The Illinois Nature Notebook is a collaboration between the University of Illinois College of Education, the University of Illinois Extension, and the Forest Preserves of Cook County. These notebooks are self-guided explorations of nature for children in grades 5-8. Each notebook is divided into three sections: Nature @Home, Nature @Your Park, and Nature @Your Preserve. These notebooks were developed for children in Cook County, but can be used by any child in Illinois.
Two ways to participate – join our Google Classroom or print your own hard copy of the notebooks.
However you choose to participate, submit or send your notebook to the Research Team when you’re done to receive a completion patch!
Contact Dr. Sam Lindgren for more information about how to participate in this project and enjoy the notebooks!
Notebook 1: Your Community, Your Habitat
Notebook 2: Your Community, Your Ecosystem
Team Members
Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership, College of Education
Curriculum & Instruction, College of Education
Illinois Extension
Illinois Extension
Illinois Extension
Graduate Student, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
Graduate Student, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership
Publications
Conference Presentations
Lindgren, S., Garofalo, A., McCleary, M., Gasper, S., Nieves, A., Hug, B., Dorman, W. & Tran, C. (October 20, 2023). The Illinois Nature Notebook Project: Ecosystems, scale, and inclusivity. Presentation at the 52nd Annual NAAEE Conference. Virtual Conference
Lindgren, S., Garofalo, A., Nieves, A. (April 14, 2023). Illinois Nature Notebooks: Your Community, Your Ecosystem. Workshop presentation at the Environmental Education Association of Illinois annual conference. East Moline, IL.
Lindgren, S., McCleary, M., Gasper, S., Nieves, A., & Baki N. (October 11, 2022). More of this, less of that: Science teaching in nature. Paper presented at the 19th Annual North American Association of Environmental Education Research Symposium. Tucson, AZ.
Lindgren, S., Gasper, S., McCleary, M., Garofalo, A., Nieves, A., & Baki, N. (April 8, 2022). Illinois Nature Notebooks: Connecting families to the forest preserves. Workshop presentation at the Environmental Education Association of Illinois annual conference. Yorkville, IL.
Lindgren, S., Nieves, A., McCleary, M., Gasper, S., Garofalo, A., & Baki, N. (December 2, 2021). The Illinois Nature Notebook project. Workshop presentation at the National Association of Interpretation annual conference. Palm Springs, CA.
Lindgren, S., Gasper, S., Garofalo, A., McCleary, M., Nieves, A., & Dorman, W. (October 12, 2021). The Illinois Nature Notebook project for families. Workshop presentation at the 50th Annual North American Association of Environmental Education conference. Online.