News & Opportunities
News
MAEOE Connections Newsletter
Jobs, Internships & Volunteer Opportunities
Professional Development & Field Opportunities
Conferences and Festivals
Courses and Workshop Opportunities
EE Opportunities for Working with Your Students
Grants and Funding Resources
News
ABC News 2, TV:
Elementary School Goes Green
April 26, 2009
Sign up Now for the "How to Become a Maryland Green School" Summer Course!
Who: Teachers
When: August 10-14, 2009
Cost: $150 (includes food, lodging, ferry cost and materials)
Through a partnership between MAEOE and CBF, teachers will participate in curriculum development and habitat restoration with a focus on the connection between the schoolyard and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. Hands-on investigations of underwater grass beds, schoolyard habitats, and wetlands will serve as highlights of the week as we begin the process of becoming a Maryland Green School.
Contact: Allyson Gibson: AGibson@cbf.org or Karen Mullin: habitatkelly@yahoo.com
2 days local, 3 days/2 nights at CBF's Port Isobel Island Study Center
MAEOE Fundraisers:
MAEOE T-Shirts
Available Now!
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Newsletter
MAEOE Connections Newsletter:
May 2009
February 2009
November 2008
For more information about the MAEOE Connections Newsletter, contact Lisa Jones at lisaj@livingclassrooms.org.
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Conferences and Festivals
Connecting Kids to Nature: Using the Outdoors as a Classroom
A Conference for Educators and Parents
Sponsored by UUCA Green Action and Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment
April 18, 2009 9:00 – 3:30
Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, 4444 Arlington Blvd. Arlington, VA 22204
A day of discussion, presentations, exhibits and breakout sessions to enable teachers and parents to learn more about what is currently happening in the area of teaching kids outside. Featuring presentations by: Martin Ogle, Chief Naturalist, Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority; Ann Regn, Director, Virginia Office of Environmental Education; Elenor Hodges, Director, Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment; and Concurrent sessions on grant writing tips; what can you learn from trees; teaching seasonal changes; how parents and volunteers can get involved at schools; how to start a school garden or outside classroom; practicing outdoor education at home and more.
Conference fee (including lunch) is $30 if pre-registered; $40 at the door.
Child Care available for $25 per child, pre-registration by 4/15 required.
Further details and registration materials are available at http://www.arlingtonenvironment.org
Volunteer opportunities available in lieu of registration fee.
For additional information, contact Mary Pike at marypike@cox.net or evenings at 703-960-0577.
25th MAEOE Conference
February 5-7, 2010
Rocky Gap, Maryland
Courses and Workshop Opportunities
Sign Up Now for the "How to Become a Maryland Green School" Summer Course!
Who: Teachers
When: August 10-14, 2009
Cost: $150 (includes food, lodging, ferry cost and materials)
Through a partnership between MAEOE and CBF, teachers will participate in curriculum development and habitat restoration with a focus on the connection between the schoolyard and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. Hands-on investigations of underwater grass beds, schoolyard habitats, and wetlands will serve as highlights of the week as we begin the process of becoming a Maryland Green School.
Contact: Allyson Gibson: AGibson@cbf.org or Karen Mullin: habitatkelly@yahoo.com
2 days local, 3 days/2 nights at CBF's Port Isobel Island Study Center
Gateways to Conservation Workshop at Pickering Creek Audubon Center
Thursday, June 4, 9 AM-4 PM
Location: Garden Classroom
The Gateways to Conservation curriculum guides are local, place-based – Chesapeake Bay Watershed – lessons and activities for Grades 1-8. Teachers, formal and non-formal educators and all others interested in the Bay are welcome. Participants will take part in lessons geared toward Chesapeake Bay biodiversity, environmental issues and human-related impacts. Activities include experiments, games, a hike and a canoe paddle on Pickering Creek. Walk away with both of the curriculum guides, certificate, a better understanding of what is happening to the Chesapeake Bay and fun activities to add to your bag of tricks. Bring a bag lunch, comfortable shoes, a smile and clothes that can get wet. Fees: $15/Audubon members and $25/Non-members. For more information please check out our website www.pickeringcreek.org or contact Mandy Smith, Education Coordinator - mlsmith@pickeringcreek.org.
MarshAccess: A workshop for informal science educators at Environmental Centers, Nature Centers, Science Museums, etc. located in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania
June 10, 2009
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Workshop activities will focus on serving adults with disabilities, including:
- The impact of accessibility issues on informal science education
- Assistive technologies in use at the MEC
- Guided field experience
- Strategies and best practices implemented in MarshAccess
- Question and answer period
MarshAccess is funded by National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement Number HRD ISE 0638793
to develop, test and implement a model for accessibility and assistive technology that adapts environmental
education programs for people with disabilities at the NJ Meadowlands Environment Center.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed at the workshop are those of the MarshAccess project
team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
For more information check our website: http://www.njmeadowlands.gov/ec or email Deborah Rios at deborah.rios@njmeadowlands.gov or call 201-460-2813.
A NEW JERSEY MEADOWLANDS COMMISSION FACILITY
OPERATED BY RAMAPO COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY
This workshop is funded by the National Science Foundation.
