How Will You Celebrate National Environmental Education Week?
Spring is full of environmental celebration days that are often accompanied with free education resources and ideas to incorporate into your classroom and education programs. National Environmental Education Week is the nation's largest celebration of environmental education and will be celebrated April 19-25, 2015. Find resources to help you celebrate EE Week in this issue and on SEEK.
Don't forget to check out SEEK's Jobs, Internships, and Volunteer pages. Many organizations are hiring their seasonal staff at this time.
In this issue:
 For over one hundred years, Como Park Zoo and Conservatory has been creating memories and inspiring appreciation of the natural world. With a collection that ranges from rare orchids to endangered orangutans, Como Park Zoo and Conservatory is a community treasure that curates a living, breathing learning center.
Como Zoo features 9 of the top 10 animal species visitors most want to see in habitats that allow visitors to observe them up close. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, with its stunning 64-foot Victorian glass dome, is home to a vast collection of plants from around the world.
Como Park Zoo and Conservatory also offers a wide variety of education programs for visitors of all ages. From toddlers to adults and school groups to scouts, participants can ‘get closer’ to Como’s plants and animals through fun, interactive, and hands-on experiences.
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April
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April 7-9: Conference: Children & Nature Network, Inspiration and Action for Healthy Communities will be held in Austin, TX
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April 7: National Healthy Schools Day
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April 7: Workshop: Refuge Partner Teacher Spring Workshop will be held in Bloomington
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April 14-15: Conference: MN STEM Network and Afterschool Network Conference, Powering Learning, Expanding Possibilities will be held in St. Paul
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April 14: Our World Speaker Series: Land of 10,000 Lakes: Water for our Future will be held in Apple Valley
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April 16 - May 21: Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteer Training - North Woods Great Lakes will be held in Brainerd
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April 16: Presentation: Beautifully Sustainable Landscapes will be held in Maplewood
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April 16: Workshop: Refuge Partner Teacher Orientation Workshop will be held in Bloomington
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April 18: Minnesota Master Naturalist Advanced Training - Advanced Invasive Blitz will be held in St. Paul
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April 18-25: National Park Week
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April 19-25: National Environmental Education Week: Greening STEM: Surrounded by Science
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April 22: Earth Day 2015: It's Our Turn to Lead
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April 24: Arbor Day
Visit the SEEK Calendar for more information about these events.
Mini Eco Experience coming from the State Fair to Bemidji's Headwaters Science Center
Exhibits from the Minnesota State Fair's Eco Experience are visiting the Headwaters Science Center in Bemidji from Jan 31 - June 15. A small set of exhibits from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Department of Commerce dubbed "Climate, Energy and Community: What we can do" provide interactive opportunities to explore home energy use and Minnesota's changing climate. The exhibits are geared for adults and children to learn together. The event is free for Science Center members and free with admission to the museum.
Elementary Schools Invited to Participate in Refuge Partner Schools Program - Application Deadline: April 17
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge is accepting applications for elementary schools (K-5th grade) to participate in the Refuge Partner Schools Program. The partnership provides teachers and students multidisciplinary, standard-based curriculum that emphasizes hands-on, real-life experiences with plants, wildlife, and recreational opportunities that immerse students in nature throughout the seasons. Students visit the refuge 3 times each school year. Teachers participate in at least one free refuge workshop.
Celebrate National Park Week April 18-25 with a free pass to visit Minnesota's own Voyageurs National Park
Each spring, the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation invite you to celebrate National Park Week. This year, from April 18 - 25 you're invited to celebrate all that America's more than 400 national parks have to offer with the theme "National Park Week: Celebrate and Support". Our national parks are kicking off National Park Week with fee-free entrance days on April 18-19! Minnesota's only National Park, Voyageurs National Park is located in northern Minnesota along the international border and welcomes your visit.
