This article describes a NOAA Planet Stewards project by high-school educator Spencer Cody. It describes how students in a rural school  produced substantial gains in their environmental literacy through engagement in activities involving research in carbon footprint reduction, as well as schoolwide stewardship activities focused on reducing, reusing, and recycling.

While the pandemic initially disrupted and delayed the project, it also forced students to explore new ways to recycle materials providing insights into future approaches concerning environmental stewardship. Read about the project and its findings here.

Join NASA in a conversation about Urban Surface Temperatures and the Urban Heat Island Effects. In the educational unit that accompanies the presentation, students will learn how climate is changing in urban settings and produce mitigation solutions for city environmental concerns. They will explore climate simulation models and global temperature profiles; learn about remote sensing and investigate instruments on climate satellites; analyze remote sensing imagery and understand the urban heat island effect; collect land surface temperature and create a physical model that promotes the concept of the urban heat island and mitigation factors to include human action towards climate in urban settings.

Be sure to register today here.

The unit Plan on "Urban Surface Temperatures and the Urban Heat Island Effects" can be found here: Unit Plan Link (in English). For more information about this unit or CCRI go to https://www.giss.nasa.gov/edu/ccri/ (in English).

Join  Dr. Kim Reece, from the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS) as she provides a primer on HABs and discusses her team’s work to understand the impacts they have on the ecosystem.

After Hours lectures are designed for an adult audience, but all ages are welcome to watch. Attendees will be able to ask questions via the Zoom chat feature. Registration is required. 

Register for The Webinar Here…

The CLEO Institute's 2021 professional development Climate Across the Curriculum Workshop for teachers is now open for registration, with new resources for elementary educators! Climate-Ready Classrooms will help K-12 teachers understand climate change, its impacts, and solutions to be able to incorporate climate into their curriculum. Attendees will receive a short climate overview presentation, including the latest data covering common areas of miscommunication. A series of lightning talks will highlight strategies and resources for teachers, as well as the intersection of climate issues, equity, and justice.

Register here.

Applications are now open for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon which challenges collegiate teams to design and build high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewables! Collegiate teams can apply now for the 2022 Design Challenge (1-year design-only competition) and the 2023 Build Challenge (2-year design-build competition). Finalist teams will be invited to compete for victory during the Competition Event at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. Apply here by October 26. 

Bow Seat's Future Blue Youth Council (FBYC) is a diverse group of Bow Seat alumni aged 16-19 from around the world who work to empower their peers to advocate for their future and our environment. These students have made differences in their communities, and now they want to help you do the same! The Council is proud to introduce their inaugural Fellowship Program that provides young leaders with mentorship and $250-$1,000 grants to help launch new and emerging projects that create meaningful change for a healthier planet. Applications are due on August 1st (11:59 PM ET). Check out the FBYC Fellowship website for more information and to apply

A story can effect change, influence opinion, and create awareness. Use ArcGIS StoryMaps to integrate maps, data, and multimedia content with text to tell a narrative about the world's greatest challenges and inspire solutions.

Esri and the National Geographic Society challenge high school and college students and individuals ages18-24 to create impactful stories about ocean health.

This year's StoryMaps challenge—co-hosted by Esri and the National Geographic Society—will begin accepting submissions on August 16, 2021. Find out more and join today!

Visualize Earth's systems with models through this new National Geographic education resource. These free Earth and geoscience resources for middle and high school students include Earth systems models, pre- and post-assessments, and teacher support materials, all aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. The set of curriculum modules investigates Earth’s systems with computational models, with content covering tectonic plates, climate change, hurricanes, and more!

Check it out here!

Agency by Design (AbD) is a multiyear education initiative from Harvard University's School of Education that explores the practices and pedagogies of maker-centered learning. AbD framework for maker-centered learning includes three core maker capacities: looking closely, exploring complexity, and finding opportunity. AbD has a set of resources to support these core capacities and help educators facilitate maker-centered learning in various teaching and learning environments. 

Check it out here!

Learn about freshwater ecosystems and pond health through a virtual field trip and activity developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site. Targeted for middle and high school levels, the 14-minute virtual field trip teaches viewers how to determine a pond’s health by capturing and examining a sample of the macroinvertebrates living there. Visit the website to request a link for the video field trip and the accompanying materials. (Free registration is required to receive the materials, which may take up to three days to arrive.)

Access the site here.

Voices of the Earth: From Sophocles to Rachel Carson and Beyond, is a play from the Stanford Repertory Theater, that aims to inspire high school and college students as well as educators to consider today’s environmental challenges from new perspectives, ancient and modern. The play tells a human story of our planet. Teachers can use the script and production materials as a basis for environmentally related assignments, including class discussions, Zoom presentations, and writing and reflection prompts. Visit the website to watch a three-minute trailer about the play and register to receive a password-protected link to a full printed text. 

Visit the Voices of the Earth site here.

Drinking water, agriculture, extreme weather survival, climate change resilience, and other essential aspects of life depend on the availability of water and understanding its movement around the globe. NASA's Societal Applications collection of lesson plans and resources is designed for learners to apply knowledge of precipitation and the water cycle to real-life problems. The curricula encourage students to use real data from NASA research for activities.

Find the resource here.

The Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (UMACS) Conference attracts a variety of college and university students, campus sustainability professionals, faculty, and staff. The event provides cutting-edge research and data from regional colleges and universities on sustainability policy and practice. Attendees have an opportunity for regional-wide networking and collaboration-building centered around campus and community sustainability.

For more information and to register go to: https://www.uwsp.edu/conted/Pages/UMACS-2021.aspx

The Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellowship is a two-year fellowship program that places one graduate student at each of the 29 National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRS). The Davidson Fellowship supports research projects that help scientists and communities understand the coastal challenges that will likely influence future policy and management strategies, and offers professional development opportunities geared to build the next generation of coastal professionals. The request for proposals can be found here.