t’s back-to-school season, and the TurfMutt Foundation has a great way to help students get outside and learn.
The Foundation offers free lesson plans for students in grades K–8, providing an engaging way to explore valuable science concepts right in their own backyard, schoolyard, or local park.
The TurfMutt Foundation encourages educators to take advantage of these lessons, which are designed to make learning fun, hands-on, and connected to the outdoors.
In the lesson plans, superhero and TurfMutt Foundation “spokesdog,” Mulligan the TurfMutt, with her “outdoor power” pals Big Rooty, Water Warrior, the Green Ranger, and Professor Botany, battle the environmental “bad buys” including Carbon Creep, Dust Demon, Heat Freak, and Dr. Runoff.
Since 2009, TurfMutt’s education curriculum has reached more than 70 million children, educators and families.
The lesson plans are varied by grade, including activities where students can:
• See trees “breathe” by capturing water vapor given off by trees on plastic bags, and learn how trees absorb and return water to the atmosphere.
• Practice counting and learn about their own carbon footprints at home and in school.
• Figure out how many creatures hang out in one square foot of healthy dirt outside, observing the worms and insects found.
• Calculate how much water a plant transpires.
• Go on a scavenger hunt to find the wildlife that resides around us in backyards and community parks.
• Conduct an experiment examining whether we water plants, or plants water the earth.
• Use rain gauges and an outdoor experiment to calculate water runoff and talk about ways to control it.
• Do an experiment to discover dust in an area and discuss ways to mitigate it.
• Learn how soil and trees help capture storm water, with a poster illustrating how communities with green plantings and riparian barriers do a better job of controlling runoff into waterways.
The 10 lesson plans, synchronized with the Next Generation Science Standards used in classrooms across the country, are available for download as pdf files. All of the lessons are free on TurfMutt.com and include suggestions for more ways to learn about the topics covered.
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
Why is it important to have educational activities that connect kids with the outdoors?
What are some ways that teachers incorporate these activities into their curriculum?
What are some of the topics teachers can expect to find with TurfMutt's lesson plans?
“TurfMutt’s free educational resources spark children’s natural curiosity about the world around them,” says Kris Kiser, President & CEO of the TurfMutt Foundation. “With TurfMutt’s help, a walk to the neighborhood park or time spent in the backyard can become an exciting journey of discovery, teaching kids how our living landscapes work and how important they are to our communities.”
Kiser continued, “TurfMutt encourages active interaction with and care for our green spaces and encourages learning through direct engagement with the natural world. Each lesson helps teachers and homeschoolers encourage critical thinking and foster a lifelong connection to environmental stewardship.”
Designed to integrate seamless experiential learning into the school syllabus, the TurfMutt Foundation’s hands-on curriculum aligns with core science and math concepts and is tailored for grades K to 8. TurfMutt’s lessons are free and available for download here.
A few of the lesson plans:
- Discover the Wonders of Earth
Lessons such as "What's in One Square Foot of Earth? A Lot!" teach children to observe the hidden ecosystems thriving in a small patch of grass or garden bed. Backyards and local parks provide easily accessible environments for these fascinating, ground-level discoveries.
- Investigate How Nature Works
TurfMutt sparks scientific curiosity with hands-on experiments through lessons like "Do Trees Breathe? Let's Do an Experiment to Find Out!" By encouraging children to spot plant life, insects, and natural cycles, TurfMutt turns a casual stroll into a living science laboratory.
- Understand Nature’s Superpowers
Lessons such as "Nature's Flood Stoppers: Trees" illustrate the environmental superpowers of the landscapes in our parks and backyards and showcase nature as a powerful ally for community well-being. These green spaces help manage stormwater, clean the air, and provide critical habitats.
- Become an Environmental Detective
Through activities such as "Stormwater Sleuthing," children can learn about water flow, pollution prevention, and how to keep their favorite parks and yards clean and healthy.
###
About the TurfMutt Foundation
TurfMutt, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2024, was created by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute’s (OPEI) TurfMutt Foundation and has reached more than 70 million children, educators and families since 2009. The Foundation is title sponsor of “Lucky Dog,” the Emmy Award-winning CBS broadcast television show in support of dog rescue and rehabilitation. Both TurfMutt spokesdogs have been rescue dogs, and Mutt Mulligan is a cast character on the show, where her “Mulligan Minute” segments teach viewers about the benefits of green space. In 2024, the Great Lawn at Louisville’s award-winning Waterfront Park on the Ohio River was renamed the TurfMutt Foundation Great Lawn as part of a $1 million sponsorship. Championed by Mulligan the TurfMutt, and through education partners such as Scholastic, Discovery, Weekly Reader, and the USBGC Global Learning Lab, TurfMutt has taught students and teachers how to “save the planet, one yard at a time.” TurfMutt has been an education resource at the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Green Apple, the Center for Green Schools, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids, the National Energy Education Development (NEED) project, Climate Change Live, Petfinder and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2017, the TurfMutt animated video series won the coveted Cynopsis Kids Imagination Award for Best Interstitial Series. More information at www.TurfMutt.com.