Make a World of Difference! 2021 Earth Week Resources to Ground Your Environmental Education
|
|
|
|
“The Earth is what we all have in common.”
– Wendell Berry
Over a year into a global pandemic, special occasions like holidays, weddings, and birthdays are less interactive than ever before. But next Thursday, April 22, we are celebrating something we can touch, converse with, and experience in person even during COVID-19: Earth.
International Earth Day acts as an annual reminder to nourish, restore, and protect the planet that sustains us each and every day. Stroud Water Research Center is doing just that with our Earth Day Celebration, where we welcome local volunteers to a stewardship action project for streamside forests, and invite global education audiences to a special webinar on the intersection of science and art!
In the meantime, our April Education E-Newsletter is dedicated to Earth Week and National Environmental Education Week (April 18–24, 2021), including events and resources to grow environmental awareness and action both next week and all year round (pun intended). After all, why is Earth Day 🌎 once a year when SUNday ☀️ is every week?
Now get outdoors in nearby nature and hug a tree! We could all use more hugs in these uncertain times.
|
|
We Miss You. We Are Here for You.
Now published monthly, our Education E-Newsletter supports your efforts to transport the stream-to-the-screen and explore nearby nature in your home watershed! Beginning May 2021, we will transition to quarterly (once per season) e-news. Share how you #LearnAtHome and #StreamAtHome by tagging @StroudCenter on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Request an environmental education program! While following the best data available on COVID-19 safety, Stroud Water Research Center’s education department is safely and meaningfully engaging “K through gray” audiences in pandemic programming models, including:
💧 Virtual/online stream and watershed study experiences.
💧 Outdoor-only education programs at the Stroud Center.
💧 Outdoor-only education programs at your site (e.g., school or local park).
|
|
|
Brighten Today with the Freshwater Funnies!
|
|
|
Q: How do you organize a party for Earth Day?
A: You planet!
Q: Why are people always tired on Earth Day?
A: Because they just finished a March.
Q: What did Obi-Wan Kenobi say to the tree?
A: May the Forest be with you.
|
|
|
Celebrate the Earth with Youth Action Opportunities!
|
|
|
🌎 2021 Schuylkill Acts & Impacts Expedition: Applications accepted through April 30, 2021! During this immersive two-day watershed experience in June 2021, a limited number of youth from Schuylkill, Berks, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties will participate in water sampling, land-use explorations, and a kayak trip to take real action for real impacts in their local watershed.
🌎 2021-2022 EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassador: Applications accepted through May 3, 2021! Ambassadors (ages 14-22) become community scientists and lead ongoing water quality monitoring efforts through the EarthEcho Water Challenge, a global water quality monitoring program that has engaged 1.6 million participants in 146 countries.
🌎 2021 Camp Quiet Thunder: Registration now open with just 12 seats available! Formerly known as the Brandywine Watershed Discovery Day Camp, the Coatesville Youth Initiative's Camp Quiet Thunder will engage fourth- through sixth-grade students in hands-on watershed education, stewardship, canoeing, electrofishing, stream exploration, water science experiments, hiking, and so much more on June 21-25, 2021.
🌎 2021 Let's Go Fishing Summer Program: Registration opening by end of April with limited seats available! Join local partners in Delaware on June 5, June 6, July 10, or July 11, 2021, for a FREE public program for youth (13-15) and their families that will build a foundation for safe, enjoyable fishing and an appreciation for the watersheds they live in. Visit the event website to learn more about the program, including when and how to register.
|
|
Sustainable Choices, Sustainable Watersheds: Applying the MWEE Framework to Food and Fiber
|
|
|
Calling all educators and teachers! Do you know how much water it takes to produce your favorite food? Or how much carbon dioxide is used to transport products to your doorstep? What about the impacts of your food and fiber choices in your watershed and local community?
Discover the answers to these questions and earn four Act 48 hours at our FREE two-part educator professional development workshop! This Zoom experience will explore the sustainable tools, resources, and choices you and your students can make around food and fiber while using the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE) framework. Learn more and register.
|
|
Ten Earth Day Resources from Our Education Staff!
|
|
|
Inspire the youth AND grownups in your life with Earth Day resources curated by our education team.
- Tour the Earth's surface and explore its watersheds on the Model My Watershed® web app!
PRO TIP! Visit Model My Watershed (ModelMW) and type the address of a familiar place into the top right menu. In the Layers panel in the bottom left corner of the map, explore different layers; to begin, we recommend selecting the “Satellite with Roads” layer under the Basemaps tab, selecting the “Continental US Medium Resolution Stream Network” layer under the Streams tab, and experimenting with the different “HUC” layer options under the Boundaries tab. Then, click the “Get started” button in the left panel, click “Select boundary,” and begin learning more about the watersheds near your home, school, or community! For more step-by-step tips, visit the ModelMW landing page, curricula and help resources. For more digital and in-person teaching tools, explore our complete WikiWatershed Toolkit.
- Watch our STEM Careers Video Playlist!
- Find Earth Day events near you!
PRO TIP! Scroll down to our Save the Date list for Stroud Center Earth Day events.
- Make an Earth Day pledge!
- Discover Project WET’s free home and distance leaning lessons!
- Teach renewable energy with curricular resources from Green Learning, Project Sunroof, and Wind Energy Maps and Data!
- Explore the On the Air 2020 Curriculum Resource for Exploring Air Pollution Issues and Solutions!
- Dive into Edutopia’s Earth Day lesson plans, reading lists, and classroom ideas!
- Download the Food Matters Action Kit and Activity Guide (Trilingual - English, Spanish, and French) from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation!
- Browse Project Drawdown’s climate change solutions!
|
|
Save the Date!
Get all the details on our events page.
- April 22-23, 2021: Earth Day Celebration
- April 22, 2021: [Virtual] The Intersection of Art and Science Series, Episode 1: Soggy, Scruffy, and Shared: How Art Can Help Shape Land Use
- April 23, 2021: [In-Person] Earth Week Volunteer Event: Maintenance on Riparian Buffers in the King Ranch Region
- May 8, 2021: [In-Person] Educator Hidden Gem Canoe Workshop: Discover the Brandywine! (6 Act 48 hrs available for PA certified teachers)
- June 6, 2021: [Virtual] Return of the STREAM Girls!
- June 14-15, 2021: [Virtual] Sustainable Choices, Sustainable Watersheds: Applying the MWEE Framework to Food and Fiber (4 Act 48 hrs available for PA certified teachers)
- June 15, 2021: [In-Person] Riparian Buffer Mini-Arboretum Tour
- August 2-September 26, 2021: [Virtual] Advancing Environmental Literacy Leadership Academy: Act 45 Course
|
|
|
|
|
|
