EECOM Newsletter on-line

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Greetings to all EECOM members and partners...

Visit www.eecom.org today for the latest issue of EECOM News!

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Inside this Issue:

In the Chair’s Message, read why 2007 promises to be a banner year

for EECOM!

Meet Natalie Swayze – EECOM’s new Executive Director …and discover

why her experiences will serve her well as she takes on the challenges that

come with a position where expectations are high and opportunities in

building the capacity of a young national organization seem limitless.

The 2006 Canadian EECOM Excellence in Environmental Education

Awards Report brings us great news that with over 35 nominations in seven

categories, EECOM’s fifth annual awards program was a very successful one!

And on that note, learn how to nominate your favourite and much-deserving

colleague, NGO and/or institution for one of this year’s awards in the

Call for Nominations for the 2007 Canadian Excellence in Environmental

Education Awards.

From Education E-News to linking schools near national parks to each other,

from virtual field trips to an exciting new novel weaving the realities of a fast

changing Arctic into an adventure story, in this issue our Regional Reports

are all about getting connected.

Don’t miss the latest News – The Canadian Environmental Grantmakers'

Network has released its new issue brief Environmental Education in

Canada: An Overview for Grantmakers.

Improve your professional practice and become enriched and revitalized as

you spend time in nature with friends and colleagues during Trails to

Sustainability - a national environmental education conference designed

for ALL teachers and educators!

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Bonjour à tous les membres et partenaires d’EECOM...

Visitez www.eecom.org dès aujourd’hui pour lire le

dernier numéro du bulletin d’EECOM!

Children & Nature Movement Update: Louv

An Update from Richard Louv's Children & Nature Network (in the United States) February 2007 "A back-to-nature movement to reconnect children with the outdoors is burgeoning nationwide" - USA Today, Nov. 21, 2006 Children & Nature Movement Update The grass roots Children and Nature Movement continues to grow and expand. Twenty-two regions have now launched or are considering launching a Children & Nature Campaign. From Louisville to Seattle, communities are coming together to raise awareness and map-out plans for action. Shifts in policy are also underway with several groups working together to propose children and nature amendments to the No Child Left Behind Act. Recent movement gatherings include the December conference on children and nature hosted by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and the C&NN planning session held in January to inform the drafting of a C&NN Action Guide for regional leaders and community collaboratives. C&NN Chairman, Rich Louv, continues to speak as author and a spokesman for the movement with over 20 speaking engagements in February and March alone. As the movement grows, so do the resources and support for movement leaders. This month C&NN publishes two key tools for communicating the need, reasons, urgency and scientific foundations for taking action to re-connect children & nature: 1) a report listing the first of 20 premier research studies on the benefits of connecting children to nature, and 2) a selection of conference resources, including exclusive video excerpts, from the 2006 Dialogue on Children and Nature co-convened by the Conservation Fund, the National Conservation Training Center and Rich Louv. These resources will help provide scientific information, common language and a shared vision to support advocacy, innovation, and local leadership. Research Report Parents and grandparents, friends, family, teachers, physicians and concerned citizens-people want to do what is right and best for children. With that in mind, C&NN has set out to compile a premier set of research studies to help us all understand the connection between nature and the healthy development of children. The conclusion of these studies is clear: nature experience improves children's health, happiness, academic achievement, and general well being. [+] read more <http://www.cnaturenet.org/02_rsrch_studies/02_resrch_intro.html> Leadership Report and Resources C&NN publishes a Leadership Report on the National Dialogue on Children and Nature with video and PowerPoint presentations. View video excerpts or presentations by Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, Richard Louv, Larry Selzer, Stephen Kellert, Kathy Baughman McLeod, Charles Jordan and others as they speak out on the children and nature connection. [+] read more <http://www.cnaturenet.org/03_lead_rprt/conf_hm.html>

Lights Out Canada: school climate change action

Lights Out Canada was started by students in Parksville, on Vancouver Island, B.C. It’s a great idea to have schools across the country actively doing something to help learn about climate change – and it’s not a huge task because they’ve put together the step-by-step guides to start your school up.

Their goals are to:

• educate students and teachers about the dangers of climate change.
• show how easy it is to help turn off global warming with the flick of a switch.
• encourage schools to be aware of environmentally unfriendly practices, and revise them.

Last year, they started an incredibly successful pilot project with five schools on Vancouver Island, and this year they want schools across Canada to get involved.

When The final date is yet to be set, but it will probably be around Earth Day this year. Leading up to the date though, your school can start up things like:

• Lights Out Day each week
• Recycling programs
• Making idle-free zones

How to Get Involved and Find out More

1. Sign your school up on the Contact page of their website
2. Download the concept page, lesson plan and step-by-step instructions for teachers, students and administrators from the Resource page of the Lights Out Canada website.
3. Tell your friends about the idea, and get your leadership class, student council, or other interested folks involved. Use the resources above for ideas on how to involve people and get them excited about the project.
4. Keep in touch with the Lights Out Canada folks to let them know what you’re up to in your school and to ask them any questions you might have. Email them at lightsoutcanada@gmail.com.

