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Program Overview Loan Boxes Available
The loan box program provides materials and activities that can be used to introduce or reinforce facts, concepts, or principals in the school curriculum. The focus is to foster a greater appreciation, awareness, and knowledge of the natural environment and our inter-dependence with it. Although based in the science area, the loan boxes can be valuable teaching tools in other areas of the curriculum as well. Each loan box includes an instructional objective, background information for the teacher, loan materials, and step-by-step procedures that out-line suggested activities. Teachers are encouraged to adapt the activities for different ages, skill levels, group sizes, etc. Back to top. Loan boxes can be previewed at the Evanston Ecology Center, 2024 McCormick Boulevard in Evanston, Illinois. Reserve loan materials ahead of time by calling the Ecology Center at (847)448-8256. It is recommended that you reserve the materials at least two weeks in advance. You may keep the loan materials for two weeks free of charge. It is important that you return all materials for by their due date. Most items are scheduled to be loaned out again soon after their return. Loans are limited to two boxes per loan period. Back to top. The loan box program is sponsored by the Evanston Environmental Association and Keep Evanston Beautiful, Inc. in cooperation with Evanston School District #65 and INVEST Museum Alliance. Development of several boxes was made possible by grants from the Field Corporation, the Rotary Club of Evanston, and the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources. Wilmette Optimist Club Foundation also sponsors this great program. Keep Evanston Beautiful, Inc. provides programs and services on recycling, waste reduction, and the environment. Back to top. Loan Boxes Available Discusses what acid rain is and how it affects the environment. Includes an acid rain test kit for testing water near you. Grades 2-5. Back to top. Explores the concepts of decomposition, the soil cycle, and backyard composting. Box includes lesson plans on decomposition and composting and books on setting up worm boxes and compost piles. Grades K-5 Back to top. Looks at renewable and nonrenewable resources and how extracting them can impact our environment. Includes materials needed to conduct the simulation activity "When They're Gone, They're Gone" and several children's books per-fect for Earth Day. Grades 2-5 Back to top. Everyone Needs a HabitatFocuses on the basic survival needs of all living things, the components of a habitat and some of the wildlife that lives in Evanston. Contents include mounted specimens of both a cottontail rabbit and a gray squirrel and information on different biomes. Grades K-5 Back to top. Explains the difference between garbage and trash and what the composition of Municipal Solid Waste is. Includes materials and directions for making a "garbage" pizza representing the common components of our garbage. Grades 2-5 Back to top. Explores the concepts of insect life cycles, pests, interactions between plants and animals, and the presence of the Gypsy Moth in Evanston. Box includes the Illinois state curriculum "Legacy of a Pest." Grades 2-5 Back to top. Introduces "earth-friendly" actions such as stopping litter and cleaning up our environment. Includes clean "trash" items and a lesson plan for looking at where household waste comes from and ways to re-duce this waste. Grades K-1 Back to top. Explains how recycled paper is made and includes directions and materials for making recycled paper in your classroom. Grades 1-3 Back to top. Looks at where plastics are used and found in our society and how they can be recycled. Explains how to sort objects according to the plastic coding system and how to set up a plastic recycling center in your classroom where you can make refrigerator magnets from 2-liter pop bottles. Grades 1-3 Back to top. Looks at fossils and the ways that fossils can be formed. Contents include a collection of fossils that represent various plants and animals of long ago as well as fossils that represent the different fossilization processes. Grades 1-4 Back to top. Introduces the students to recycling and how trash can be a valuable community resource. Students will be able to explore how trash is disposed of, what natural resources are in most of our trash cans and how they can be recycled. Contents include as-sorted trash (clean) and resource sheets. Grades 1-4 Back to top. Focuses on providing hands-on experiences with seeds. A variety of seeds is provided and it includes a collection of seeds that can be explored, categorized, counted or characterized. Grades K-2 Back to top. Emphasizes awareness and knowledge of the trees around us as important parts of the environment. Includes lesson plans, books, and a collection of "tree cookies" where the rings on the trunk slices can be counted. Grades K-5 Back to top. Looks at the characteristics of the five major vertebrate groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Contents include a collection of vertebrate skeletons and skulls. Grades 3-5 Back to top. Explores the properties of water through bubble activities and also explains how to set up classroom aquaria. Also covers the concept of how water is vital to life on this planet. Grades K-5 Back to top. Discusses the differences between domestic and wild animals. Includes pictures of wild animals and provides activities on bears in the wild. Grades 1-4 Back to top.
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