Early Career Teaching Institute

This field trip is designed to provide instructors with a basic understanding of, and appreciation for, the use of Drama as a tool for teaching and learning within education and social settings. Drama in Education focuses on enhancing a kinesthetic awareness of the humanities and sciences through critical exploration, analytical discussion, and active Creative Dramatic techniques.

GUIDELINES: Please no food or drink except water. The curriculum will involve physical activities that can be adjusted to meet individual needs.

Join the wellbeing team for an interactive workshop highlighting how to find balance, mindfulness, and gratitude within the busy seasons of life.  This workshop will feature personal reflection, watercolor, and community building activities.

GUIDELINES: Participants can feel free to wear casual attire and whatever footwear they are most comfortable in. There will be some light movement like walking around the room, and fine motor skills applied during the art activity.   No outside food or drink is allowed through the turnstiles upon Bakke entry except for personal water bottles which is essentially any container with a lid. Even though Shake Smart is available in the lobby, participants will not be able to purchase shake smart and then take it through the facility to the event. They are welcome to purchase a sweet treat after the event on the way out if they would like to. 

We'll include three stations: Nature Journaling - We'll take the group through a series of prompts that teach basic scientific inquiry skills and practice plant ID. These prompts are intended to help learn the difference between jumping to conclusions and seeing what you see without trying to immediately explain it. In example, we often point to a brown leaf. This is an observation, while it is often that participants jump to dead leaf. Eat Your Weeds/Dye Collection Tour - Explore the Garden with a multi-sensory tour that includes touching and tasting some of our favorite edible plants. Dye plants - We will demonstrate flower pounding. We'll introduce our favorite and most easily grown dye plants. Allow folks to harvest them, and then show several techniques for creating art on fabric. If time permits, this station will also teach edible weeds.

GUIDELINES: Dress for the weather, bring water and sunscreen.

Our field trip will include two hands-on activity components. First, participants will get a tour of Lake Mendota and use limnology equipment on board. Second, they will use equipment and microscopes at our lab to collect and examine zooplankton and macroinvertebrates. We will provide a wide variety of experiential lessons for studying lakes and aquatic environments that teachers can bring back to their classrooms or curriculum.

GUIDELINES: Bring water and sunscreen. All participants will wear life jackets on the boat (we provide those). All participants are required to read, review, and sign a Participant Agreement Form prior to participating in the boat portion of this field trip.  

Participants will explore the fundamentals of jewelry and metalsmithing through the creation of a simple textured ring band. In this hands-on workshop, educators will learn basic metalworking techniques including measuring, forming, shaping, texturing, soldering, and finishing a wearable ring using non-ferrous metals such as copper or brass. The workshop is designed to introduce participants to processes and tools that may be unfamiliar to many classroom educators while encouraging creativity, experimentation, and problem-solving through making. Alongside technical instruction, participants will examine the historical and cultural significance of rings throughout human history, from ancient signet rings and symbols of identity to contemporary forms of personal expression. As part of the experience, educators will also complete a companion design activity focused on symbolic imagery and scale, where participants develop a personal emblem inspired by historical signet seals. This activity is intentionally adaptable for a wide range of grade levels and classroom settings, allowing educators to translate concepts from the workshop into future lessons involving art, history, design, symbolism, or storytelling. By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with a finished ring, introductory metalsmithing experience, and project ideas they can bring back to their own classrooms and learning environments.

GUIDELINES: Closed-toed shoes are required in the studio at all times. Long hair must be tied back securely. Avoid loose clothing, dangling jewelry, scarves, or wide sleeves near tools and equipment. Safety glasses must be worn during designated processes and tool use. Participants should follow all instructor demonstrations and safety instructions before using tools or equipment. Food and drinks should be kept away from studio work areas. Use caution when working with hot metal, torches, or sharp tools. Notify the instructor immediately of any injury, discomfort, or equipment issue. Shared tools and workspaces should be cleaned and returned at the end of the workshop. Participants should be prepared to engage in hands-on making and collaborative discussion throughout the session. Participants will be required to read, review, and sign an Assumption of Risk Agreement prior to participating in the field trip.

The UW–Madison Physics Department Outreach Team puts the “phun” in physics! Our goal is to share our love of physics with all students and inspire the next generation of scientists. We are committed to supporting teachers by offering many opportunities for students to experience physics and learn about the world all around them. This field trip will highlight the shows, tours, and workshops offered by the Department of Physics to support PK-12 science education. This field trip will include a mini Wonders of Physics show (traveling physics demonstration show), a hands-on polarization art workshop, tour of the Madison Symmetric Torus (device that studies high-temperature plasmas for fusion energy) and time to explore the Ingersoll Wonders of Physics museum. The museum is located in right in Chamberlin Hall and is one of the oldest hands-on museums in the country. Teachers will learn how to schedule these opportunities for their students as well as how to connect with other science outreach educators on campus through the cross-campus science field trip form.

We will host a tour of our virtual environments research lab at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. Field trip attendees will be able to experience different forms of virtual reality and augmented reality technology, ranging from head mounted display technology, to our 6-sided CAVE display system. Content will range from educational polar science experiences set in Antarctica, to being shrunk to a microscopic size to be able to experience a plant cell.

GUIDELINES: No food or drink while using the VR hardware. For attendees with accessibility concerns, most of this experience is accessible via mobility aid, minus a set of 4-5 stairs that lead up to our CAVE display system.

The focus of the field trip would be highlighting the renewable energy research on campus including the new Kegonsa Research Campus Solar Array. Teachers would participate in the Agrivoltaics field trip that we run for visiting school groups. This begins with a mapping activity that leads to a discussion about land use and how we make decisions about our resources. Then we introduce the basics of agrivoltaics and why we would be interested in researching it in Wisconsin. The last activity is to experiment with mini solar panels to see how things like angle, height, and spacing affect power output and shading. After that we would do a quick tour of the building to showcase the other sustainable research going on. Finally, we would end with sharing classroom resources that are available and ready to use for teachers. We offer this field trip to elementary through high school students so the content is relevant to teachers of all grade levels. Additionally, we align our resources to current state standards so it is easy to see where things might fit into a curriculum. Finally, our activities are hands-on, collaborative, and based on real research so teachers will be able to connect and learn just like their students.

Link to PPT slides from session.