 STEAM - Science - Technology - Engineering - Art - Math - - Insights from our summertime 3 R's In our last newsletter, School's Out for Summer, we introduced our new 3 R's for Summer - Relax, Refresh and Renew! We even took our own advice on that when we conducted a professional development event, PBL21 - Designing the 21st Century Classroom, at a wonderful middle school in Arizona! We decided to relax, refresh and renew by enjoying the spectacular scenery on a road trip from central Texas to northern Arizona. The weather was perfect, and the changing landscapes were breathtaking. First the beauty of sprawling cattle ranches, then miles of lush fields of wheat and corn, through the rose-colored desert, past spectacular mesas, then suddenly entering dense pine forests as we climbed the snow-capped mountains, it was spectacular. It brought to mind the song, America, the Beautiful! (Which reminds me to remind you - Constitution Day in the United States is September 17. Here are some excellent resources for you and your students!) Click "Read More" to read about all the amazing sights we saw and the curriculum connections we made, especially to STEAM! And please add in the Comments some sights you've seen that could be the spark for a great PBL21 unit!
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Ecological literacy (also referred to as ecoliteracy) is the ability to understand the natural systems that make life on earth possible. To be ecoliterate means understanding the principles of organization of ecological communities (i.e. ecosystems) and using those principles for creating sustainable human communities. “I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues…Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” --Dr. Seuss, The Lorax  Two must reads for children – of all ages- are The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor - this is an excellent introduction to environmental studies and connecting kids to nature. While it is recommended for younger children, I read it to my 4th graders, then we went on a walk and everyone followed the steps in the book for selecting their perfect rock. They kept them on their desks for the rest of the school year and took them home on the last day of school. An EXCELLENT activity! Click here to find more recommendations for children's literature to develop ecoliteracy. Each year Earth Hour, a nonprofit organization based out of Singapore, sponsors the event - Earth Hour. They also publish a new promotional video for Earth Hour each year. The video for Earth Hour 2015 was announced today. It is embedded below. Personally, I really like the videos from 2010 and 2013, so please watch them. You and your students will be inspired! Earth Hour takes place each year on a Saturday. This year it is on March 28, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm YOUR LOCAL TIME. Even though you will not be in school that day, you can do things for the Earth Hour project, connected to your curriculum, definitely a 21st century curriculum project that meets ALL the criteria in our 3 compasses to 21st century education. Some schools, I am sure, are planning to celebrate Earth Hour together even though it is a Saturday. It's exciting to think about being an actual participant in the largest global, live event in history! You can join the Earth Hour project on their web site. It also has a Projects page, and will soon post project ideas for you. In the meantime, though, you can review past projects. Here are some links for Earth Hour, as well as for Earth Day which is Wednesday, April 22, 2015. Both of these pages are on our web site, Greening the Classroom, which also has many, many other resources for ecoliteracy! I will be adding more to the Earth Day resources page. For now, please enjoy the 2015 official Earth Hour video. And be sure to watch the other two excellent videos from 2010 and 2013. Or watch them at these links: 2010 and 2013. |
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