Education

Learning for nature begins with loving nature

Parks Victoria supports the development of young nature stewards, with a range of opportunities to learn in, for and about nature.

This helps students connect with Victoria’s protected places, so that they understand their significance and how to protect and care for them.

Our pedagogy is centred around inquiry and place-based learning, providing authentic ways for students to apply their knowledge and curiosity in the places they live in.

Planning an excursion

We support teachers and students to learn in nature through our self-guided park visits or ranger-guided activities. There are a few things to be mindful of when planning a student excursion or field trip to a park or reserve.

School students walking with teacher through an urban park on an excursion

Self-guided education visits

Our parks, reserves, and waterways provide great sites for bush kinder, excursions, fieldwork, camps and hikes. Download the relevant handbook to help you to plan a safe trip and reduce your group’s impact on the environment.

Bush Kinder

Spending regular time in nature through a Bush Kinder program helps children to fall in love with, care for and create life-long connections with their local landscapes.

Ranger crouching next to rock pool showing four Junior Ranger children a shell

Ranger-led learning experiences

Parks Victoria offers a range of curriculum-aligned ranger-guided learning activities and programs for students across the state.

Curriculum-aligned teaching and learning resources

Our curriculum-aligned programs support Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary teachers to embed environmental education into classroom learning. The digital resources can be used for pre and post park visit learning, or they can be used as a unit of work to build connection between students, their local landscapes and protected places across Victoria.

Explore education programs for each year level below:

Three young children walking on rocks across a river — Early Childhood

Information posters

These illustrated posters support emergent and fluent readers to further develop their literacy skills, understand concepts in the Victorian science curriculum and learn how special their local ecosystems are.

An Emu Wren commonly found in Victoria's Mallee region.

Conservation storytelling

Stories inform and inspire people to connect with and act for nature. By practicing your storytelling and sharing with your friends and family, you can give a voice to the environment and contribute to a resilient, knowledgeable, and empathetic future.

Park Victoria's Nature's Mascots program

This program tells incredible conservation stories in an age-friendly way by using cute and cuddly or weird and wonderful heroes to represent our key ecosystems.

Park Explorers - overview for educators

This program encourages upper primary school students to discover and care for their natural spaces through place-based inquiry learning.

Parks for everyone

Victoria’s protected places are for everyone. Find out how Parks Victoria creates experiences that encourage people from all backgrounds and abilities to explore and engage with our amazing natural places.

Learning From Landscapes Environmental Management Webinar

This webinar dives deep into local ecosystems to uncover key conservation issues and what our community is doing to help.

Learning from Landscapes Water in the World Part 1

Find out about the water cycle, water management, sustainability, and how water connects people and places.