Educational Resources

Travel Grants for School Groups

The Refuge can provide a travel grant of up to $150 to help your school group when it comes out for an educational event. For more information, see the application form CKWR Travel Grant Application Rev. 2011 or contact Lindsey Sweis at [email protected].

Educational Resources Meet Kentucky Core Curriculum Requirements

Over the summer of 2006, Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge interns from Centre College collected an array of educational materials that are available at the Mary Ashby Cheek Educational Education Center. The codes in each category below show the Kentucky Core Curriculum Requirement that each activity meets.

• Elementary School
◦ Weather
▪ SC-EP-2.3.2, SC-04-2.3.2, SC-05-2.3.2
◦ Biological Science
▪ SC-EP-3.4.1, SC-04-3.4.1, SC-05-3.4.1
▪ SC-EP-3.4.3, SC-04-3.4.3, SC-05-3.4.3
▪ aSC-EP-3.4.3, SC-04-3.4.3
◦ Unifying Ideas
▪ SC-EP-4.6.1, SC-04-4.6.1
▪ SC-EP-4.6.2
▪ SC-EP-4.7.1, SC-04-4.7.1, SC-05-4.7.1
▪ SC-EP-4.7.2, SC-04-4.7.2, SC-05-4.7.2
• Middle School
◦ Geology
▪ SC-06-2.3.2, SC-07-2.3.2, SC-08-2.3.2
▪ SC-06-2.3.3
◦ Food Chains
▪ SC-07-4.6.4, SC-08-4.6.5
◦ Unifying Ideas
▪ SC-06-4.7.1, SC-07-4.7.1, SC-08-4.7
• High School
◦ Genetics/Adaptation
▪ SC-HS-3.4.5
▪ SC-HS-3.5.2
• Back to top
The Cheek Education Center also has current issues of three environmental education books:
• Project Learning Tree
◦ Pre K-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide
◦ Materials for and copies of the following outdoor activities are provided at the Education Center:
▪ Peppermint Beetle – p. 23
▪ Poet-Tree – p. 31
▪ The Fallen Log – p. 105
▪ Forest Consequences – p. 138
▪ Field, Forest, and Stream – p. 203
▪ How Big is Your Tree? – p. 284
• Project Wild
◦ K-12 Curriculum & Activity Guide
◦ Materials for and copies of the following outdoor activities are provided at the Education Center:
▪ Tracks! – p. 30
▪ Wild Words – p. 41
▪ Wildlife is Everywhere! – p. 49
▪ Environmental Barometer – p. 80
▪ Ants on a Twig – p. 89
▪ Seed Need – p. 98
▪ Adaptation Artistry – p. 131
▪ Fire Ecologies – p. 140
• Project Wild Aquatic
◦ K-12 Curriculum & Activity Guide
◦ Materials for and copies of the following outdoor activities are provided at the Education Center:
▪ Migration Headache – p. 15
▪ Where Does Water Run? – p. 21
▪ Water Canaries – p. 24
▪ Micro Odyssey – p. 49
▪ Blue-Ribbon Niche – p. 52
▪ Edge of Home – p. 75
▪ Watered-Down History – p. 91
▪ Water Wings – p. 110
▪ Riparian Retreat – p. 118
▪ Watershed – p. 132
• CD’s available at the Education include:
◦ Kentucky Forests Forever
▪ Interactive Forestry Tour
▪ Outlines benefits of forests and proper forest management and maintenance.
◦ Wild About Turkey
▪ Multimedia CD
▪ Outlines conservation attempts to increase populations of wild turkey.
▪ Includes Project Wild educational activities about the wild turkey.
◦ Virtual Tour of the Forest
▪ An exploration of the South’s forests and associated ecosystems.
◦ Woodpecker interactive media tool
▪ Features an interactive guide to a variety of woodpecker species, which includes video and sound of woodpeckers in their natural habitat.

•  Other activities created by Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge Interns include:
◦ Find my Home
▪ An interactive poster activity that allows students to match specific animals to their natural habitat.
◦ Clouds
▪ This poster allows students to match cloud names to their respective formation
• Several Power Point presentations and displays have also been developed to illustrate naturally occurring phenomena at the Refuge:
◦ Clouds
◦ The Rock Cycle
◦ Kentucky Watersheds
◦ Amphibians and Reptiles
◦ Fungi

These materials are available at the Education Center by appointment (call 859-236-4690 or email [email protected]) or during an Education Center Open House, usually held in the spring and fall. See the Events page for the dates of upcoming open houses.