Education e-Newsletter September 2014
News
Back to School Chat, September 23 at 3:30 pm. Join us for a conversation about natural resource topics and education connections, including exciting new initiatives like the Snapshot Wisconsin trail cam project, Wisconsin Project WILD and Project WET curriculum connections, MacKenzie Center news, Green and Healthy School Wisconsin program initiatives, air education, and new educational resources. For details on this topic and other chats, visit us online athttp://dnr.wi.gov/chat/expert.html .
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2016 State Park Sticker Design Contest. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/contests.html Entries for the 2016 Wisconsin state park sticker design contest are being accepted now through April 17, 2015. The contest is open to all high school age students (ninth through twelfth grades) attending public, private, or parochial schools in Wisconsin. The winning design was just selected for the 2015 Wisconsin State Parks admission sticker and features a butterfly atop a purple coneflower, designed by Josie Tollaksen, a junior at Poynette High School. It will be printed on state park and forest annual vehicle admission stickers and displayed on more than 150,000 vehicles.
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A Saturday Salmon Spectacular, Root River steelhead facility open house. The Department of Natural Resources Root River Steelhead Facility will be hosting a public open house on Saturday October 11th from 9am-3pm at Lincoln Park in Racine, WI. The open house will include guided tours, interactive demonstrations of fish spawning, fish and fishing information stations and hands on fishing rod casting lessons. In addition, knot tying, fly tying, hourly seminars focused on tips and techniques for getting started in Lake Michigan salmon and trout fishing will be held. For questions contact: Jeff Zinuticz (WDNR) at Jeffrey.Zinuticz@wi.gov or by phone (414) 750-8382.
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"Fall in love with Wisconsin State Parks" photo contest. Love fall colors? Love Wisconsin's state parks, forests, trails and recreation areas? Then share that love by entering the "Fall in Love with Wisconsin State Parks" Facebook photo contest. The contest runs from September 15 through October 26, 2014. Photographers who submit photos early will get the chance to receive the most votes.
Photographers must be at least 13 years of age, and have the permission of anyone pictured in the photos to have their image submitted to the contest with the understanding that the photo may be used in publications, brochures or online. Photographers must also identify the property where the photo was taken. A complete set of contest rules (http://dnr.wi.gov/files/pdf/news/FB_Fall_in_Love_with_WI_SP_2014.pdf) is available on the DNR website. The winner will receive a 2015 Wisconsin State Park sticker, a 2015 Wisconsin trails pass, and a two year subscription to Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine.
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Staff at the MacKenzie Center are excited for fall and look forward to seeing new and returning school groups. The MacKenzie Center is rolling out some exciting new courses this fall that can match your classroom needs and standards. Day, overnight and weekend programs in environmental education and outdoor skills are being offered. Check them out on our website: http://dnr.wi.gov/education/mackenzie/documents/MCClassOfferings.pdf. If you would like to set up a fieldtrip for your classroom, contact us at DNRMacKenzieCenter@wisconsin.gov or 608.635.8105.
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LEAF 2014 Wisconsin School Forest Award nominations are now being accepted. These awards recognize individuals and organizations that have provided leadership for local school forests. LEAF (the Wisconsin K-12 Forestry Education Program) will recognize individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to school forest programs. To nominate a candidate, complete the application at: http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/leaf/school-forests/Pages/School-Forests.aspx. All nominations are due by September 26, 2014. Awards will be presented November 8th at a Celebration of Excellence in Environmental Education awards ceremony at the BTC Promega Corporation in Madison.
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Resources
Music, Math, Social Studies – DNR’s Air Education Resources fit them all!
It’s back to school time and DNR has FREE PreK-12 air quality education resources for all classrooms. From music to math, these resources will help you with your lesson plans. View the entire list at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/AirQuality/Outreach.html . For more information please contact Lindsay Haas atlindsay.haas@wisconsin.gov .
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E-Cycle Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s electronics recycling program, offers a variety of NEW free educational resources – 3 different posters, 1 educational video, and 3 classroom activities – to guide your students in examining the environmental impacts of electronics while practicing core competencies. What’s In Our Electronics?, Whose E-Waste Is It, Anyway? and How Much E-Waste? will engage your students in learning through hands-on, subject-relevant activities. To order these materials or view them online, go to E-Cycle Wisconsin’s schools page: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Ecycle/Schools.html
If you have any questions about E-Cycle Wisconsin or our educational materials, contact Amalia Baldwin at 608-267-7594 or amalia.baldwin@wisconsin.gov.
