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CPB Feature for November 2025

The Natural History Museum of Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata offers a wide range of programs and activities. It is open to the general public and hosts standards aligned programs for schools. In addition to their in-museum exhibits which includes bees, birds, butterflies, coral and sponges, crabs, fossils, shell, and rocks and minerals, the museum also provides online exhibits that include the redwood forest, prehistoric animals, fossils, and plant history.
School visits to the museum allows K-12 students to discover their unique collection of fossils, rocks, and minerals, animal specimens, and interactive activities to supplement classroom lessons. Programs are designed to encourage scientific inquiry, and engage students in the natural world.

Kindergarten students learn to compare animal structures and adaptations. First graders focus on animal teeth and diet while second graders learn to classify minerals through observation of physical properties. Third graders study mammal fossils while fourth graders study rock types. Fifth graders learn about the flow of energy in a living system such as the redwood forest and sixth graders investigate plate tectonics and earthquakes. The museum offers other options for 7-12 grade students.
The Natural History Museum provides virtual programs for first through seventh graders. These programs include a 40-60 minute interactive virtual session with the class as well as activities for teachers to conduct with their students in advance. These programs are all aligned with NGSS standards. The Museum also offers a variety of Discovery Days with interactive hands-on activities for the whole family. Each Discovery Day has a theme including Rocks & Minerals, Anthropology, Zoology, and Astronomy. They recently held a Cool and Creepy Discovery Day. Summer Youth Camps are offered on a variety of topics. The camps include hands-on exploration, inquiry, arts integration, activities, and games. The camps are designed for ages 6-9 years.

Internship opportunities are available for Cal Poly Humboldt students. The museum staff works with Cal Poly Humboldt faculty to design internship experiences that meet the needs of the students and adds to the richness of the museum and community. Some internships are part of a class project while others are individual capstone projects for a major.
The museum offers a monthly Speaker Series that strives to offer thought-provoking and information evening lectures to the community at large with a wide variety of nature based topics from dinosaurs to dinoflagellates. Upcoming events include Favorite Fungi: Meet the Parasites & Slimes and Scientific Illustration. The museum also offers a number of rotating workshops that are hosted by local experts.

Teaching Boxes are available for teachers to check out from the museum for use in the classroom. They include hands-on materials and lesson plans and are designed to supplement curriculum through hands-on learning with the use of museum resources. Each teaching box contains accurate and up-to-date information on a particular topic, as well as specimens and materials that every student will be able to observe and/or touch. Each box contains a manual with factual information for background reading, developed experiential learning activities, and suggested extension activities. Current teaching boxes include birds, rocks and minerals, prehistoric people, insects, amphibians and reptiles, fossils, redwood forest, and fur. Teachers can request the boxes by calling the museum at 707-826-4479.

News & Events for November 2025

1. NAAEE Annual Conference: Forward Together


Date: November 3-6, 2025
Location:  Virtual
Description: NAAEE’s Annual Conference is one of the largest professional EE gatherings worldwide. This year’s theme—Forward Together—reflects the power of collaboration in tackling the world’s most pressing social and ecological challenges. Engage virtually with more than 1,000 professionals from 40 countries, all working to advance environmental literacy and civic engagement. With more than 200 engaging sessions and keynotes, we’ll explore how education can inspire action, build environmental stewardship, and create healthier, more resilient communities. There couldn’t be a more urgent need to come together, harness our collective wisdom, and keep moving forward. Register HERE.

2. Green Schoolyards America: Embracing Risky Schoolyard Play for Exploration, Learning and Growth


Date: November 6, 2025
Location: Virtual
Description: This lecture series, hosted by Green Schoolyards America, discusses emerging topics and provides guidance for creating and stewarding high-quality green schoolyards and schoolyard forests. It serves as a continuation and expansion of our previous Schoolyard Forest Design Lecture Series. Sessions feature presentations by subject-area experts including Green Schoolyards America’s staff, along with time for audience Q&A. This month, GSA welcomes Dr. Mariana Brussoni, from the University of British Columbia. Register HERE.

3. Natural Start Alliance and NAAEE: Presenting Discover the Forest: Outdoor Learning for Everyday Life


Dates: November 12, 2025
Location: Virtual
Description: Join NAAEE and the Natural Start Alliance for an inside look at Discover the Forest! The refreshed program inspires families and educators to connect young children (birth–age 8) with nature through everyday experiences. In this webinar, they will share the program’s new direction, explore the updated website and social media platforms, and highlight ways to get involved. They will debut resources that take the guesswork out of outdoor learning in early childhood, including expert guidance on how to get started, dozens of activities aligned to learning outcomes, and rich examples of the ways nature enhances learning and development starting at birth. Register HERE.

