Updates & Opportunities
May 2012
For upcoming events go to the DNR Calendar.
Conservation Education Stratagies Webinars
Association Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) is offering webinars to introduce resources they created as part of their Conservation Education Scope and Sequence. You must register for each webinar (limited to 100 for each one) on the AFWA website.
Future Webinars:
- June 27 - America’s Wildlife, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
- July 25 - Outdoor Investigations
- August 22 - Outdoor Skills Education in Schools
- September 26 - Evaluating CE Programs (tentative)
- October 24 - Landscape Investigations and Project-Based Learning
- November 28 - Connecting Kids with Nature
2012 Minnesota Association for Environmental Education Conference
Rec-reate, Re-create is a conference for all who teach or support environmental education--in classrooms or communities. The 2-day event is at Itasca State Park, June 21-22, 2012.
Registration is now open!
Comment on the Next Generation Science Standards
Minnesota Department of Education seeks feedback on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) public draft. These standards are a cooperative effort of states to develop common standards that could be used as state science standards.
Even though Minnesota is not scheduled to revise science standards until 2017-18, the state has been involved as a lead state in the development of the NGSS. This involvement includes reviewing drafts of the standards and considering eventual adoption of the standards. These standards and the foundations on which they are based are likely to the impetus for significant changes in science education. Teachers, science educators, scientists, engineers and others interested in science education are encouraged to review the standards and provide feedback.
The standards, feedback survey, and supporting materials will be available at www.nextgenscience.org on May 11.
There will be focus group meetings across Minnesota between May 14-June 1 to learn about the standards and to provide joint review. Use the following link to register for the meeting of your choice: https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1IxEFTw8Yl7HABeU1VI1sdyYjn5tMG7YibEqrWIGrBm8.
Webinar Series: Learn About the National Project for Excellence in EE
June 26, 2012, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time / 3:00 p.m. Central time / 2:00 p.m. Mountain time / 1:00 p.m. Pacific time
Early Childhood EE Programs: Guidelines for Excellence
This webinar focuses on our newest set of guidelines - Early Childhood Environmental Education Programs: Guidelines for Excellence. We will discuss how the guidelines are being used in early childhood environmental education program design and implementation and introduce you to a companion document, Early Childhood Environmental Education Rating Scale.
REGISTER: www.surveymonkey.com/s/ecee
Questions? Email borasimmons@gmail.com
Did you miss one of our earlier webinars? Access a recording here.
Participate in World Water Monitoring Day
World Water Monitoring Day™ is an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies. In 2010, over 200,000 people in 85 countries monitored their local waterways. Celebrate with us on September 18, or host your World Water Monitoring Day anytime from March 22 until December 31! Find out more here.