Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contest - Kritters 4 Kids

Kritters 4 Kids (K4K) is implemented by the Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contest and teaches school children about the importance of wildlife and habitat, the threat of urbanization, local ecosystems, and food webs. The goal of the program is to educate our youth about the importance of wildlife conservation by using a locally produced book about coastal bend wildlife. 

The book, Wildlife in Focus II, is complimented by a customized curriculum activity guide to assist in educating youth about the Coastal Bend ecosystem.  Over fifty schools have benefited from the Kritters 4 Kids (K4K) programs, including those in Aransas Pass I.S.D., Corpus Christi I.S.D., Beeville I.S.D., London I.S.D., Port Aransas I.S.D., Aqua Dulce I.S.D., St. James Episcopal School, and Gregory-Portland Jr. High. K4K has two separate curriculum guides to accommodate elementary and middle school. 

The K4K program provides a classroom set of 30 books and the activity guides to each participating school in an 11-county service area surrounding the Coastal Bend.  The curriculum in both guides meets the Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS) guidelines that specifically require students to study the relationships of organisms to the environment.  Lessons include Ecological Regions; Native Plants/Introduced Species; Ecosystems, Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers; Energy Pyramids and Food Webs; Adaptations; Pollution Research; and Stewardship, Human Impact and Conservation, and Energy Flow.  At this time, more than 50 schools await sponsorship for the K4K program.

K4K provides LOTE participants with the guidance and information needed to prepare their students to explore systems, ecosystems, food webs, and adaptations.

For more information, log on www.wildlifephotocontest.com