4. CAELI Meetup at Green CA Schools & Higher Ed Summit



Dates: November 12-13, 2025
Location: Pasadena, CA
Description: For the past three years, district leaders have hosted CAELI meet-ups at the GCSHE Summit and have recently expanded to include a pre-summit gathering. In 2025, the summit will include a pre-day meet-up, as well as a networking breakfast and lunch event on November 13. Join your CAELI colleagues at this event. Registration is now OPEN.

5. CAELI CBP Community of Practice


Date: November 18, 2025
Location:  Virtual
Description:  The Community-Based Partner (CBP) virtual Community of Practice brings program leaders and staff from environmental education organizations together to engage in collaborative learning and build capacity. Join colleagues from around the state to share resources, explore best practices, and build connections to strengthen our respective organizations and increase our collective impact. Register HERE.

6. AEOE Virtual EE Career Fair

Date: December 2, 2025
Location:  Virtual
Description: Calling all job seekers and employers! Join us for a virtual environmental education career fair. Site leaders will be grouped into breakout rooms, where they will make a pitch for their organization/worksite, share any current or upcoming employment opportunities, and end with Q&A. Job seekers will choose several rooms to attend. Interviews will not be conducted during the event, but if you make a connection you can exchange contact information and plan to follow up. Find your next dream job in environmental and outdoor education! Register HERE.

CAELI Partner Portal Resources November 2025

1. NAAEE Environmental Educator Knowledge and Skills: Guidelines for Excellence


This is a comprehensive set of recommendations about the knowledge and skills or competencies educators use to provide effective environmental education. Environmental Educator Knowledge and Skills: Guidelines for Excellence outlines the experiences and learning that will help educators foster environmental literacy, plan environmental education programs, and implement them. These guidelines suggest a broad vision—a goal to work toward and a guide for personal, professional, and programmatic development. Free download available HERE.


2. Outdoor Learning Store: Birding Tools & Resources



Birds are such a fantastic way of connecting the local schoolyard or backyard with the wider natural environment. Birds are visible and identifiable and they provide learners with the opportunity to make connections with the ecosystem that they are part of. The Outdoor Learning Store offers some fantastic resources for helping your students learn through birding. View their resources HERE.

3. Children & Nature Network Research Library

This is the world’s largest collection of peer-reviewed literature about nature’s benefits for children. Each month, they review the latest research on children and nature, then choose and summarize the most relevant studies to add to the library. The sheer volume of research now available makes a compelling case that when children have access to nature, they are healthier, happier, smarter, and better stewards of the environment. Explore the library HERE.

4. NAAEE Podcast: Love as the Root of Impactful Nature-based Education with Sean Southey


What does it mean to fall in love with nature—and why does that love matter for the future of our planet? In this episode of The World We Want: The NAAEE Podcast, host Gerry Ellis sits down with Sean Southey, CEO of the Canadian Wildlife Federation and longtime champion of nature-based education, to explore how love and connection form the foundation of lasting change. Join us as we hear from someone whose confidence in love’s ability to change the world and our relationship to it is both inspiring and activating. 

Sean shares powerful stories about how nature-based education transforms not only classrooms, but also communities, shaping how we live, lead, and care for the world around us. This conversation reveals why fostering a culture of care begins with the simple act of helping people connect—and fall in love—with nature. Sean guides listeners through the stages of reflection from childhood memories of wild play to global movements like Nature for All and Outdoor Grannies, from that one teacher who planted seeds of connection with nature to the potential for a more caring and connected community spanning countries and continents. Listen HERE.

5. Children & Nature Network  How Green Schoolyards Create Economic Value


Nature-filled schoolyards – or green schoolyards – provide a wealth of well-documented benefits for children’s health, well-being and learning. A growing number of communities also recognize the role of green schoolyards in supporting climate resilience. And there’s another key benefit. A new report, “How Green Schoolyards Create Economic Value,” authored by former Federal Reserve economist Rob Grunewald, outlines the economic returns that can accompany investments in greening school grounds. Read the report HERE.

6. YMCA: The Nature of the Outdoors: Stronger Youth Development Through Exploration



This groundbreaking study examines the Skills for Thriving development of over 5,000 young people in outdoor programs across multiple states, comparing their growth to peers in other programs. While all different types of programming promote these capacities, the results of this study are striking, showing that engagement in outdoor programs significantly boosts Skills for Thriving, particularly among male and Latine youth, who form deeper connections with peers and mentors.

These findings demonstrate the benefits of the outdoors in cultivating a Positive Youth Development culture that enhances growth. This has significant implications for out-of-school programs and highlights ways using the outdoors more intentionally could redefine youth development leading to better mental well-being, stronger relationships, and greater educational and employment engagement for youth today. Read the report HERE.