National
EE Resource Reviews
Wondering how you can improve your environmental education (EE)?
Why do I need this service?
The resource review process makes it easier for you to ensure that
your resources are of the highest quality, and that people looking
for EE materials and programs know that you have addressed quality
criteria. When you submit your resource for review, you'll receive
constructive feedback on the strengths and suggested improvements
for your material or program by a panel of peers trained in the
use of NAAEEs EE Materials: Guidelines for Excellence*; and a
listing in a searchable national and/or state directory** of EE
resources clearly identified as having been reviewed according to
the Guidelines.
What can I have reviewed?
If you can write it, we can review it! You can submit all types
of resources, as simple as a lesson plan or as complex as a addresses
the EE Materials: Guidelines for Excellence. (The average self-review
takes between three and five hours to complete.)
Step 2 Submit your self-review, the resource that you would
like to have reviewed, and review fee according to instructions
on the NAAEE web site.
Step 3 Your submission will be forwarded to peer reviewers
for analysis.
What happens after my materials are reviewed?
You will receive a final review describing the strengths and suggested
improvements for your material. You can then decide if you want
your review results listed in the searchable NAAEE national resource
directory.
For more on Resource Reviews, please visit www.naaee.org
or contact Sue Bumpous at (202) 419-0413 or
sbumpous@naaee.org. National EE Resource Reviews is a project
of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE).
2000 P Street NW, Suite 540, Washington, DC 20036
* NAAEE regards the Resource Reviews as a service to the EE community
and recognizes that not all resources will incorporate every key
characteristic, guideline, or indicator. Reviews are provided as
an informational tool to help users make decisions on the value
of the resource for their specific needs.
** Listing in state directories depends on availability of the system
in your state and is subject to local association policy.
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EE Opportunities for Working with Your Students
Free Online Project: Students Track Seasons, Animal Migrations
Teachers and students in K-12 classrooms are invited to participate this fall in Journey North’s 16th global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. One of the nation’s premier Internet-based “citizen science” projects, Journey North enables students in 11,000 schools to track the seasons on a real-time basis. Students follow the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, bald eagles, whooping cranes, hummingbirds, and other animals; the budding of plants; changing sunlight; and other natural events. They share their own field observations with classmates across North America and analyze data from other classroom and professional scientists.
Each Journey North study features many entry points and resources that address learning standards: Journey North for Kids reading booklets, slideshows, and lessons with stunning photos and video clips; weekly migration updates; interactive real-time maps; connections with field scientists; and compelling migration “stories.” The studies help students fit local observations and inquiries into a global context.
Thanks to a grant from Annenberg Media, Journey North Web site access and participation is free. Visit the Journey North Web site for details: http://www.learner.org/jnorth. (Fall projects will be featured in early August.)
Fall Journey North Studies
Check the Web site for fall start dates and a list of spring studies that start in late January:
Monarch Migration – Students track the remarkable monarch migration to Mexico each fall by reporting observations and collecting reports of the first sightings of southbound monarch butterflies. Each week a migration map shows a "live" snapshot and animation of the migration in progress. In the Symbolic Monarch Butterfly Migration project, students across the US and Canada send creatively crafted paper butterflies to Mexico for the winter along with messages for Mexican peers who live near the monarch sanctuaries. Mexican students watch over the symbolic butterflies – and return the favor in the spring as the real monarchs journey north.
International Plant Study: Tulips – Students investigate the relationship between geography, temperature, and the arrival of spring by planting Journey North Tulip Gardens each fall. They also set up bulb investigations in classrooms and schoolyards. By sharing tulip garden observations over the Internet, students across the Northern Hemisphere proclaim the official arrival of spring in their communities and follow the wave of spring as it moves northward.
Whooping Cranes – Whooping cranes had not lived in the eastern U.S. for more than a century. Now, thanks to a bold 11-year experiment, wild whooping cranes are migrating once again to these areas. Students “eavesdrop” as costume-clad humans “teach” the birds a new lifelong migration route by using an ultra-light airplane to lead the way. Youngsters read photo-rich weekly updates and kid-friendly booklets, and they view video clips of endearing young chicks from birth to their first wobbly flights.
Mystery Class – Challenge your students to find ten secret classes hiding around the globe. The central clue is the changing amount of sunlight (photoperiod) at each site. Students first use only sunrise and sunset times, and later receive geographic, climatic, and cultural clues from peers at mystery sites. In the meantime, they also track day length in their hometowns. On this inspiring ten-week journey, students use reasoning, graphing, and research skills to pinpoint locations of their global peers. The hunt begins in late January, but those who conduct some lessons this fall just might have a leg up!
Coastal Hazards Lessons
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Coastal Program, in collaboration with Towson University, has created a series of interactive lessons targeted to upper middle school and high school students. The lessons apply GIS technology to study our increasing vulnerability to coastal hazards, such as erosion, storms, flooding, sea level rise, as well as options for sustainable coastal development in Maryland. The lessons address government / social studies, earth science, and environmental science standards of learning and can be accessed online at: http://cgisshowcase.towson.edu/mdshoreline/k_12.asp.
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