The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is sponsoring four how to teach outdoor skills courses for K–12 teachers, naturalists and other educators this summer.
Hands-on sessions (indoors and outside) will provide introductory skills instruction and development, teaching materials and lesson plans. The cost of each course varies. Create an account on the AEALearning website to find the cost, registration deadline and requirements for each course.
- Introduction to Basic Outdoor Skills, June 15-16 at Annett Nature Center, Indianola. Participants will receive introductory instruction and lesson plans for planning outings, map reading, hiking, paddling, fishing, archery, campfire cooking and basic firearm safety/shooting.
- Fish Iowa! Basic Fishing, June 28-29 at Jones County Conservation Center, Center Junction. Participants will learn fishing basics including fish identification, fishing locations, casting techniques and cleaning and cooking fish. Instruction will include a variety of demonstration and hands-on, experiential approaches.
- Archery and Bowfishing, July 12-13 at Mahaska County Conservation Center, Oskaloosa. Participants will learn basic archery and archery instructional skills, as well as bowfishing basics. Participants will receive National Archery in the Schools and Explore Bowfishing instructional materials.
- Hunter Education, July 19-20 at Olofson Shooting Range, Polk City. Learn the requirements to become a certified hunter education instructor, including firearm handling and safety, hunter education class requirements and policies and procedures.
Educators can earn license renewal for all four courses. Graduate credit is also available for the Introduction to Basic Outdoor Skills and Fish Iowa! Basic Fishing sessions.
Register for the how to teach outdoor skills courses through the AEALearning website at https://aealearning.truenorthlogic.com/. You will be asked to create an account if you do not already have one. After you login, enter “outdoor skills” in the course search to find registration information for each course.