On a picturesque day at the Sagawau Environmental Learning Center, a group of middle school and high school teachers and nature enthusiasts stood on dolomite limestone, the bedrock of northeastern Illinois, inside an old quarry. Their eyes darted back and forth between the topographic maps in their hands and the distant tree line. Just outside Cook County’s only canyon, they were learning about the geology of the area. 

The group of seven, hailing from across Cook County, were participating in the annual Science Field Workshop at Sagawau, which covered the Silurian Era and glacial geology, fossils of northeastern Illinois and rock formations. The goal of this three-day program is for teachers to bring what they learned back to their classrooms this school year. 

“This is the first time I’ve done a workshop through the Forest Preserves, and it’s been one of the best PDs [professional development courses] that I’ve been to,” said Danielle Danno, who has been teaching science and math for the last 10 years and will be at the front of sixth and seventh grade classrooms this fall at Springman Middle School in Glenview. “It was exhausting, but great.” 

“The Forest Preserves are giving teachers the opportunity to learn from experts while being outside, in the field,” said Sagawau naturalist Laura Brown. “Many teachers want to spend more time in nature and teach in an outdoor setting. These workshops give teachers the confidence to teach science and be able to bring their students out into the field to experience nature.” 

This course is part of the Forest Preserves’ goal to host four workshops every year. Brown said teachers come from all over including suburban schools, Chicago public schools, private schools and even schools outside the county. While content is focused on high school and junior high curriculum, teachers from all grade levels sign up. The courses cover a wide variety of topics from geology to entomology to ecology and beyond.

Brown and fellow naturalist Lorrie Ward led the group through the quarry and the adjoining prairie. They pointed out fossils embedded in the rock beneath their feet and used the maps to teach the geologic history of their surroundings. 

“When I saw the maps, it really hit me like, oh, this is what I should be showing,” Danno said. “I can show them the exact same thing and let them see it for themselves. I don’t feel like I had to think really a lot about how I’m going to use it in my classroom.” 

Danno, a former chemist, previously saw geology as “boring,” but she said this experience brought the subject to life. “One of the things Lorrie kept saying that really stuck with me was the reason she loves geology is because it tells a story,” said Danno. “I wasn’t picking up on that story when I first started teaching earth science.” 

Christa Sorensen, a middle school teacher at District 99 in Cicero, has participated in at least five Forest Preserves workshops. While she teaches social studies, she believes there are teachable moments in any field. 

“Every subject area connects to the other subject areas,” she said. “This year, even though it’s science, look at how much history they were talking about.” 

In the classroom, the educators-turned-students took a deep dive into rocks and minerals. They rubbed rocks together to learn about their hardness and streak. Sorensen said splitting time between the classroom and the field is key. 

“You get your hands-on learning, which I feel like is how you really learn as opposed to just sitting in a classroom,” Sorensen said. “It makes it real and you understand and grasp the concept better.” 

The workshops are part of a long history of the Forest Preserves engagement with schools, local colleges and individual educators, and are part of robust educational offerings at Sagawau. In field and in class field trips cover topics such as bird banding, tree identification, water chemistry and much more. The nature center also provides public programs “to promote an appreciation for the beauty, complexity and fragility of nature” with the two larger events being World Migratory Bird Day and Hummingbird Fest. 

“All of this is important for the Forest Preserves because we need to help students develop an ecological conscience to foster the next generation of conservationists,” Brown said. 

Interested in participating in a future educator workshop? Keep an eye on our Events Page or email experience.nature@cookcountyil.gov.