CREEC and Santa Cruz County Office of Education Showcase the Region's Resources

The room is packed with displays of petrified wood, watershed maps, garden seeds, gorgeous books—even a live bat! Welcome to the Environmental Education Resource Fair, hosted by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and organized by the CREEC Network. By bringing together the region’s environmental education organizations, the Resource Fair enables teachers to gather information from multiple agencies, all in the space of an afternoon. Representatives of thirty different organizations were there, eager to talk with each teacher in order to better understand what we can do to help teachers include environmental education in every student’s school day.

Where does Environmental Education fit into a packed school schedule? The answer should be—everywhere. Environmental education is simply using the environment as a context for teaching any subject. “Teachers have so much to teach in a year,” says high school teacher Monica Ward “The great thing is that it (environmental education) is not teaching additional information, it is teaching the same material through a new perspective, an environmental lens.”

This is the concept at the heart of the programs represented at the Resource Fair. For example, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary was spreading the word about its Voices of the Bay Program, in which teachers learn about an interdisciplinary and standards-based curriculum that teaches students about the dynamics of sustaining and managing natural resources, the socio-economic considerations and commerce of seafood, and the skills required to interview local members of the fishing community to capture their unique stories and knowledge.

Connecting education with the environment is not just more interesting and relevant for students, it is vital for all citizens. Increasing the environmental literacy of students will ensure that they are informed decision makers for the future. California is at the forefront of this effort with its Environment and Education Initiative (EEI). The State Board of Education has approved the EEI Curriculum—85 units for grades K-12 which teach existing History-Social Science and Science standards to mastery. As one sixth grade teacher described it, “I’m excited about this curriculum and method of instruction as I see it leading students toward being better informed decision makers in the future, with the skills necessary to look at the ‘big picture’ and see long-term related consequences of short-term decisions.”

The environmental education programs at the Resource Fair certainly displayed the ‘big picture,’ representing the diversity of the field and the amazing array of resources in the region—including garden-based programs, animal conservation groups, outdoor science schools, natural resource management programs, children’s book publishers, and natural history museums. CREEC maintains its online searchable database of these and other resources to help teachers easily tie social studies, language arts, math, and other subjects to a context that is exciting and relevant to students’ daily lives.

The Fair was also an important opportunity to acknowledge the dedication of teachers. While the teachers were busy gathering new curriculum and field trip ideas, high school students from the County’s Regional Occupational Program were hard at work as well—treating the teachers to mini cream puffs, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, a sumptuous cheese platter, and other creative hors d’oeuvres they had prepared as part of a class providing training in event catering. Teachers were surprised and delighted not only by the delicious food but also by the generous raffle prizes donated by the community.

As the staff at Well Within Spa handed over a generous gift certificate for the raffle, they explained, “We all have teachers in our families. We love teachers! We know how important they are.” How true. And we all know how important the environment is. The dedication and the resources are there—we just need to find more ways to bring them together. Together we can build environmental literacy for every child.

STEM Education and the Environment

"STEM" seems to be the education buzzword of choice these days. STEM--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics--is an approach to education that encourages a curriculum driven by problem-solving, discovery, exploratory learning, and requiring students to actively engage a situation in order to find its solution[1]. When most people think of STEM education and STEM careers the focus is on biotechnology, high tech, and engineering. I think it is imperative to show how environmental education can be a perfect fit in a STEM education program.

STEM Education and the Environment: An example

In San Diego, the San Diego Science Alliance has helped to bring the SeaPerch Program to more than twenty (20) teachers in the 2010-2011 school year. SeaPerch is a project based program that has students build (including wiring and soldering) an underwater remotely operated vehicle (U-ROV) in tandem with a curriculum covering concepts including buoyancy, force and motion, electricity, and engineering concepts.

After building their U-ROV's the students can make design modifications to use them to explore the environment. Students can design containers to collect water or sediment samples from waterways that are potentially polluted and unsafe for students to enter, mount a camera to the U-ROV to look at macro-organisms, add various water quality sensors to collect real-time data for different depths and locations in a body of water. While students are using U-ROV's to gather information about water, they also have a chance to explore and understand the environment surrounding the water.

