The pre-conference packet is now available! Find everything you need to know about THE conference here, or on our website.
Would your organization like a display table at the 2016 Conference? E-mail conference@usee.org to sign up.
Meet one of our great keynote speakers, Heidi Wainer!
Heidi Wainer started teaching with Canyon Country Outdoor Education, the education department for the Southeast Utah group of National Parks, in 1998, and had been running the Grand County program since 2003, long enough to have parent chaperones comment that they remember Heidi taking them on field trips.
Heidi has a BA in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Natural Resources and Parks from Sonoma State University in California and a Masters of Natural Resources with a certificate in Environmental Education from Utah State University. She has been a Utah Certified Environmental Educator since 2004.
Heidi believes her most important work involves creating opportunities for students to build positive relationships with the landscape and their local parks.
Professional Development Workshops
Easily Integrate EE into the Classroom with Nationally Recognized and Award-Winning Curricula
Join USEE for our upcoming workshops! We provide participants with ideas and resources to integrate environmental education into the classroom, while still meeting core curriculum requirements. Most of our workshops are eligible for USOE credit/relicensure hours!
Early Childhood Project Learning Tree AND Growing Up WILD (Pre-K-2)
March 12, 9:00am-3:00pm
Location: Discovery Gateway Children's Museum
444 West 100 South, SLC Eligible for USOE Credit Register $45
Project WILD (K-12)
March 12, 9:00am-3:00pm
Locations: Utah’s Hogle Zoo
2600 Sunnyside Avenue S, SLC Eligible for USOE Credit Register$35
Contact us about setting up a workshop at your school or organization! *Availability may vary with time of year and location. 10 or more participants Required.
Check out our extensive list of upcoming workshops! REGISTER HERE!
Fun pics from our January 23 Project WET Workshop at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium; it doesn't get any funner than this!
Discover the birds of Alta by snowshoe or skis on Saturday, March 5th. Guided by a Tracy Aviary, Friends of Alta, or an Alta Environmental Center expert, you'll tour some of the best spots to spy rare species. Then gather at the Albion Grill to swap stories, insights, and fun over drinks and hors d'oeuvres. Delectable dishes crafted by Carl and Jude Rubadue, locally crafted brews by Red Rock Brewing.
All proceeds benefit Tracy Aviary and Friends of Alta conservation efforts. Click here for more information.
Stream Side Science Lessons
The goal of the Stream Side Science lessons are to provide effective education about watershed functions, water quality issues for all ages, and incorporate local information about the Utah watersheds. The lessons are aligned with the common core and will be updated with the new standards in the upcoming year or two.
Stream Side Science directly engages participants through monitoring, observations, and simple analysis of local data. Participants are encouraged to become stewards of their local watersheds through service and community outreach projects. Although most teachers and leaders take kids outside, when that is not possible, the lessons are easily adapted to bring samples from streams and lakes to the classroom.
Lesson plans are designed with the needs of educators in mind:
Each lesson plan is formatted for easy use, providing clear instructions and explanations for teachers.
All lessons are aligned to national and state science standards.
All curricula and additional materials are available online or by request, and all materials needed for the lessons are inexpensive and easy to obtain or build.
Discussion questions are provided for each lesson plan to give "talking points".
STEM connections are explicitly provided, with tips on graphing, simple statistics and other math exercises provided throughout the Stream Side Science manual.
Watershed specific materials have been developed in Utah for the Jordan River and the Bear River watersheds. Similar watershed specific materials are being developed as Stream Side Science adapts.
Utah Water Watch Tier 1 monitoring parallels these lessons by using the same equipment and technique to collect educational and baseline data.
Show your generosity by using the Love UT Give UT online giving platform to connect with your favorite nonprofit organizations. This 24 hour event, hosted by the Community Foundation of Utah with the generous support of its sponsors, will offer hundreds of nonprofits the opportunity to raise millions of dollars. Every time you give, you are a philanthropist impacting the people and places of Utah that you hold close to your heart!
Shadow Valley Elementary in Ogden received the 2014-2015 Utah Green Schools Award, Gold Level!
For more information on Utah Green Schools and how to participate, contact programs@usee.org.
Highlight: Utah's Educated Woman of the Week
Our Vice President board member, Alex Porpora, is featured as Utah's Educated Woman of the Week! In addition to holding a board position with us, she is also the Education Manager at Animal Jam, a safe and educational online playground for kids who love animals and the outdoors.
You can read the full article here. Congratulations Alex, USEE loves you!
Educator's Resource: Remember the Rainforest for Earth Day and Beyond
This FREE Eco education resource is based on the explorers’ expeditions of the 1800s. It presents rich and challenging original source material. It can be used year-round for reports and projects with its extensive index, 700 pages of text and 1000s of downloadable images including Earth Day posters. It can be used for library lessons, computer lab, bulletin boards and as a reward. It could be utilized for end of year activities and Art classes. Lessons are designed for Earth Day.
Carol Chor is a retired teacher, poet and graphic artist. Carol shared that this is a nonprofit project of Fractured Atlas, and is a family project. As an Eco-Educator in the Amazon, their daughter introduced them to the work of the Martius-Spix expedition. Their site is based on that expedition. Carol Chor worked for the past 15 years on this project taking substitute teaching jobs to support it. Ken Higgins, regional director for Green Schools Alliance, said, "I did open the link, and it is very impressive. I passed it along to our lower school and middle school science teachers, and have posted it with my sustainability educators group in New York.” Remember the Rainforest was reviewed and approved by the British government for CurriculumOnLine, by the National Wildlife Federation, and by the Da Vinci Science Center.
The Utah Environmental Education Community
