Educator Resources

Follow the tips in these guides to take pictures of plants, animals, and insects that have the best chance of being identified. Download to use the guide on your mobile device or print and take it with you!

• English

• Spanish

• Instructions to Print 

Step 1: Get Ready to Bring Kids Outside

Read this educator guide for tips for facilitating, managing, and supporting student outdoor learning and exploration in schoolyards, nearby park, or other green space. View Guide

Step 2: Learn How to Use iNaturalist

Take a tour through iNaturalist, the website we will use in the U.S. to document observations. Learn how to best use this technology with students. This can be used in any formal or informal education setting. View Guide

Step 3: Integrate into your Curriculum / Education Program

View our “Educator Basecamp,” recommended progressions for short classroom and field activities for formal and informal settings. Progressions include activities, media, and other tools for the CNC, for a variety of ages and experience levels. See how they help to meet science standards and educational goals.

• Age 5 - 8

• Age 8 - 11

• Age 11 - 14

• Age 14 - 18

• Undergraduate & University 

• General Public

View our introductory webinar video from 2018 (below) that explains the City Nature Challenge and shows you how to use our website and the iNaturalist app to record plants and wildlife in your own backyard! Download slides from this webinar here.

Compare and learn facts and figures about organisms with the resources below. The following links highlight the diversity of New England from forests, urban meadows, and ponds to the ocean. 

• Common Wildlife

• Massachusetts Tide Pools

• Vernal Pools–Know that entering pools usually requires a permit from the land owner.

• Middlesex Fells Reservation iNaturalist Checklist

• Horn Pond iNaturalist Checklist

• Fresh Pond iNaturalist Checklist

• Mount Auburn Cemetery iNaturalist Checklist

• Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge iNaturalist Checklist

• Cape Cod National Seashore iNaturalist Checklist