Captain Planet Foundation Grants for youth environmental projects

Captain Planet Foundation Grants for youth environmental projects [Yes, Canadian applications are accepted] The Captain Planet Foundation provides grants to school and community groups to support hands-on environmental projects for youth in grades K-12. The objective of the foundation is to encourage innovative programs that empower youth around the world to work individually and collectively to solve environmental problems in their neighborhoods and communities. Upcoming applications are due March 31, 2007. http://www.captainplanetfdn.org/grants.html

Best Practices for Field Days E-Tips for Environmental Educators

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Best Practices for Field Days E-Tips for Environmental Educators Winter 2007 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Rab, Welcome to this edition of the EE E-Tip for Field Days – the quarterly source for practical tips to raise the impact of field day programs. We want to hear your suggestions for improving this resource. Send your ideas to Nate Meyer.

EE E-TIP: Begin with Clear Learning Objectives for Your Field Day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The impact of your field day and presentations on students is ultimately judged by the achievement of learning objectives. Measurable learning objectives translate your broad theme into specific information, skills, or concepts you want participants to learn from your event. There are several factors that can help you articulate clear learning objectives: 1) Ask yourself: “Can I test the achievement of these objectives?” Good objectives state exactly how you expect to participants to demonstrate their learning. Your participants should be able to easily understand the objectives. Remember, your participants include the students, teachers, volunteers (parents), and instructors. 2) Look beyond the common approaches of testing for learning - defining, naming, identifying, etc. Consider asking participants to demonstrate, construct, calculate, diagram, or predict. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Education Objectives defines six different levels of learning objectives, with specific “action verbs” You can use in writing objectives for your field days. 3) Inform your participants of your learning objectives beforehand. By doing so, they can focus on achieving these expectations for themselves. Whether your field day program is brand new or has a long history, we recommend you take time to articulate your learning objectives. They will provide you clearer focus from which you can coordinate all the aspects of the field day including planning presentations, topics, activities, and a setting that compliments and enhances the learning opportunity. For more information on beginning with clear learning objectives, review the "Structure Your Field Day around a Single Theme" section of the Best Practices for Field Days: A Program Planning Guidebook for Organizers, Presenters, Teachers and Volunteers – pages 31 to 33. Curriculum copies, workshop and other information are available online at http://www.extension.umn.edu/EnvironEd/. To learn more about the Best Practices for Field Days, read our short article in the online Journal of Extension http://www.joe.org/joe/2004october/tt4.shtml.

Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ email: meyer179@umn.edu phone: (888) 241-0724 ext. 6473 web: http://www.extension.umn.edu/EnvironEd/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arctic Traverse in March: Call for Online Student and Classroom Participation

Call for Online Student and Classroom Participation SnowSTAR-2007: Alaska-Canada Barrenlands Traverse For further information, please go to: http://www.barrenlands.org Students across the circumpolar North and lower latitudes are invited to participate online in SnowSTAR-2007: Alaska-Canada Barrenlands Traverse. Five American and three Canadian scientists will travel by snowmobile across Alaska and Canada in March-April 2007. The 3,500-kilometer trip will follow the Arctic Circle for much of the route and will take the scientists to dozens of historic arctic locations, two remote diamond mines, and eleven villages. The goal of the trip is to "find" the Arctic by exploring the changing natural and human systems in the region, talking to the people who live in towns and villages along the route, and discovering what makes up the modern Arctic today. The scientists will also collect the first-ever comprehensive set of physical and chemical data on the snow cover of the Barrenlands, the vast expanse of tundra and taiga across the North American Arctic. In order to share the experience with school children across the region and beyond, the team will carry with them posters, photos, and greetings from one classroom to another. Hundreds of students from a wide range of grade levels throughout the U.S. and Canada have already signed up to follow the expedition. The team invites teachers and students to participate by tracking their progress on the website and classroom map displays, exchanging posters with other schools, incorporating northern topics into classroom activities, and scheduling classroom visits by the scientists themselves. For further information, including teacher instructions, options for classroom participation, and details on how to sign up for the expedition, please go to: http://www.barrenlands.org

Animal Videos -- National Geographic

National Geographic videos available on the NGS website! They're very good quality (they play them directly from the website in the theaters at the World Center's Interpretive Center) and could be great classroom resources. Here are web addresses for two favorites, but there are videos about many species available on the site.

Enjoy!

http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/video/falcon_peregrine_velocity.html

http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/video/condor_california_arizona.html

Peregrine Falcon -- Animal Videos -- National Geographic

British to Show Al Gore Movie in Schools

British to Show Al Gore Movie in Schools WTOP - 29 minutes ago The DVD will go to 3385 secondary schools in England as part of a year-long environmental education campaign. LONDON (AP) - Former US Vice President Al Gore's global warming documentary will be sent to every secondary school in England as part of a ... British to show Al Gore movie in schools Seattle Post Intelligencer all 35 news articles »