The Roger Tory Peterson Institute's Teaming with Nature Program is designed to equip teachers to use their home ground as a source for curriculum. At its core is a set of outdoor-based, firsthand teaching and learning strategies that focus on a one-square- kilometer area surrounding the school.

Teaming with Nature (formerly known as the Selborne Project) was originally designed as an intensive summer professional development institute that drew middle-level teacher teams from around the country to learn how to create interdisciplinary, place-based units tailor-made to their school and community.

RTPI now works with teachers and school administrators to infuse Teaming with Nature program principles – learning through teamwork, the real world and the outdoors – into elementary and middle school settings. Teaming with Nature proceeds through a series of overlapping and integrated steps that include:

• Making detailed observations of the school's setting and taking stock of what is known and what questions remain in a variety of subject areas
• Making maps work for understanding the unique geography of a place
• Aligning the interdisciplinary curriculum by using curriculum grids
• Planning a productive unit of place-based study through the use of concept maps and focusing questions.

Teaming with Nature creates a unique learning experience for community members as well as teachers and students. Successful Teaming with Nature programs take advantage of the unique gifts of parents and other local residents who assist with field experiences and share their knowledge and appreciation of the place where they live. Everyone wins with Teaming with Nature, especially students who learn to value the place where they are being raised as well as what it takes to "pass the test."

For more information about Teaming with Nature or to discuss how to incorporate the program into your school community, please contact the Director of Education at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 716-665-2473, ext. 228.