Division of Forestry and Wildlife

Forestry & Wildlife recognizes the critical role of environmental education in engaging students and residents with the natural and cultural resources of Hawaiʻi. We provide the resources below in order to help you learn or to help you teach others about what makes Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i.

Quick links

Still hungry for information? Check out our pages on our Project Learning Tree professional development program, Hawai’i’s conservation leaders, our Wahi Pana Essay Contest, and our Oʻahu Adopt a Forest program.

Educators who want to receive updates on new educational opportunities and products can sign up for our Educator Bulletin. We won’t spam you and will send occasional emails about new posters, virtual field trips, paper crafts, or other products for your classroom.

Teacher Guides and Place-based Curricula

Hawaiʻi Kāhuli: Voice of the Forest: The Hawaiʻi Kāhuli Project has created a website all about kāhuli that incorporates stories, photos, curricula, and activities about Hawaiʻi’s land snails. Visit their site at https://hawaiikahuli.org/kahuli/, or jump straight to their Educator and Student Resources.

A Teacher’s Guide To Nēnē- Our Endangered State Bird:  This resource provides teachers with the necessary background information to connect 4^th and 5^th grade students to learning more our state bird, the nēnē. Teachers can use this guide to engage student in learning activities that are both rigorous and relevant covering topics like nēnē behaviors, population growth, and diet.

A Teacher’s Guide to Endangered Birds of Hawai‘i: As part of our rich natural heritage, the native birds of Hawai‘i can be a fascinating topic of study. By exciting your students’ curiosity to learn more about these birds, you may open the door to a new opportunity for discovering more about the diverse and colorful wildlife Hawai‘i has to offer. The activities presented in this guide are designed to raise students’ awareness so that as concerned citizens they may help to prevent further loss of Hawai‘i’s unique and endangered bird species. Use the Printable Activities (Grades 3-7) and Coloring Book Fact Sheets (Forest Jewels Coloring Book) together to expand student knowledge of our native forest birds.

Project Aloha ‘Āina:  The Moanalua Gardens Foundation (MGF) developed this curriculum for 4th grade students. While some of the curriculum is specific to the Moanalua ahupua‘a, this curriculum can serve as an example for educators looking to design content for their area.

Hōʻike o Haleakalā:  Hōʻike o Haleakalā is a multi-disciplinary, science-based environmental education curriculum designed to help sustain the native Hawaiian landscape and culture by helping students establish and deepen connections to the land and the culture it supports. The Hōʻike curriculum supports State of Hawaiʻi high school educational standards, particularly in the science disciplines. Each activity is correlated to state science standards, offering educators a way to fulfill educational requirements using local ecosystems and issues as a context. These materials help bring science home for students while fostering a strong science background and critical-thinking skills. Hōʻike o Haleakalā is a downloadable curriculum for High School. Although it uses specific examples from Maui, many can be easily adapted for other islands.

Hawaiʻi Prevents Wildfire: The Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization (HWMO) has developed a set of activity books to teach students about wildfire in Hawaiʻi and ways to be firewise. Educators can download materials from the HWMO website or request paper copies using the the order form at the following link: https://forms.gle/HA38zC6KaF7HfGGX9. Materials include:

• Keiki coloring sheets (2 sheets) for preschoolers
• Grade K-2 activity books
• Grade 3-6 activity books
• Coloring placemats
• Classroom posters

Way of the Wedgie: a place-based curriculum fabout ʻuaʻu kani, Hawaiʻi’s wedge-tailed shearwaters (aka wedgies), produced by the Hawaiʻi Audubon Society, Oikonos, and the Freeman Bird Preserve. These free digital lessons about ʻuaʻu kani biology and conservation are aligned with state learning standards and have been used by a number of Oʻahu schools. Designed for grades 6-8.

Natural Inquirer: Hawaiʻi-Pacific Islands Edition: This curriculum, designed for middle school students, includes six articles and several activities focused on Hawaiian forest birds, koa production, invasive species, carbon storage, and forest restoration. The articles are based on the work of scientists working at the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry in Hilo, HI. Natural Inquirer products are produced by the USDA Forest Service, FIND Outdoors, and other cooperators and partners. At their website you can download the digital PDF or request that hardcopies be mailed to you, all for free.

Posters, Stickers, and Books for Educators

Forestry and Wildlife provides educational posters to decorate your classroom walls with native species. These teaching tools are available for free to Hawaiʻi educators (limit one per classroom). To request posters, contact us at [email protected] with your mailing address and which posters you would like to receive.

There is no shipping fee for stickers, Wao Akua books, or for classroom posters for non-Oʻahu educators. Due to poster shipping costs and the volume of requests, we are not mailing posters to Oʻahu-based educators. Oʻahu-based educators can pick up posters in our office at 1151 Punchbowl St, Rm 325, Honolulu. No appointment is needed, and our front office staff should be able to help you during normal business hours.

PEP: Protecting Hawaiʻi’s Rarest Plants

Native Species Stickers: Our Forestry & Wildlife team produces high-quality native species stickers that look great on water bottles, computers, phones, or other items. Individuals can request 1-3 stickers and Hawaiʻi-based educators can request classroom packs of 15 stickers, free of charge. We ask that you have students place them somewhere lasting (like on a water bottle) rather than on paper or somewhere the stickers will get thrown out. Our stickers are dishwasher safe and feature our native kāhuli (land snails), manu (birds), ʻōpeʻapeʻa (bat), insects, and plants. To request stickers, contact [email protected].

Bumper stickers: Add a message about Hawaiʻi’s native species to your vehicle. Our 8″x3″ bumper stickers are printed on waterproof vinyl. Hawaiʻi residents can receive one of the four designs pictured here for free (limit one per person; no classroom or bulk orders available). Contact us at [email protected] with your mailing address and sticker choice.

Wao Akua: Forestry & Wildlife and partners have produced a beautiful, photo-rich book that tells the ecological stories of our islands. The book includes the perspectives of cultural practitioners, farmers, scientists, poets, playwrights, artists, historians, and kūpuna. Their voices together articulate a story of the natural treasures that make Hawaiian forests some of the most unique and threatened ecosystems in the world.

Wao Akua: Sacred Source of Life is now available upon request at no cost, with a limit one per person. To order a copy, contact our Forestry & Wildlife outreach program at [email protected].

Let’s stay in touch: Sign up for our Educator Bulletin

Educators who want to receive updates on new educational opportunities and products can sign up for our Educator Bulletin. We won’t spam you and will send occasional emails about new posters, virtual field trips, paper crafts, or other products for your classroom.