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Forest Exploration Kit for early childhood educators. Help young children get in touch with nature through a new resource kit you can check out to help explore the forest in your backyard or neighborhood. Two kits have been developed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources through funding from the Wisconsin Environmental Education Foundation, and are now available for loan from the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education and the Wisconsin Child Care Information Center. The kits contain two activity guides with fun hands-on explorations and DNR publications to help you teach about Wisconsin’s trees, birds, wildlife and flowers. Simple tools are included to aid with exploration including: identification guides, bug box, magnifying lens, and animal cards.. Take one of the reading books and share it with children outdoors in the shade of a tree. Create recycled art using ideas from one of the booklets. Put kids in motion with music and movement selections, and then build a tree on your plate as a healthy snack. Contact each of the resource centers directly about checking out this kit; then take a safari in your neighborhood - no experience necessary.
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Educational Opportunities
2015 Groundwater Model Teacher Workshops. Apply today (http://dnr.wi.gov/education/documents/groundwater/TeacherWorkshopAnnouncement.pdf ) to be selected to receive a one-day training session, a free groundwater flow model and instructions on using it, classroom exercises designed to meet state academic standards, and reimbursement for substitute teachers while at the training. Training is provided by staff from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) and the UW Stevens Point Center for Watershed Science and Education. Funding comes from a wellhead protection "set-aside" grant given to the DNR by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Educators are selected through a competitive application process. Workshops run from 9:00 am to 4:00 p.m. Space is limited to eight pairs of educators per location as follows:
- January 13: Central Wisconsin Environmental Station, 10186 County Road MM, Amherst Junction, 54407, 715-824-2428. http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/cwes/
- January 28: WGNHS Core Lab, 211 Blue Mounds Street, Mount Horeb, WI 53572, 608-262-1705, http://wisconsingeologicalsurvey.org
- February 11: WGNHS Core Lab, 211 Blue Mounds Street, Mount Horeb, WI 53572, 608-262-1705, http://wisconsingeologicalsurvey.org
For more information on the workshops, contact Laura Chern at 608-266-0126, or visit the DNR website to download the application. Apply by November 3, 2014.
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Project WET Educator Workshop. October 4, NORDA, Ladysmith. 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wisconsin is rich in water resources and this program is designed to facilitate and promote awareness, appreciation, knowledge and stewardship of water resources through the dissemination of classroom-ready lesson plans and Wisconsin-based teaching aids. This workshop will also feature Science and Civics: Sustaining Wildlife curriculum guide that blends service-learning project development with civics, and activities for both water and wildlife education. Fee: $35. Call 715-532-6084 or email NORDA (karen@projectteaching.com) for more info and to register.
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NRES 620- Forestry Education in the Wisconsin K-12 Classroom. This class teaches you key forestry principles, demonstrates teaching techniques and gives you great interdisciplinary activities so that you can easily integrate forestry education into your indoor or outdoor classroom. LEAF activities help you meet standards for natural resources, science, math, and social studies, as well as Common Core State Standards for Literacy in All Subjects. The hybrid class includes online discussion and assignments and one Saturday or two evenings of a face-to-face meeting. A limited number of scholarships are available, bringing the cost of one graduate credit to $85. For more information or to register for any class please visit www.leafprogram.org and click on “Professional Development Calendar.” Choose from:
- October 3rd to November 10th; meeting in Waupaca on Monday, October 13 and Wednesday, October 22 from 4:30 to 8:30 PM. Instructor: Pat Arndt
- October 20th to November 21st; meeting in Hayward on Saturday, November 1st from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. Instructor: Mary Pardee.
Project Learning Tree Workshops
Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood. Designed for children ages 3-6, PLT’s early childhood curriculum integrates nature-based exploration, art, literature, math, music and movement, and outdoor play into early childhood education programs. For more information, email wcee-plt@uwsp.edu. Choose from:
- September 10th in Westfield, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
- October 11th in Ashland, from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
PreK-8 Environmental Education. Become trained in PLT’s renowned PreK-8 curriculum, which contains 96 hands-on interdisciplinary activities. Topics include forests, wildlife, water, air, energy, waste, climate change, invasive species, community planning, and culture. For more information, email wcee-plt@uwsp.edu. Choose from:
- September 27th in Kenosha, from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm
- October 18th in Minocqua, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Project Learning Tree for Secondary Students. PLT’s secondary curricula, Focus on Forests and Forests of the World provide an opportunity for hands-on study of forest resources while addressing concepts in biology, civics, ecology, economics, forest management, and other subject areas. The modules are closely aligned with Common Core State Standards for Literacy in All Subjects. For more information, email wcee-plt@uwsp.edu.
- October 11th in Ashland, from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm