06 May 2012
The Outdoor Classroom in Pittsburgh to host wetland workshops for educators
Come enjoy a day (or two!) at The Outdoor Classroom while learning about wetlands and rain gardens! Take home curriculum and ideas for how to use them as outdoor classrooms!
Learn more »
26 April 2012
Gulf Spill Pictures: Ten New Studies Show Impact on Coast
Bottlenose dolphins off Louisiana's coast are severely ill, while deep-sea corals show signs of tissue damage—just two findings in a slew of studies two years after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Learn more »
24 April 2012
Pictures: Nature Yields New Ideas for Energy and Efficiency
Drawing inspiration from schools of fish, termite mounds, and the photosynthesis of leaves, new technologies seek to produce cleaner, more efficient energy through biomimicry.
Learn more »
21 April 2012
Greenquest!
Search for clues and phrases as you learn things you can do to help protect your health and the environment. If you find all the answers, you can write your name on the Greenquest wall and optionally enter a drawing to be a guest blogger for EPA. Online April 16-22.
Start your search »
Habla español?
Aprenda más acerca del Día del Planeta Tierra y de lo que usted puede hacer para ayudar a proteger el medio ambiente. Escuche los podcasts ambientales. Inscrbase para recibir un consejo por correo electrnico en abril.
Learn more »
P3 in DC.
If you're in Washington, DC on Earth Day, don't miss seeing the fascinating student projects at "P3: People, Prosperity and the Planet Student Design Competition for Sustainability."
Free, on the National Mall, April 21-23.
Learn more »
10 April 2012
This Earth Day, investigate all things green with PBS LearningMedia
See where recyclables go after they leave your curb; meet a renewable energy engineer; dig your pitchfork into a virtual compost pile; and learn how to shrink your carbon footprint. Explore »
29 March 2012
Moon Over Bioko, by Heidi Rader and Illustrated by Holly Smith
A K- 6 story worth sharing with your students about sea turtles, conservation, and exploration.
Read more »
11 March 2012
AAAS Science NetLINKs
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has revamped its educational website, Science NetLinks. You can find K-12 lesson plans, check out the science history calender to learn about important historical dates, and stay abreast of the latest science news. Looking for ideas for the after-school science club you advise? The website can also help you with planning new activities for Earth Day (April 22); National Chemistry Week (October 14-20); National Engineers Week (February 19-25); and even Earth Hour (March 31), the annual international event designed to raise awareness about global climate change.
Learn more!
27 February 2012
Nature Video Collections
Watch web exclusive clips from behind the scenes of Frozen Planet.
15 February 2012
Tracking Change Over Time
The US Geological Survey provides a free lesson plan, with satellite images of Earth from space, to get students excited about studying the changing earth. Intended for grades 5-8.
Download the resources and lesson plans
07 February 2012
ECO Camp - Exploring Careers Outdoors
The Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources is hosting a free, week-long residential camp for High School students called Exploring Careers Outdoors Camp (ECO Camp) July 8-13th. The students are exposed to various outdoor and conservation careers. Applications are due by April 1st. Please share the information with high school students who would be interested!
Learn More!
01 February 2012
The Outdoor Classroom and Environmental Concern are partnering up to present two great professional development Opportunities.
Wetland Plant ID: Know 'em and Grow 'em! June 28, 2012
This course provides educators with an understanding of wetland plant ecology and adaptations, and the resources to identify plant species in the field. Materials will also cover native and non-native species and planting tips. Educators will gain valuable tools to increase students' interest in wetland plants, and inspiration to construct schoolyard wetland habitats.
$40 includes course manual
Rain Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms! June 29, 2012
This one-day course introduces educators to the concept of rain gardens and their value as schoolyard habitats. Participants will understand how rain gardens benefit the environment by improving the watershed and how they can be used as an extension of the classroom. Participants will leave with the basic knowledge of how to plan, design and implement a rain garden from start to finish.
$40 includes Rain Garden curriculum
Space is limited. Please register no later than June 14, 2012.
$5 discount available when registering for both courses by May 1, 2012
Educators will receive 6.25 hours for Act 48 credit per course.
Workshops are held from 9am-4pm at the Outdoor Classroom, 1531 Mayview Rd., Pittsburg, PA 15241. For more information or to register please call Environmental Concern at 410-745-9620 or visit www.wetland.org.
31 January 2012
International Student Carbon Footprint Challenge
Get your students and classrooms involved with this international challenge to increase awareness of carbon footprints and climate change! Students can learn to calculate their personal carbon footprint, compare it to students' footprints worldwide, and discover what they can do to reduce their impact on global climate change.
Join the Challenge!
16 January 2012
Species news from IUCN
The IUCN Species Prgramme produces, maintains and manages the Red List of Threatened Species. Learn more about endangered species and what efforts are being made to ensure their survival.
Visit the website »
04 January 2012
NASA/ESSEA Climate Change Education Modules Available Online
NASA's support for the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) has resulted in the development of shared K-12 educational resources - including modules and courses - that are based on NASA climate science and data. Also provided is a section entitled, Inquiry Strategies to Use in Your Classroom.
View the ESSEA website to view modules »
21 December 2011
Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS)
Check out the latest resource listing from CSATS. There are great opportunities for K-12 classrooms, among them the "Expanding Your Horizons Day For Middle School Girls" - a one-day program designed to introduce girls to career opportunites in science, technology, engineering, and math fields; the NIH Curriculum Supplement Series - teacher's guides to two weeks of lessons on the science behind selected health topics; and Professional Development Opportunies ranging from nanotechnology webinars to Teaching Fellowships from the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation.
View the full News Blast from CSATS »
29 November 2011
Teaching Secrets: After the Honeymoon
by Cossondra George
The school year's honeymoon is over. Teachers and students are settling into routines—which can be comforting but can also confront new teachers with the reality of how tiring a teacher's life can be. This can be a make-or-break period for new teachers. It's when you need to develop habits that will sustain you—and keep your excitement and enthusiasm flowing—throughout the school year.
View the full article »
09 November 2011
Encyclopedia of Life
The Encyclopedia of Life is a comprehensive, collaborative, and ever-growing ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about all life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. This site is an unprecedented global effort to create the most complete biodiversity database on the web.
http://www.eol.org
01 November 2011
Be a Part of Let's G.O.! (Get Outside!)
In the month of April, the Children & Nature Network will launch the second annual nationwide campaign to highlight you and your community's efforts to connect all people with nature and make our mark as a movement on the rise. This is not a call to action, it is a call for fun! Think of it as a party invitation, and the party location is all the green space around us. Community gardening, local hikes, river clean-ups, bird watching, fishing, biking, beach days—however you get outside, we want to hear about it! Start Planning Today!
Visit the Children & Nature Network website»
03 October 2011
Announcing Fulbright Opportunities For K-12 Teachers
Would you like to teach overseas? Are you interested in conducting a special project in your teaching area in collaboration with teachers in other countries? Learn more about TWO different Fulbright programs which are designed especially for K-12 teachers from the United States and other countries.
The Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program »
30 August 2011
PBS® LearningMedia
As America's largest classroom, PBS is the #1 source of educational media for students and teachers, at home and in schools. Check out the brand-new free media-on-demand service into the classroom: PBS LearningMedia.
28 August 2011
The National Scene
The National Research Council (NRC) recently released A Framework for K-12 Science Education, identifying the key concepts and practices that all students should learn. Click Here to read more about this vision for K-12 science education.
22 August 2011
NIH Challenges Public To Help Bring Discovery Into The Classroom
A new competition seeks to bring hands-on science into classrooms nationwide. The National Institutes of Health's K-12 Lessons About Bioscience (LAB) Challenge asks teachers, students, parents, scientists, and science enthusiasts to submit their favorite experiments for elementary, middle, and high school students. The best experiments will become part of an official collection that NIH will distribute for free in print and electronically. Your experiment could become part of this collection and help students everywhere experience the discovery of science!
"I've seen teachers across the country doing engaging and inspired experiments to get across ideas about science," says Bruce Fuchs, Ph.D., director of the NIH Office of Science Education. "Unfortunately, I also know that some science teachers read textbooks aloud to their students for entire class periods. If those teachers had easy access to inexpensive, simple experiments, I bet our kids could be learning more, enjoying science more, and even choosing careers in science." Experiments form the basis of scientific inquiry but aren't used often enough in the K-12 science classroom because of expense, complexity, or time issues. The NIH K-12 LAB Challenge seeks to address these problems by identifying experiments that are engaging and inexpensive to do.
The NIH goal is to identify hands-on experiments that:
The challenge is open to any resident of the United States or a U.S. territory. The entry deadline is 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. Winners will be announced on March 1, 2012. Details are at http://lab.challenge.gov.
Help NIH bring engaging and inexpensive experiments into the classroom so everyone can enjoy doing science. Submit your favorite experiments today.
13 August 2011
Global Warming 101
Watch this powerful video about Global Warming, created by National Geographic.
Watch the video on Hulu »
13 August 2011
Polar Climate Change may Lead to Ecological Change
Read this article online at Penn State Live »
19 July 2011
Earth: The Operators' Manual
Watch an objective, accessible assessment of the Earth's problems and possibilities. The program host and author of the companion book, Richard Alley, is a geology professor at PSU. This broadcast and website provide invaluable information on climate change and what you can do to help conserve energy.
Visit the website »
21 June 2011
Nitrogen Footprint Calculator
Calculate your nitrogen footprint with this interactive tool. See how food and transportation choices affect your footprint, and learn how small changes in everyday life can lesson your impact.
Calculate!
15 June 2011
Environmental News Network
ENN is rapidly becoming a collection of resources, teachers, experts and tools that provide objective information and knowledge about the increasingly complex field of environmental science.
http://www.enn.com »
07 June 2011
Science Now "A Better Way To Teach"
Read the article »
07 June 2011
Green Failure: What's Wrong With Environmental Education?
Read an intriguing interview about environmental education!
The FLAG (Field-Tested Learning Assessment Guide) is a great resource for instructors interested in new approaches to evaluating student learning, attitudes and performance. Each has been developed, tested and refined in real colleges and universities classrooms.
The Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS) facilitates mutually beneficial and sustainable relationships between K-12 schools and Penn State science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) researchers and outreach professionals, with the goal of helping to strengthen K-12 science and technology education. View their latest newsletter!