by editor | Apr 4, 2013 | Service learning, STEM
By Lee Sherman
In Brief
Whether identifying fish or monitoring water quality, students combine education with service through OSU’s Oregon Natural Resources Education Program. Through partnerships with local watershed councils and other agencies, students are making a difference.
Lifelong stewardship can begin as simply as a school project at a local stream.
That’s what happened when Philomath High School student Colby Davidson conducted a fish study for his senior thesis. An average student who wasn’t accustomed to accolades, he was as surprised as his teachers when he discovered six native species previously unknown in Newton Creek – and then won a national conservation award from the National Wildlife Federation. Now, three years later, he remains vigilant and active in local watershed issues.
Stories like this drive and inspire OSU’s Oregon Natural Resources Education Program (ONREP). Based in the College of Forestry, the Extension program’s mission statement – “to prepare educators to inspire natural resources learning and experiences so that students make informed decisions, exhibit responsible behavior, and take constructive action for Oregon’s natural resources” – captures its community-service thrust.
Building Skills
Through ONREP’s Teachers as Researchers project, kids get initiated to service learning with a foundation in rigorous classroom instruction. “Authentic field investigations start with skill-building, such as graphing pollution data or identifying Northwest invertebrates,” notes ONREP Director Susan Sahnow.
It then spills across local landscapes as teachers lead students into woodlands and riparian zones to study the natural resources that define the places they call home.
Finally, by forging partnerships with local watershed councils and other agencies, teachers and students embark on research-based projects that enhance their neighborhoods, forests and watersheds in tangible ways.
The key message for students is, “If we don’t take care of our stream, who’s going to do it?” says teacher and ONREP participant Jeff Mitchell. “They learn to care about their own community by doing meaningful community service.”
Lee Sherman is a writer for the Oregon State University Extension Service. This article was reprinted from the OSU website at http://oregonstate.edu/leadership/presidentsreport/2009/fall/discovery-leads-service
by editor | Apr 1, 2013 | K-12 Classroom Resources
1. Slow: Children at Nature Play
This attention-catching sign is designed to raise awareness about the importance of connecting children to nature. The goal is to promote getting children outside and exploring nature similar to the neighborhood signs that ask drivers to slow down because children are playing. The sign can be placed in your neighborhood, at trailheads, at nature parks and centers, zoos, gardens, aquariums, schools, etc., essentially any place that children explore, play, and learn about nature (or, a place where you think that should happen!). Creator Michael D. Barton is looking for donations to fund production.
http://exploreportlandnature.wordpress.com/nature-play-sign/
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2. Using Technology to Connect Students and the Environment Toolkit
The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), with support from Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., and in partnership with Project Noah, present Using Tech to Connect Students & the Environment – a video on how technology can further STEM learning through the environment, both in nature and in the classroom. Watch the video.
The free Educator Toolkit for Using Technology to Connect Students & the Environment is a companion to the video and includes activities and resources at all grade levels for implementing a project similar to the one featured in the video. Download the toolkit.
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3. Creating a Schoolyard Habitat/Outdoor Classroom
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offers professional development courses with partners throughout the country.
- OUT8164: Creating a Schoolyard Habitat/Outdoor Classroom, September 23-26, 2013 in Portland, Oregon; September 10 & October 29, webinars. Contact Scott Owen at scott_t_owen@fws.gov
http://training.fws.gov/documents/Section1_NCTC_Sponsored_Courses.pdf
4. Fishery Data for the Classroom
NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center Education and Outreach website offers links to a variety of fisheries data to help bring the world of fisheries science into the classroom. There are links to activities, Killer Whale, and Microworlds curricula. Be sure to check out the home page and all of the resources available through this great website.
http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/Education/Activities/data.htm
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5. Wild Alaska in the Classroom
The Alaska Wilderness League provides free resources teachers can use to work the Arctic and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into their lesson plans. The website features a variety of lessons and activities which cover components of the arctic ecosystem, including migration, bird identification, and animal adaptations. Materials include games, art, lessons, and much more.
