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ACNW Environmental Education News
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February 11, 2019
Dear Charter School Leaders, EE Contacts, Teachers, and Board Members,
Save the date! The 2019 ACNW EE Teacher Workshop will be Wednesday, August 31 through Friday, August 2 at the Audubon Center of the North Woods in Sandstone. This year we are partnering with Climate Generation for an in-depth look at teaching climate change across ages and disciplines, as well as expanding your skills for outdoor learning. Watch your email over the next week for more information and how to register.
This June, ACNW is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and we’d love to have you join us to celebrate! On Saturday, June 15, ACNW will host an Open House, free for everyone to try the new high ropes course, canoeing, archery, climbing wall, and hiking trails. Meet our animal ambassadors in the barn and get a tour of the campus. Find more information on the ACNW website.
Keep us posted as you work to increase students’ environmental literacy at your school! We’d love to feature your stories and work in this newsletter, or share useful ideas and resources you find as you create great experiences for kids. Keep in touch!
Sincerely,
The ACNW Charter School Division
43 Main Street SE, Suite 507
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 331-4181
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SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT: RIVER'S EDGE ACADEMY
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Congratulations to River’s Edge Academy! In 2018 the school earned recognition as a USDE Green Ribbon School. Read the school’s full nomination to learn more about all the ways the school has committed to sustainability throughout its educational program and physical space.
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SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT: DISCOVERY WOODS SCHOOL
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Eleven students and teachers from Youth Eco Solutions (YES!) teams at Discovery Woods School in Brainerd visited Northland Arboretum to learn about rain gardens, water quality, climate change, and how to improve water. Read the full story.
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CELEBRATE NATIONAL GARDEN MONTH WITH SCHOOL GARDENS
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April is National Garden Month! National Farm to School Network's online resource library is full of information to help get your garden growing and students engaging in hands-on learning. Here are a few suggestions:
Locally, the Jeffers Foundation also has a School Garden Resource Library and information about school garden grants. Happy farming!
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This year’s Earth Day (April 22) theme is Protect our Species, and the Earth Day Network has developed a library of resources called Earth Day in a Box to help you plan activities for your school and community. The library includes a variety of toolkits, fact sheets, and information about how to get involved and help students develop the knowledge and skills to make a difference and create real, lasting progress for their own well-being and for the environment. |
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MINITEX LIBRARIANS AVAILABLE FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PRESENTATIONS
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Minitex Librarians are a team of librarians who provide instruction on and support for eLibrary Minnesota (ELM), a free online information resource for all Minnesota students and teachers. In ELM, students can find reliable and grade-level appropriate online articles, images, and videos for any research assignment, unlimited access to thousands of ebooks, and even career and college readiness resources like practice AP/ACT tests, college finders, and links to scholarships. Teachers have free access to professional journals, class resources, and lesson plans. You can check out Minitex current webinar offerings, Minitex archived webinars, and follow their newsletter, Reference Notes.
If you'd like them to visit your school and deliver a presentation or hands-on workshop to staff (no charge), please fill out the Minitex instruction request form or contact Linda Mork. |
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CLIMATE GENERATION HUMANITIES CURRICULUM
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Climate Generation has released a new climate change curriculum, Innovation and Renewable Energy: A Humanities Module, a standards-based, interdisciplinary humanities module that uses the true story of William Kamkwamba (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by Bryan Mealer) to bring the discussion of renewable energy to the English Language Arts, social studies, and science classroom. Students read the book with guidance from literary worksheets; discuss renewable energy projects through the lens of geography, economics, and civics; and use the process of engineering design to solve a community issue brought on by climate change. Download this new resource for free from the Climate Generation website, and check out the new Netflix original movie, released on March 1.
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Toshiba America Foundation
The Toshiba America Foundation gives grants to teachers in K-12 schools to help them teach math and science in innovative ways. Applications are for project-based learning only and must be completed online. Grant applications for Grades K-5 that are under $1,000, and Grades 6-12 that are $5,000 or less, are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the calendar year, while grants exceeding $5,000 are reviewed twice a year. The next deadline for these grants is May 1, 2019.
