Resources
Loaner materials are only available to NREC program participants.
Trunks
- Available at no charge
- Can be checked out for up to 2 weeks
- Contact the NREC at nrec@dnr.in.gov or 317-562-1338 to reserve and schedule times for pick-up and drop-off
- Allow ½ hour at pick-up and drop-off to check trunks in/out with NREC staff
Bird Trunk
Developed to support Flying WILD Bird Festivals. Contains stuffed birds, raptor silhouettes, bird feet, Identiflyer & call cards, field guides, bird ID cards, binoculars, bird skulls, and nests.
Elk Trunk
Provided by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation - Contains skull, foot, antler, track, scat, and fur sample from elk, skull of mountain lion, foot, antler and scat of white tailed deer, elk videos, elk posters, elk education activity guide, packets of equipment to conduct hands-on elk education activities, works well as a supplement to deer activities.
Fire Trunk
Developed by the IN DNR Division of Forestry's Project Learning Tree and Fire Education programs. Designed for use by educators, youth leaders, and natural resource professionals to teach children about wildland fire. An assortment of wildland fire education materials, including lesson plans, print materials, wildland - urban interface materials, Burning Issues CD-ROM, Smokey Bear materials, and videos are included in the trunk.
Freshwater Streams Trunk
Provided by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Contains videos, books, posters, mussel shell sets, flannel board stories, etc to teach about freshwater streams.
Fur Kit
Contains fur samples, background information, track pictures, range maps, and coloring pages for 15 species of current and former Indiana mammals, also includes background information and color drawings of common plants.
Healthy Water, Healthy People Activity Trunk
Contains everything you need to conduct nine activities from the Healthy Water Healthy People Educators Guide, developed by Project WET. Activities included are: From H+ to OH-, Benthic Bugs and Bioassessment, Water Quality Windows, A Snapshot in Time, Wash It Away, Hitting the Mark, Turbidity or Not Turbidity, There is No Point to This Pollution, and Grab a Gram. This trunk is only available to those who have attended a Healthy Water Healthy People workshop.
Riverwatch Water Quality Testing Trunk
Contains the supplies you need to conduct simple stream monitoring including chemical testing kits for dissolved oxygen, BOD5, temperature, phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, pH, and turbidity. Also includes a dip net, kick seine net, bins, magnifier, field guide and cards for macroinvertebrate collection and identification. Must attend a Hoosier Riverwatch Basic training to be eligible for loaner trunk.
Storm Water Hands-on Science Kit
Contains everything you need to create your own miniature city, the City of Ooze. Students sprinkle pretend contaminants (powdered drink mix, cake sprinkles, cocoa mix, etc.) on the city model and use spray bottle to create a rainstorm. They can observe how storm water run-ff picks up contaminants and carries them into the storm sewer and directly to a water body. The kit is accompanied by a Storm Water Teacher's Packet and full-color adventure book Secret Agent Worms: Beneath the City of Ooze. *Note: Pretend contaminants (powdered drink mix, cake sprinkles, cocoa mix, etc.) are not provided with this kit. This trunk is only available to those who have attended a Project WET workshop.
Treemendous Tree Trunks
Indiana's Tree-mendous Trunk is filled with materials designed to supplement Project Learning Tree activities. Most effective when used with supporting background information and concepts in the PLT activities. Contains books, videos, posters, tree measuring sticks, Smokey Bear materials, audio cassettes of environmentally related children's music, "The Virtual Forest" CD Roms, games, samples of wood products made in Indiana, magnifiers, pH test kit, soil probe, track molds, and wood samples of Indiana trees.
Turkey Trunk
The award-winning Wild About Turkey Education Box exposes children to the joy of natural resources like the wild turkey and importance of managing this resource properly to ensure it is available for generations to come. The kit contains colorful bulletin board display, "Return of the Wild Turkey" and "Roll Call" video, multimedia CD/CD-Rom with turkey sounds, National Wild Turkey Federation Bulletins & activities, Making Tracks poster, fun anatomical wild turkey poster, K-12 multi-curriculum lesson plans - including math, science, history, English, creative writing, technology/design, and art. Items are contained in a trap and transfer box similar to the ones wildlife biologists use to transfer turkeys
Water History Trunk
This trunk was designed to support and complement the Indiana Project WET curriculum and contains historical water artifacts relating to Indiana history. This trunk is a great way to incorporate and discuss the importance of water from a historical perspective and to bring water history alive in your education programs! This trunk is only available to those who have attended a Project WET workshop.
Wildlife Trunk
Great companion to teaching activities from Project WILD. Contains mammal skins, skulls, stuffed birds, laminated snake skin, turtle shell, plastic feet for making tracks, bird call tape (provided by WILD Birds Unlimited), Wildlife Forever CD & book, bat and eagle silhouettes, crane CD, At the Zoo video, frog & toad call tape, IN Wildlife Education CD, and animal cards.
Zebra Mussel Trunk
Provided by IL/IN Sea Grant - Contains videos, 9 activities and equipment, shells, etc. to teach about exotic invasive Zebra Mussels.
Printed Resources
The NREC has a wide variety of books and periodicals on natural resource topics including wildlife, habitats, plants, forestry, water, environmental action, outdoor and environmental education, biographies, geology, entomology, paleontology, Native Americans, pioneers, and more. Most of the materials are one copy only and must be used on site but a few are available for loan for up to 2 weeks. Contact the NREC at nrec@dnr.in.gov or 317-562-1338 with any questions about specific topics or titles.
Audio-visual and Software Resources
The NREC has many slide shows, videotapes, and CD's for loan for up to 2 weeks. Topics include wildlife, habitats, forestry, plants, water, wetlands, pollution, history, invasive species, energy, solid waste, wildlife and plant ID, and more. For more information on topics and borrowing materials contact the NREC at nrec@dnr.in.gov or 317-562-1338.
