Living with Nature is our free distance learning event series available to schools and home school groups. Each event has a different topic we will focus on (see below for the academic year 2019-2020 topics) and they will be broadcasted live. Students and teachers will be able to submit questions during the event, which our experts will answer. 

What do you need to know about the events?

  • The series has been designed with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study in mind for grades 6th -12th.  
  • Each event is 1-hour in length. You can participate live or watch the recording at a later date.
  • We have pre- and post-activities available for teachers to use in their classes related to each event.
  • You must preregister for the event. 

To Register:

We do close registration 24-hours before the live event to make sure we are able to send materials and link to everyone. If you miss an event it will be posted as a video within a couple of weeks of the live showing.

The 2019-2020 Academic Year dates are:

  • September 18, 2019 at 10:00 am - North America Wildlife Conservation
    • Topics include red wolves, pollination stations, monitoring local wildlife, and Virgin Island boas. 
  • October 23, 2019 at 10:00 am - Animal Behavior and Welfare
    • Topics include animal welfare around the world, gorillas participating in their own medical procedures, and habitat enrichment for elephants.
  • February 12, 2020 at 10:00 am - Green Practices
    • Potential topics include food miles, polar bears and climate change, composting, and being a green school.
  • March 25, 2020 at 10:00 am - International Wildlife Conservation
    • Potential topics include giraffe research, Mariana Island bird conservation, human-wildlife conflict

Videos for Past Events Available on the Event Page:

*Because these events are live and we are "taking" you around the North Carolina Zoo with us instead of being in a studio, we also have weather dates planned. These dates will be used if the Zoo is closed for any reason (e.g., snow, hurricane).

Finally, we want these events to work for you and your class. They have been designed to be flexible and interactive. Here are some suggestions of how you can use them with your class(es).

  • Participate in the live online event and/or watch the recorded event at a later date.
  • Choose to only participate in some of the pre-/post-activities.
  • Use the video library to supplement your class.

Supporting Videos

Many of the videos from our Untamed Science collection support our Living with Nature Series by giving you additional information on projects discussed or similarly related topics. These videos are all ~5-minutes in length. They can be used to broaden a lesson with the distance learning event or can be used separately on their own.

For questions or further information email SchoolPrograms@nczoo.org.