Teacher Resources

We are helping teachers light the way to learning! Our education department has developed a series of PBLs (project-based learning units) to teach students about unique and fascinating ecosystems around the world and right here in Chattanooga.

Problem-Based Learning Units

Supporting teachers is a big priority for the education department at your Chattanooga Zoo. Below, find regional, free access to piloted and vetted problem-based learning unit resources to use right away in your classrooms. The free hellbender unit, great for 3rd-5th grade classes, contains over 25 lessons in reading, speaking and listening, science, social studies, computer science, math, and writing to build local conservation advocacy or service learning projects with your students. To find out more about the unit and the work Chattanooga Zoo is doing to help raise hellbenders for release in the wild, visit chattzoo.org/education/outreach and chattzoo.org/explore/hellbender, or come and visit your zoo on Saturday afternoons to tour the hellbender building and see hellbenders up-close, in-person. For other taxa or grade-level content, email education@chattzoo.org.

PBL Info Sheet

Hellbender Salamanders

The Zoo's new hellbender teaching unit revolves around the conservation work happening at your Chattanooga Zoo at the Hiwassee Hellbender Research and Education Center. The unit is free for teachers to access. It is just one, in a series of 4 units focusing on different animal groups, including amphibians (like the hellbender), reptiles, birds, and mammals. Each unit focuses on one species in particular that is housed at Chattanooga Zoo and has local connections that we can learn from to help protect wild and native species. Units can be used by 1st-8th grade teachers across a nine-week teaching term, and include over 25 lesson plans and activities each, with content tied to standards in all subjects - even computer science! And, the best part? The units guide students to ask and answer real-world questions and get involved in their local community. For more access to teacher workshops, other mammal (6th-12th grade), reptile (6th-8th), or bird (K-2nd) units, pricing deals, or ways for your district and other teachers to maximize learning, see the partner opportunities below and email akrichten@chattzoo.org for more.