The first San Diego SeaPerch Invitational was held in April at Kimball Elementary School in National City, CA. This urban elementary school is situated along Paradise Creek, a tributary of San Diego Bay that suffers from many problems common to urban waterways--litter, pollution, and invasive species. SeaPerch teams explored the water at different locations using a camera. As the program develops, there will be more opportunity to explore local waterways, collect more environmental data, share data online, and hopefully adopt some action plans to make positive changes for the environment.

Conclusion

The environment offers myriad opportunities for integration into STEM education programs, and has the unique feature of being tangible and available to students to ground their understanding of STEM topics in their own local reality.

---

[1] http://drpfconsults.com/understanding-the-basics-of-stem-education/

Earth Week (April 10 - 16) and Earth Day (April 22)

National EE Week 2011 theme: Ocean Connections – April 10-16, 2011

Join us April 10-16, 2011 to explore our vital connection to the ocean with teachers and students nationwide.

The ocean covers nearly three quarters of our planet's surface, provides 70 percent of the oxygen in the atmosphere and houses about 20 percent of the known species on Earth. It regulates climate and weather and provides food and energy resources for humans worldwide. No matter how far from the coast, water in every stream or river eventually ends up in the ocean, and all life on Earth is dependent upon its health. More than half of all Americans live within 50 miles of the coast, but whether near or far our lives are inextricably linked to the ocean.

Recognizing the importance of protecting the health of our ocean and understanding our dependence upon it regardless of its proximity, EE Week's 2011 theme is Ocean Connections. Learn more at http://eeweek.org/ocean_connections

Register today at http://eeweek.org/register to join thousands of educators and students across the country in exploring our vital connection to the ocean during National Environmental Education Week, April 10-16, 2011.

Daily Activity Planning Toolkit http://eeweek.org/ocean_connections/toolkit

Each year, EE Week provides hundreds of free resources and lesson plans on this website to help educators plan activities around an annual theme. But busy teachers don't always have the time to sift through all of these materials to identify the best activities for their classes. This year, together with our partners at the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE), EE Week brings you this planning toolkit with a suggested grade-appropriate activity on a daily sub-topic for each school day of EE Week. We are all connected to the oceans in many ways, whether we live near or far from it. These sub-topics were selected to help students better understand their many connections to the coast.



Earth Day is April 22 annually

Earth Day Network has chosen A Billion Acts of Green® as the theme for Earth Day 2011. A Billion Acts of Green®–the largest environmental service campaign in the world–inspires and rewards simple individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that further the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability. The goal is to register one billion actions in advance of the global Earth Summit in Rio in 2012.

The first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. Growing out of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network (EDN) works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. But Earth Day Network (EDN) does not stop there. 

All of EDN’s activities, whether greening schools or promoting green economic policies at home and abroad, inform and energize populations so they will act to secure a healthy future for themselves and their children. With its partner organizations, EDN provides civic engagement opportunities at the local, state, national and global levels. At every turn, EDN works to broaden the definition of "environment" to include all issues that affect our health, our communities and our environment, such as greening deteriorated schools, creating green jobs and investment, and promoting activism to stop air and water pollution.

Over the last 40 years, EDN has executed successful environmental campaigns on issues ranging climate change and drinking water to voter registration and saving the whale. EDN is a recognized leader in creating civically–oriented innovative programs with partners outside of the environmental movement to tackle new challenges


Check your regional CREEC Network newsletter to find Earth Day activities taking place in your area. http://www.creec.org

CREEC featured by Keen for Green

This past week, CREEC got together with Keen for Green, a community of green bloggers and activists. Check out the article on the Keen for Green blog! http://www.keenforgreen.com

Statement from CalEPA in response to Sac. Bee article

Yesterday an article was published in the Sacramento Bee that addresses the EEI. While the salacious title “BP Aids State’s Schools Content” points to the Bee’s eagerness to find any negative, we’re proud that the facts of the article, the people quoted and even the online reader comments all point to positives of the EEI and its potential for California public schools.