http://www.alaskawild.org/take-action/educate/
by editor | Mar 29, 2013 | Environmental Literacy
- Photo credit: Sarah Sullivan, Abernethy School, Portland
by Jim Martin
Clearing Associate Editor
he last time we met, students had planted seeds in parts of a garden plot they chose. So, where do they go now? They’ve made their decisions about where to plant each of their seeds. As the seeds sprout and grow, are there opportunities for them to engage in self-directed inquiries? Can they ask questions, like, “What would happen if ___?” followed by a perturbation they choose to introduce. Some possibilities that come to mind are things like sun flecks (the moving patches of sunlight in forested areas), watering schedules, companion plants, fertilizers and vitamins, pruning, hours of sunlight (photoperiod). What effect do these perturbations have on plants’ optimal growth? Kids have great imaginations, and I’m sure some of their perturbations would be more interesting than those I’ve mentioned. Doing this kind of work suggests that we are seriously entering the Experimental dimension of science inquiry. This is where you lose a little control over what students think and do, but not over how they go about their work. (more…)
by editor | Mar 19, 2013 | K-12 Classroom Resources
1. Ocean Science Summer Institute
This institute, June 24-27, 2013 in Port Townsend, Washington, is a Training of Trainers for both formal and informal educators. Participants will receive hands-on experience with the Ocean Sciences Sequence including implementation strategies, daily field trips, and more. The deadline for discounted earlybird registration is May 16, 2013. Be sure to check out the other professional development opportunities on the website. http://www.ptmsc.org/teacher.html
2. PEI and Puget Sound
The Pacific Education Institute (PEI) is working with the Puget Sound Partnership and The Russell Family Foundation to reach school districts around the Puget Sound and engage students in action projects. Students will integrate their learning in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) with real world projects that contribute to their sustainable future.
3. Creating Resilient Schools and Communities
The 3rd annual conference will be held at Trillium Creek Primary School in West Linn, Oregon on June 25, 2013. Features concurrent sessions, a student panel, exhibitors, networking opportunities, and recognition of 2013 Sustainable School Award winners. Co-sponsors include the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators (COSA), the American Institute of Architects, and the Environmental Education Association of Oregon (EEAO). http://www.sustainableschools.org/our-services/2013-conference
4. Endangered Species Teacher Forum
As part of an ongoing focus on enhancing endangered species education, the Endangered Species Day Teacher Resource Center now features a Teacher Forum. The forum enables teachers to exchange classroom instruction techniques, ask questions, and share resources about endangered species. http://www.stopextinction.org/esd/195-esd-education.html
5. Holding onto the Green Zone Curriculum
Holding onto the Green Zone is an earth science curriculum designed to encourage collaboration between land managers and youth educators/leaders to promote conservation of fragile riparian resources. The curriculum works through the processes of science inquiry and experiential learning. Check out the downloadable Student Action Guide and Leader Guide. http://www.uwex.edu/erc/youth/riparian.html
6. National EE Week
Get ready for National Environmental Education Week 2013, April 14-20, 2013 with the website’s Greening STEM: Taking Technology Outdoors resources. Register for upcoming webinars and look through the archives. Check out the extensive resources and curricula library. http://www.eeweek.org/
by editor | Mar 4, 2013 | Environmental Literacy
When you make the finding yourself – even if you’re the last person on Earth to see the light – you’ll never forget it.
-Carl Sagan
by Jim Martin
Science Educator and
CLEARING guest writer
oing out into the world beyond the classroom for science and other curricula can be confusing. I clearly remember the first time I took students out to make observations. In the classroom, we had lined up all the conifers together, deciduous species together, and animals in neat little boxes. It all made sense to me. Little did I know! When we went into the real world, there was no sense of order my students could perceive. I saw that my first job was to help organize what seemed to be disorder. We did a transect, and the observations they made along its length brought the underlying order in any ecosystem within reach. And the difference between the ecology in the publishers’ materials and in an actual ecosystem opened my eyes to why we need to begin our science studies with actual hands-on inquiry, both as a pragmatic necessity, and as being a closer fit to how our brain learns for understanding, than the lessons and activities in the published materials I was using. It’s also the way scientists work; inquire of nature to answer a question, communicate findings, and inquire some more.
Let’s look at a project in a schoolyard. A teacher began one with a garden plot, and had her students plant seeds in a plot on the school grounds. During the year, they would make observations on changes they observed. She had a friend who works for the county environmental services agency, talked with her, and they jointly decided to complement the garden plot with a study of a restoration site where the teacher and her students would determine where to plant, plant, monitor, and compare.
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