Hennepin County Environmental Education Grants
Hennepin County is accepting applications for youth environmental education grants for projects that work on developing an environmental ethic and interest in environmental stewardship using environmental education best practices. See the youth environmental stewardship grant guidelines for more information. Proposals are due by 3 p.m. on Monday, May 6. Learn more and apply online.
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Nature Preschool Conference
Join preschool educators on Thursday, April 25 at Dodge Nature Center for a one-day conference to observe and learn about nature-based education. Find inspiration, engage in dialogue with colleagues, and learn practical ideas to help incorporate nature-based education into your classroom and school environment. Learn more and register online.
FREE STEM Day with Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center
North Shore Community School will be hosting a STEM day for educators and any interested in nature-based teaching. The workshop is taught by Wolf Ridge ELC staff, and made possible by collaboration between Wolf Ridge, The Raptor Center, UMN Extension, and Eagle Bluff ELC. An LCCMR grant is funding these teacher trainings throughout Minnesota. Teachers will learn the “Outdoor Investigator” module of Raptor Lab, which is an interactive online learning environment that models the process of scientific investigation in real-world settings through the active role-play of different scientific careers involved in veterinary care and wildlife rehabilitation. It provides a platform for students to team up, investigate outside, and share their own inquiry-based investigations online. Register online.
Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom Workshop
Join the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center on June 17-20 to learn how to use the outdoors as a classroom with integrated curriculum and in support of state academic standards. They will gain knowledge and hands-on experience with the prairie pothole ecosystem, discover ways to motivate students, strengthen outdoor teaching and reflection skills, and apply those skills to indoor curriculum. Register here.
Rivers Institute by Hamline University’s Center for Global Environmental Education
Join Hamline University’s Center for Global Environmental Education for their acclaimed Rivers Institute, a FREE, three-day, field-based professional development opportunity for educators. The institutes are designed to increase teachers' science content knowledge and investigation skills and help area educators translate their professional experiences into meaningful, engaging classroom investigations. The focus for the institutes is on elementary and middle school classroom teachers as well as teams of teachers. All educators are welcome to apply.
Two sessions are scheduled for 2019: the St. Croix River Institute June 24-26 and the Mississippi River Institute from 22-24. Learn more and register.
Outdoor Classroom Workshops: Team Teaching with Mother Nature
The Jeffers Foundation offers workshops focused on using the outdoors as a classroom. Workshops are catered to the school or venue so participants gain valuable insights into using a specific site. Workshops are available for both schools and organizations. Contact the Jeffers Foundation to learn more.
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Teaching Intersectionality and Environmental Justice in Our Classrooms
NAACP's Environmental Justice Classroom Resource Guide provides a list of clearinghouse websites with multiple environmental justice (EJ) resources for various age groups, a list of individual EJ lesson plans for various age groups, and a short list of hip-hop videos/songs to help engage youth in classroom settings and beyond.
Environmental Issue Guides
In partnership with the Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forums Institute, NAAEE has been developing the Environmental Issues Forums program. Issue guides present a general overview of the issue along with 3-4 approaches to addressing the issue. Possible tradeoffs are also provided for each approach. Issue guides have been developed to promote deliberation on climate change, water, energy, and food.
Learning Lab
A product of the U.S. Green Building Council’s The Center for Green Schools, Learning Lab provides K-12 teachers and school leaders with comprehensive, project- and STEM-based curriculum that encourages student leadership, environmental literacy, and real-world action.
National Environmental Education Foundation Animal Migration Activity Guide
Designed for elementary age kids, this activity guide is full of fun ways to learn about animal migrations in the U.S. Activities encourage kids to use STEM skills to explore the topic, whether they are using math to plot the coordinates of monarch migration paths, engineering to design their birdfeeder, science to understand the phenomenon of animal migration, or technology to get involved with online citizen science.
Zinn Education Project Resources
Check out the Zinn Education Project for free lesson plans, teaching articles, and other resources to bring climate issues into your classroom.
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