Respecting Nature: How to be a Good Digital Citizen Outdoors
Finding a healthy balance between our online and offline lives, especially for our children, is one of the great challenges of our day. Inevitably, children are bringing their devices to public parks and nature spaces without knowing basic etiquette and what it means to be a "good digital citizen outdoors." With this in mind, this article discusses eight boundaries or guidelines to help young people (and their parents!) find that healthy balance between tech and nature.
Rain Barrel and Compost Bin Distribution Events Are Back
Each spring, the Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM) offers residents inexpensive compost bins and rain barrels through Sale Events. This year RAM is offering several products to help residents better manage their kitchen waste and to enhance their gardening, they include Compost Bins, Rain Barrels, Plastic Kitchen Pails, and Stainless Steel Half Gallon Kitchen Pail. These events begin in April and run through June and are in the Twin Cities, St. Cloud, and Mankato.
Discovery Education and 3M Search For America's 2015 Top Young Scientist - Deadline: April 21
Encouraging students to share their passion for science, the Young Scientist Challenge asks students in grades 5-8 to create a one to two-minute video communicating the science behind a possible solution to an everyday problem related to one of the following categories: How We Communicate, How We Move, How We Stay Healthy, How We Make A Difference - or come up with your own idea! Each national finalist earns a summer mentorship with a 3M scientist to complete a summer “innovation” assignment. The highest scoring finalist earns the title America’s Top Young Scientist and wins $25,000.
Earth Day Network Kicks Off U.S. and Global Activities on Massive Scale for 45th Anniversary of Earth Day
Two billion people across 192 countries will participate in Earth Day 2015, making it the largest civic observance in the world. Hundreds of thousands of schools worldwide will participate in Climate Education Week - an educational program empowering today's students to become tomorrow's climate literate, green economy leaders. April 22 also kicks off the countdown to 2020 and the 50th anniversary of Earth Day that marks the date by which cities, local governments, countries and corporations have committed to achieving significant progress on reducing the impacts of climate change.
Students Ages 11-19 Invited to Participate in Science without Borders Challenge - Deadline: April 27
Inspire your students to learn about science using art. Protect our Coral Reefs is the 2015 theme for the Science without Borders Challenge. This year the Challenge is an art contest, and challengers must submit an original piece of poster art. The contest is open to youth ages 14-19. The first place winner will win a $300 scholarship and an iPad Mini.
Educational Resources Available to Help you Celebrate International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW): May 3-9
ICAW is an international celebration of the benefits of recycling organic waste. It is a multi-media publicity and education event that showcases composting and compost products. It features everything from composting in your backyard to large-scale commercial composting facilities and businesses serving entire communities. This year’s theme is Compost: Be Loyal to Your Soil. Free composting resources for teachers and students are available for download.
 Apply to be a Minnesota GreenCorps Host Site - Deadline: May 4
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is accepting applications from organizations interested in participating as a host site for the 2015 - 2016 year of the Minnesota GreenCorps program. Minnesota GreenCorps is an environmentally focused AmeriCorps program, which places AmeriCorps members with organizations around the state to spend a year of service addressing critical environmental issues, while gaining experience and learning valuable job skills. Members serve on projects in the areas of Air Quality, Waste Prevention and Recycling, Green Infrastructure, and Living Green Outreach.
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Metro State Offers Online Nature Education Course for Summer Semester
From May 9 - August 15, Metropolitan State University will be offering a 4 credit online course taught by Patricia Born Selly titled "Selected Topics in Early Childhood: Nature Education". This course will introduce nature education as a concept and offer students the opportunity to reflect on the role nature education plays in their practice. Students will identify, examine and discuss research, issues, and current trends around nature education for children, particularly in the early childhood years.
Chemical Safety Day Program Helps Schools Remove Hazardous Waste
The Chemical Safety Day Program is a cost-effective waste management program available to educational institutions and nonprofit organizations throughout the state of Minnesota. It is again being offered during the coming spring, summer, and fall months. The program is designed to assist schools and colleges in disposing of unwanted chemicals and hazardous waste from science, art, industrial technology, and maintenance departments. The program comes to the school site for pick-up.