During the development of the Environmental Principles and Concepts that formed the framework for the EEI Curriculum, BP responded to a mass invite to diverse perspectives for input. A BP representative attended one Technical Advisory Council meeting to discuss the EP&Cs, but did not contribute to the actual writing or editing of the EEI Curriculum.

The EEI Curriculum is designed to be without bias, and we believe that the perspectives of industries that impact our California environment and economy are critical to engage and involve. The more important message is that the EEI is ready to deliver a tested and proven curriculum to public schools and everyone can provide support for effective implementation – a win for our students, businesses, communities, and our state.

We see this article as an opportunity for people to learn more about the EEI and we have plans for marketing to broader audiences soon. If you find this article generates a contact who would like to learn about EEI implementation, please let us know.

“Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez” - Let the Good Times Roll!

The Louisiana people know how to open their hearts and have fun! I have had the distinct pleasure of living in Louisiana; and what a time I had! The people, the food, the landscape is unique to themselves. In my travels across the United States experiencing different cultures and people, I have never encountered such a warm and inviting place. As you walk the New Orleans French Quarter, every sense comes alive! The smell and taste of excellent Cajun cuisine, the sight of art and architecture surrounds you, the feel of the items at the farmers market, and the sounds of rich jazz floating through the streets fill you up!

Louisiana people also know what it feels like to struggle and encounter hardships. Hurricane Katrina tore through the gulf-states in 2005 leaving coastal damage in its wake. Again, on April 20, 2010, 50 miles off the Southeast coast, an oilrig exploded and sank two days later, and continues to spill 5,000 barrels of oil per day damaging miles of coastal land and precious wildlife.

As a Californian, you might be asking yourself what does an oilrig spill over in the Gulf of Mexico have to do with the West Coast? In February, I spent a glorious weekend in Santa Barbara. As we were driving up Highway 1, my friends thought they saw 4 big ships out off the coast. I informed them that they were oilrigs. They were shocked at how close the rigs are to the beach. They didn’t look real, these huge hunks of metal just sitting off the beautiful coast!

Well, three Santa Barbara environmental groups have negotiated a deal with Plains Exploration & Production, a Houston based driller, to dismantle four federal jurisdiction offshore rigs so they can drill in the Santa Barbara Channel temporarily. With the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Santa Barbara deal is no longer being supported by Gov. Schwarzenegger and has become a hot topic in California. Currently, there are 20 platforms actively working in the Santa Barbara Channel.

As with everything in life, there are positives and negatives. The decision is with you to decide what side of the rig you sit, but getting involved and educating yourself is the first step in making that choice.

This is also a wonderful opportunity to dive into environmental issues, such as this one, with your students. When you have a real 'case study' unfolding, the students can better understand the various consequences, decisions, stakeholders, and environmental impacts.

Enjoy Life!

Rae Ann Jimenez

The Great Garbage Patch

Most of our waste today consists of plastic, a petroleum based material that we use for many products: plastic bag, bottles, wrappers, containers, forks, straws...etc. These items don't biodegrade or disappear once out of sight. They end up in landfills and a heap of the plastic has been collecting in what is considered the largest landfill. Though not on land the Pacific Gyre, or The Great Garbage Patch is a massive swirling wasteland twice the size of Texas off the coast of California.



As educators, we get the word out and initiate response.
Check these resources out to educate yourself and your students.

Gorilla in the Greenhouse, is a fun multimedia website that offers animated videos as a way of communicating real world environmental issues. http://www.greengorilla.com/

The California Coastal Commission has great resources for educators
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/directory/educate.html as well as information on the upcoming California Coastal Cleanup Day http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html scheduled for September 25, 2010.

NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
http://www.education.noaa.gov/teacher1.html has educational resources to advance environmental literacy.


Reduce, Reuse, Recycle