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Consider Wolf Ridge
For Your School’s
Environmental Education Field Campus
Minnesota has become one of the nation’s leaders in the field of environmental education. A major factor in that outcome has been the growth and development of a network of environmental learning centers - developed to meet the demand for such facilities that has been generated by teachers in public and private schools.
| Visiting teachers and students often say their days spent at Wolf Ridge are the pinnacle of the school year. The results can be seen not only in the jubilant faces of the students, but also in an ever-broadening circle of educators, naturalists, families and others who regularly return to Wolf Ridge. | Spectacular Wilderness Location • 65 miles north of Duluth, with a fantastic view of Lake Superior and the north shore uplands • 2000 acres of boreal forest wilderness including miles of cross-country and walking trails • Wolf and Raven lakes, the Baptism River and Sawmill Creek • Rocky palisades, maple and birch forests, wetlands and water • Wildlife includes wolves, bear, deer, moose, beavers, peregrine falcons, loons and warblers Complete Campus • Two dormitories, with grand fireplaces or private baths, holding 320 people with 6-8 persons per room • Dining hall with two service areas, education building, science building, administration office, energy center • Three remote classrooms: Forest Ecology, Wetlands Ecology and Stream Study • Gift shop with educational and personal items • Two high adventure ropes courses • Two separate 30' indoor climbing walls • Three orienteering courses • Two recreated Ojibwe Heritage sites • Two Voyageur canoes and recreated historic site • Outdoor Initiative Games site • Two volleyball courts • Two outdoor campfire areas • Swimming beach and lake study site • Quarter mile boardwalk across Sawmill Creek wetlands • Celestron C-8 telescope platform • Precipitation monitoring station • Bird and mammal feeding stations Curriculum and Instruction • Dozens of three-hour activities in natural and cultural history, recreation, personal growth and team building • Complete lesson plans, incorporating graduation standards, assessments, pre- and post-activities, concepts and outcomes • Evening recreational and educational activities • Nightly naturalist presentations • Class sizes of 20 or fewer, with all daytime instructors provided • 12 full time teaching naturalists • 15 graduate student instructors, receiving a post-graduate Certificate in Environmental Education from UMD • One staff liaison to act as guide and host for each school • The support of over 40 full-time professionals – housekeeping, maintenance, administration and education personnel – dedicated to environmental education |
| Wolf Ridge provides the lead instructor for all of the daytime classes and conducts an evening naturalist presentation for eachgroup in residence. The evening naturalist programs range from traditional slide programs to role playing and theatrical productions. Evening classes are instructed and managed by the teachers and parents that accompany each group. Lesson plans and necessary equipment or materials required for the evening activities are provided or, in the case of projects which use expendable components, i.e. owl pellets and dream catchers, are available at a minimal cost. |  Paper making |
| All of the Wolf Ridge curriculum has been developed specifically for Wolf Ridge over the past 25 years. The activities are regularly updated. New activities are developed in order to address new topics and new instructional methods. All equipment is included. The Wolf Ridge curriculum is copyrighted and as such is not available for use without written permission. Wolf Ridge schools are encouraged to use Wolf Ridge materials to prepare pre- and post- Wolf Ridge activities. |
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