The Tribal Environmental Training Program is intended to establish a culturally sensitive environmental education program that emphasizes tribal responsibility for dealing with hazards created by human activities. The society's technical assistance database is available to the project, as well. Each TOT graduate implements at least two community activities, using a plan the trainer developed through the TOT program. Under the program, a game and a community awareness activity are being developed, and information is being made available on the World Wide Web. The project increases teachers' knowledge of pond ecology, methods of scientific investigation, and use of scientific equipment and relevant curriculum materials.
Teachers learn firsthand how to conduct field studies and use scientific supplies.
The workshop requires that each participant conduct an investigation with his or her class. The project is being conducted in the North Star Borough School District, Fairbanks, which has 9,400 students in 19 elementary schools. Minorities, most of whom are Alaska natives, make up approximately 25 percent of those students.