 Celebrate 2015 International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD): Restore Habitat, Restore Birds on May 9
Environment for the Americas fosters bird conservation education and celebrates and brings attention to bird migration through International Migratory Bird Day. IMBD 2015 shares the many ways in which birds matter to the earth, to ecosystems, and to us. Environment for the Americas has developed many educational and promotional materials related to this year’s theme. We invite you to use these materials to support your events and programs.
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Summer Trips for Environmental Educators offered at a Discount - Registration Deadline: June 1
Global Exploration for Educators Organization is offering travel programs to 32 countries in 2015. Programs that would be particularity interesting to environmental educators include: Belize/Guatemala, Morocco, Zambia/Botswana/Namibia/South Africa, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Peruvian Amazon, and The Galapagos Islands. The trips are 8 to 21 days and are designed and discounted to be interesting and affordable for teachers.
Como Park's Marjorie McNeely Conservatory Turns 100!
The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory turns 100 this year and June 19-21 is the Centennial Celebration Kickoff Weekend! Join us for a weekend of music, movies, and fun! There will also be special Gardener talks and demonstrations. The goal of the Centennial is to remember, give thanks and celebrate-gardeners, staff, volunteers, and most importantly visitors-all who helped to build and embellish the Conservatory for the past 100 years.
Find more environmental education news and updates in SEEK's News section.
 The Old Naturalist
The Old Naturalist is the brainchild of Larry Wade of Minnetonka, MN. He created The Old Naturalist program to help people develop a relationship with the Earth. The program includes classroom programs, a website, blog, online activities for teachers and students, The Nature Seeker Workbook, and more. The Nature Seeker Workbook is designed for students in grades 1-6 and is a unique personal field guide to the natural world all around us. It includes over 50 field-tested activities, hundreds of detailed and original illustrations, nature songs, poetry, weaving and sculpture art activities and more. (Photo credit: Jane Ball)
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 Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps Resource Education Curriculum (REC)
Heading to Yellowstone this summer? Our country's first National Park is home to the Yellowstone's Youth Conservation Corps (YELL-YCC), a residential youth employment program founded on service learning concepts implemented through stewardship projects. Education is an integrated into all projects, through the Resource Education Curriculum (REC). This curriculum consists of 17 one-hour lessons developed to enhance the YELL-YCC experience. It was designed for 8th-12th grade students and highlights specific concepts related to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, but is adaptable in group size, level, and content. The curriculum is divided into five themes: leadership, cultural heritage, ecological relationships, stewardship, and sustainability. It is free, and designed to be printed and taken into the park.
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 Great Lakes FieldScope & Teaching Great Lakes Science websites
Great Lakes FieldScope is a web-based mapping, analysis and visualization tool, hosted by the National Geographic Society, that can be used to investigate real-world matters like water quality or fish spawning grounds. The rich geographic context helps people gain a better understanding of their connection to the Great Lakes. Users can explore rivers and streams, watershed boundaries, water depth, political boundaries, elevation and land cover. FieldScope participants can upload their own field data-including photos, measurements and field notes-and compare it with data collected from other areas. There are also classroom lessons available to use.
The related Teaching Great Lakes Science website offers classroom lessons and resources that are easily incorporated into existing curriculum and are multidisciplinary, addressing science, technology, engineering and math subjects.
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Find
additional resources for your environmental education programs in SEEK's Browse Resources section.
 Clean Air Choice Biodiesel Essay Scholarship - Deadline: April 3
This scholarship provides an opportunity for Minnesota high school seniors to gain an understanding of the benefits of using cleaner burning, renewable fuels like biodiesel by writing a 1,000 word essay. Two scholarships will be awarded - first place: $1,000 scholarship and second place: $500 scholarship.
