Below are some helpful lessons, tips, and resources to assist educators with activity ideas for remote teaching and virtual learning, and parents with homeschooling. Many PLT activities can be adapted to present virtually or they can be assigned to students for independent exploration.
Be sure to check back regularly as we continue to update these Resources for PLT’s Lessons to support teachers during COVID-19. You can also:
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FAMILY RESOURCES
- Activities to Do With Children Outdoors
- Activities to Do With Children At Home
- Download PLT’s Free Family Activities (available in English and Español)
EDUCATOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR VIRTUAL LEARNING
PLT Workshops: Benefits Now, Benefits for the Future — Project Learning Tree now offers remote professional development to model new ways educators can work with students virtually, including adaptations to PLT activities.
PLT ACTIVITIES & CURRICULUM
Google Slides and Docs are great tools for facilitating virtual learning and student collaboration. They can be integrated into Google Classroom or other e-learning platforms. Check the PLT activities below for our remote-ready educator instructions and student pages.
Please note: Resources are available as view only and require that you make a copy to your own Drive in order to edit and share with your students. To learn how, watch this demo.
PLT’s E-Units For Grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8
- Student Worksheets are available as fillable PDFs and Google Slides compatible with Google Classroom. To access the slides, go to the Tools Tab within the e-unit, and you can also find them under Technical Support.
Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide
- Socially-Distanced PLT Activities for Summer Camps
- Top Eight activities that are exemplars for socially-distanced safety. Criteria for selection included outdoors only or able to be conducted indoors with one person per table or 6-foot space between people; no materials sharing; limited group work.
PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide
- Activity 4—Sounds Around ARTICLE: Tips for adapting this activity
- Activity 13—We All Need Trees ARTICLE: Tips for adapting this activity
- Activity 25—Birds and Worms SIMULATION: Online simulation for students to pretend to be birds in search of food.
- Activity 27—Every Tree for Itself SIMULATION: Online simulation for students to pretend to be trees as they compete for resources.
- Activity 61—The Closer You Look
- ARTICLE: Tips for adapting this activity
- GOOGLE DRIVE: Remote-ready educator instructions and student pages
- Activity 64—Looking At Leaves ARTICLE: Tips for adapting this activity
- Activity 76—Tree Cookies GOOGLE DRIVE: Remote-ready educator instructions and student pages
Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers
- Activity 1—Who Works in This Forest?
- GOOGLE DRIVE: Remote-ready educator instructions and student pages
- ONLINE QUIZ: Youth can answer a few simple questions online and receive recommendations for a green career path that suits their personality. Try the Find Your Green Job youth personality quiz before using this tool with your students.
- Activity 2—If You Were the Boss
- GOOGLE DRIVE: Remote-ready educator instructions and student pages
Looking for an activity not listed above? Login to access PDFs of all PLT’s Student Pages and create your own Google Slides; watch this YouTube tutorial.
Pro Tip: Modify or enhance PLT activities by incorporating tools such as PearDeck, which works well with Google Slides, Padlet, or EdPuzzle.
VIDEO DEMONSTRATIONS OF PLT ACTIVITIES
Check out these simple videos of PLT activities in action. Created by PLT Coordinators across the country, these demos can assist educators with activity ideas for remote teaching and virtual learning, and parents with homeschooling.
GUIDANCE FOR REOPENING SCHOOLS
NAAEE’s eeGuidance for Reopening Schools
Developed by North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), eeGuidance for Reopening Schools offers recommendations, such as using the school grounds for outdoor classroom spaces; engaging local environmental education programs, such as nature centers; tapping into the expertise of environmental educators to support teaching and learning; creating healthier learning environments, and supporting at-home learning.
(Need help? We encourage you to reach out to your Project Learning Tree Coordinator in your state. They have the expertise and local connections to provide teachers support for outdoor education. They can help with ways to safely use school grounds for learning. They can recommend PLT activities that suit your situation, can be done safely and meet state learning standards. They can also suggest ways to blend face-to-face and virtual teaching. Plus, PLT’s GreenSchools program can provide ideas for utilizing outdoor spaces for outdoor classrooms, as well as creating healthier learning environments, and our Activities for Families support at-home learning.)
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