardening: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to Grow a Garden - Oak Grove Elementary(45 minutes) "Three R Gardening" is a hands-on presentation focused on showing how to reuse and recycle everyday materials to start a garden, reducing the waste sent to landfills. Encouraging creativity, problem-solving, and a deeper understanding, participants will learn how simple actions can contribute to a healthier planet. CCSS: ELA SL/ ILS: NGSS ESS3

Session 20: Drinking Water - From Source to Tap - Trip Barton , Illinois American Water                  

(30 minutes) A high level overview of how drinking water gets to your tap. The session will include discussion of the sources of water, water treatment processes, and how the water gets to your house.  CCSS: ELA SL/ ILS: NGSS ESS2 / PDH 22C https://amwater.com/ilaw/water-information/water-learning-center

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Session 22: It’s NOT Magic, It’s Science!!! - Dr. Dean Campbell & Bradley University Chemistry Club Demo Crew

(45 minutes) The event will feature a series of chemistry-related demonstrations that are science (not magic) in focus. Emphasis will be placed on physical and chemical properties of water and the environment.  CCSS: ELA SL/ ILS: NGSS PS1  /https://www.bradley.edu/academic/departments/chm/faculty/profile.dot?id=169366

Session 23: Healthy Soil makes Healthy Water and Healthy People - Valerie Wolfe, Diverse Metamorphosis

(45 minutes)  Human impact and geological changes have both affected earth's water systems and cycles. Explore how each has contributed to create the land and water we see today. Learn the connections between soil health and clean water by exploring the importance of ecosystem preservation and microbial diversity. CCSS: ELA SL/ ILS: NGSS ESS2, ESS3, LS2, PS1, PS3