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Recycling Grants for Education & Cart Procurement - Deadline: April 15
The Recycling Partnership, an initiative of Curbside Value Partnership (CVP), announces their 2015 funding opportunity for counties, municipalities and solid waste authorities seeking to improve their residential curbside recycling infrastructure. The grants will provide funding for cart procurement and education and outreach programs. CVP will also provide tailored recycling education campaign materials to support the cart rollout, along with technical assistance for community recycling operations.
Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes – Deadline: April 15
The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes celebrates inspiring, public-spirited, highly diverse young people from all across America. It honors twenty-five outstanding young leaders ages 8 to 18 who have made a significant positive difference to people and our environment. The top ten winners each receive a $5,000 cash award to support their service work or higher education.
 Grassroots Organizing for Social Change Grants Program – Deadline: April 15
The Ben & Jerry's Foundation offers grants to non-profit, grassroots organizing groups that are working towards progressive social change by addressing the underlying conditions of societal and environmental problems through constituent-led organizing and activist strategies. One-year grants of up to $20,000 are available. Eligible applicants are non-profit grassroots organizations with budgets under $500,000, or organizations that have a sponsoring agency with this status.
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The North Face Explore Fund - Deadline: April 17
This fund provides grants to organizations that connect people to the outdoors and support outdoor exploration, with youth as a primary focus. Typical awards are between $5,000 and $25,000. The Explore Fund is a highly competitive grants program and a limited number are awarded each year.
Walmart Foundation State Giving Program - Deadline: April 20
This program provides grants from $25,000 to $250,000 to nonprofits that serve underserved populations and align with the Walmart Foundation’s giving focus areas. Walmart Foundation's core giving areas are: Hunger Relief & Healthy Eating or Career Opportunity. Organizations can also seeking funding for programs that focus on the unmet needs of underserved low-income populations.
 Every Day Capacity Building Grants - Deadline: April 30
The National Environmental Education Foundation Every Day Grants strengthen the stewardship of public lands by providing "Friends Groups" with grant funds of up to $5,000 to help build their capacity to serve public lands. Twenty five grants will be awarded to those groups who make the best case for how the funds will build their capacity to better serve the lands they love.
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The Lawrence Foundation - Deadline: April 30
The Lawrence Foundation focuses on grants to support environmental, human services and other causes. We offer both program and operating grants and do not have any geographic restrictions on our grants. Award amounts vary. Nonprofit organizations, public schools, and libraries are eligible for contributions or grants. (Note: Religious, charter or magnet schools are NOT eligible for funding.)
Patagonia Environmental Grant Program - Deadline: April 30 (if you are applying directly to a retail store near you, applications are accepted year round)
Patagonia funds environmental work for projects up to $12,000. We support small, grassroots activist organizations with direct-action agendas, working on multi-pronged campaigns to preserve and protect our environment. We help local groups working to protect local habitat. Projects should be quantifiable, with specific goals, objectives and action plans, and should include measures for evaluating success.
Irwin Andrew Porter Foundation Grants – Deadline: April 30
This foundation funds innovative projects that foster connections between individuals, communities, the environment and the world at large. The foundation funds a broad range of focus areas and is most interested in projects that require and/or inspire those directly benefiting from the project to give back to their communities both during the project and into the future. Proposals are accepted for single year, multi-year and matching grants. Grants Range from $500 to $30,000.
USDA Farm to School Grants – Deadlines: April 30 for Training Grant and May 20, 2015 for all others
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Farm to School grants help implement farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in schools. USDA awards up to $5 million in competitive grants for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs. Four types of grants are available: 1. Planning grants ($20,000 - $45,000) for schools just getting started; 2. Implementation grants ($65,000 - $100,000) for schools seeking to further develop existing efforts. 3. Support Service grants are available to conduct trainings, create complementary curriculum, or further develop supply chains, among other activities. 4. Training Grants ($15,000 - $50,000) are used to disseminate best practices.
