The Education Department at Potter Park Zoo is excited to offer a series of Professional Development Seminars for teachers. These trainings will focus on environmental and place-based education that teachers can do both at their schools and here at the zoo.
Upcoming Sessions:
Check back soon for our 2026 dates!
Past Sessions:
October 16, 2025, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Vet Science in the Classroom
Join zoo staff and a guest presenter from Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine for a session on incorporating veterinary science into the classroom. Leave with a ready-to-go activity incorporating math and critical thinking, as well as several other useful resources! The Diagnostic Investigation activity we will be featuring and sending home with you was originally written for upper elementary students, but is adaptable to a wide range of ages. Adaptation information will be provided as part of the training.
We are offering two options for registration for this session:
- $40 Registration + Digital Activity Pack – Includes a printable version of the Diagnostic Investigation activity for you to print your own set
- $75 Registration + Digital + Physical Activity Kit – Includes the printable activity as well as a complete kit for the Diagnostic Investigation activity so you can grab and go!
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Rebecca Morningstar at rmorningstar@ingham.org.
Online registration is now closed for this session.
January 27, 2025 8:00 AM-3:30 PM
Growing Up WILD and Trees and Me
Growing Up WILD And Trees and Me are excellent resources for bring environmental education to our younger learners!
Growing Up WILD is the early childhood offering from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Project WILD line of resources. Geared at ages 3-7, this guide provides lesson plans and resources for helping young learners explore nature and learn about the world around them.
Trees and Me is the early childhood guide for the Project Learning Tree program from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. This manual is designed for learners ages 1-6 and provides lots of fun games, activities, and lessons for engaging littles in exploring nature, with an emphasis on forests.
Snacks will be provided throughout the day. Lunch will be on your own from 11:00 to Noon. You are welcome to bring a sack lunch and explore the zoo during your lunch or head out to any of the great Lansing eateries within easy distance of the zoo.
Registration is $60 and includes both manuals. SCECHs will be available, so make sure you bring your PIC! If you have any questions, please feel free to email Rebecca Morningstar at rmorningstar@ingham.org.
May 16, 2024 8:00 AM-3:00 PM
Project WILD and Project Learning Tree Professional Development
Project WILD is a K-12 curriculum resource/training from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies that equips teachers with the skills and activities to integrate outdoor learning and environmental education into their classes. You leave the roughly five hour training with a book containing over 500 pages of activities and resources including links to Wildlife Careers, STEM extensions and detailed lesson plans. More information can be found here: https://www.fishwildlife.org/projectwild.
In addition to Project WILD, we will also be working our way through the Project Learning Tree guide from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, discovering how to move our classroom outside to use trees and forests as a window to environmental education, environmental justice and more! More information can be found here: https://www.plt.org/
This training will be in person at the zoo from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Registration fee is $70 and includes two manuals for you to take home, lunch and the full day of training. SCECHs will be available, so make sure you bring your PIC!
Questions about Professional Development?
For questions regarding Professional Development, please email Rebecca Morningstar at rmorningstar@ingham.org.