 Sea World & Busch Garden's Conservation Fund - Deadline: April 30
The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund focuses on four priority areas: Species Research, Habitat Protection, Conservation Education, and Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation. Within these four priority areas, there are specific topics that we have identified as funding priorities for the Fund. The Fund typically supports projects ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 for a one-year term.
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American Honda Foundation Grants – Deadline: May 1
Grants of $20,000 to $75,000 are provided in the fields of youth education and science education to K-12 schools, colleges, universities, trade schools, and others for programs that benefit youth and scientific educational institutions. The American Honda Foundation supports youth education with a specific focus on the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects in addition to the environment.
Blandin Foundation Education Grants - Deadline: May 1
Blandin Foundation partners with community-focused organizations throughout rural Minnesota to build healthy rural communities. The Foundation awards four types of grants including Education grants. Education grants range from $1,000 to $4,000 each year. They are for students (homeschooled, too) of high schools in the Itasca County area. You can apply if you are under age 25 and plan to go to community college, certificate programs, colleges or universities in the United States.
Xcel Energy Foundation Environment Grants - Deadline: May 4
Xcel's Environmental Grants support organizations that protect and enhance the natural environment. Priorities include 1. programs or projects that provide hands-on environmental education experiences and curricula that foster an ethic of stewardship and conservation, 2. Habitat and park partnership efforts between nonprofits and Xcel Energy that preserve, restore, conserve and improve wildlife habitat, open lands, wet lands, parks, trail systems or recreational areas and 3. Natural resource conservation projects that help protect natural resources, or build awareness for natural resource conservation, including interactive exhibits and displays at museums and other public facilities, with an emphasis on water conservation. Grant applications are accepted by invitation only.
Legislative-Citizen Commission on MN Resources (LCCMR) Grants - Deadline: May 11
Environmental Education proposals are sought to benefit Minnesota's Environment and Natural Resources as part of the LCCMR grants. The 2016 Request for Proposal for funding beginning July 1, 2016 has been issued. Approximately $46.3 million is expected to be available for projects in the following seven areas: 1. Foundational Natural Resource Data and Information 2. Water Resources 3. Environmental Education 4. Aquatic and Terrestrial Invasive Species 5. Air Quality, Climate Change, and Renewable Energy 6. Methods to Protect or Restore Land, Water, and Habitat 7. Land Acquisition for Habitat and Recreation.
 Brower Youth Awards – Deadline: May 18
The Brower Youth Awards has launched the prize search for outstanding grassroots environmental leaders across North America. We celebrate eco-activists, ages 13-22, leading the way to a green, just future. Six Brower Youth Award recipients will receive a $3,000 cash prize, a professionally produced short film about their work, and flight and lodging accommodations for a week-long trip to the San Francisco Bay Area.
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National Wildlife Refuge Friends Grant Program - Deadline: May 21
This grant program funds projects that assist organizations in being effective co-stewards of natural resources within the National Wildlife Refuge System. The program's goals are to assist refuge Friends organizations in developing projects, expanding and increasing their capacity and skills, meeting local refuge conservation challenges and gaining and building community recognition. Competitive grants ($1,500 - $10,000) are provided to creative and innovative proposals that seek to increase the number and effectiveness of organizations interested in assisting the Refuge System nationwide.
Rainbarrel Grants - Deadline: ongoing based on funds
The Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization (VLAWMO) has a cost share program to assist the community in purchasing rainbarrels. Through this program, you may purchase up to two rainbarrels and your property must be located within VLAWMO boundaries. VLAWMO will reimburse 50 percent of the cost, up to $125 for each rainbarrel up to $250. Reimbursement will come on a first come, first serve basis until the annual funds are exhausted.
SEEK stands for Sharing
Environmental Education Knowledge and is the online home of Minnesota's
environmental education resources.
For further information visit
the SEEK website or Facebook page or contact Colleen Schoenecker,
SEEK Coordinator, at seek.pca@state.mn.us or 651.757.2700 or
800.657.3864
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