Get started reading the Planet Stewards selection for our November Book Club!  Weill be meeting on:

Monday, November 15th at 8:00 pm ET

to discuss

Under a White Sky:

The Nature of the Future

by Elizabeth Kolbert
 
Dial 866-662-7513 (toll free) then use the pass code 1170791#.
The discussion is open to all so share with interested colleagues. Learn more here.

Discussion questions are already posted on our website.

A Planet Stewards Club was established as an after-school high school program to empower young women as community leaders to both be willing and capable of addressing their peers and the public about issues related to global climate change. The club identified the need to support climate literacy in the middle school  by providing opportunities for learners to engage in hands-on activities that assist student understanding as to how Earth’s ^{Students collecting data using a sensor}    climate system works. Read about how this team of high school students developed the lesson and associated materials, as well as the lesson's outcomes and benefits developed by the club.

Natalie Macke has been a secondary science teacher for more than 15 years. In addition to establishing a girl’s STEM club focusing on Planet Stewardship, she has developed a fifteen-week honors-level course on Climate Change offered by the Virtual High School, and was invited to a special White House climate education event for her efforts. In 2015 she was the recipient of the Princeton Distinguished Secondary Teaching Award.

This broadcast presents a national energy simulator developed by NOAA that using highly detailed weather and electric load data to determine the role that different energy sources could play in the coming decades. This “energy system simulator” uses coal, nuclear, wind, solar, etc., over the continental Unites States, and includes a potential national High-Voltage-Direct-Current (HVDC) transmission network, allowing power to be shared over the domain. The study presented shows that there is a potential path to transforming the global energy system to much lower carbon emissions by the 2030s without major economic harm.

If you're looking for terrific educational resources or ideas to plug into your academic planning this year, check out archived issues of The Watch! Our team has reviewed all content for use by formal and informal educators working to increase their own ocean, climate, and environmental awareness and that of their students and audiences.

If you have an item you'd like to share with our Education community, email us at: oceanserviceseducation@noaa.gov and be sure to include:

• Event/Item announcement title
• Date and time if applicable
• One paragraph description
• Clear thumbnail image
• Link for more information

The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) in the Gulf of Mexico offers one of the most beautiful and wildlife-rich dive sites in American waters. But stony coral tissue loss disease - already ravaging Floridian and Caribbean reefs - is a grave danger to this pristine underwater habitat.

The Tennessee Aquarium and FGBNMS have released an instructional video for divers that emphasizes why sanitizing to eliminate pathogens matters. It recommends best practices for enjoying reefs without endangering them.

Watch the Video: Play your part in preventing the spread of Stony coral Tissue Loss Disease.

For more information on prevention of stony coral tissue loss disease, visit flowergarden.noaa.gov/protection/preventcoraldisease.html

You have questions? NOAA has answers! Submit your questions about severe weather events here along with your e-mail. Then, in December, NOAA will host a Town Hall webinar where experts will  answer your questions about tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, lightning, flash flooding and more. The most frequently asked questions will be posed to a panel of experts. So put your thinking caps on and submit your questions today!

 Explore a collection of NOAA lesson plans, webinars, videos, web stories and more to learn about noise in the ocean and NOAA’s efforts to monitor and understand underwater sound in the National Marine Sanctuary System. Learn why noise is important to marine organisms’ communication and survival and how ocean noise is changing due to human activity. Read to explore NOAA’s efforts to understand the effects of anthropogenic ocean noise on the marine ecosystems of the National Marine Sanctuary System here >

Join us and get a sneak peek to see what NOAA scientists do in all our labs and offices across the country! Students in grades 2nd-8th can connect with scientists and ask questions in real-time through a moderator. Join us for the following live webinars:

• Help from above - using planes, drones, and
       satellites to study and protect plants and animals
       with NOAA Live! on Friday, November 12 at 4 pm ET
• Monitoring Weather Around the World, on Saturday, November 13 at 11 am ET

 Click here for a full list of both upcoming and past recorded webinars. Support services are provided by Woods Hole Sea Grant and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

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Join us for three case studies followed by a panel discussion of how community monitoring programs are providing beach data to local and state decision makers.  There will be time Q&A. 

Please register here.

Last month’s webinar, “Using Community Science for Decision Making: Coastal Flooding,” has been posted to the WHOI YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQtvjyJqXAg

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How do you remove over 300,000 pounds of marine debris in one year? Join us as Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project President/Founder Kevin OʻBrien shares about the three large-scale debris removal efforts in Papahānaumokuākea over the last year that shifted thinking about solving the problem of marine debris in the Monument. Learn more here >

You can also visit the archives of the webinar series here, brought to you by the National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series.

Register now for remaining presentations in the CLEAN webinar series to enhance your knowledge and teaching about climate and energy education! Upcoming webinars include:

“Teaching Climate Consequences with CLEAN: Motivate and Inspire, Don’t Despair” presented by Karin Kirk, November 9th | 6:30pm ET | REGISTER Here >

“Strategies for Integrating Climate Science into the Elementary Classroom with CLEAN” presented by Alicia Christensen, Tiffany Boyd, and Rae Han on November 18th | 6pm ET | REGISTER HERE > 

Link to the webinars to learn more, or learn more about the series HERE.

Just Sustainability: Curious Conversations About Equity and Sustainability is a podcast for faculty and professionals in higher-education interested in better integrating equity and sustainability within their work. In the process of recording the podcast, the presenters have spoken to and learned from people at the vanguard of socially-just approaches to sustainability. This workshop will share these important finding. Workshop topics include but are not limited to:

• How the guests featured on Just Sustainability conceptualize the intersection of equity and
       sustainability.
• The importance of community-specific factors.
• Strategies for building empowering relationships with communities
• Learning from marginalized folks in non-exploitative ways.
• The cultural biases embedded within the conventions of higher education, and more!

Click here to learn more .

 Registration Fee: $95 (AASHE members), $125 (AASHE non-members)

The Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) is offering a free webinar series to provide educators with information and examples of the three dimensions and how they are used to teach and assess students. If you are adopting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or three-dimensional standards based on the Framework, these webinars will help. Register for one or all sessions and receive handouts and a recording of the sessions to share with colleagues. 

The Power of a Good Story, November 17, 2021, 4–5 p.m. ET

Making Sense of Phenomena and Problems, January 12, 2022, 4–5 p.m. ET

Everyday Three-Dimensional Assessment, February 9, 2022, 4–5 p.m. ET

The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) recently launched, The Time is Now: Advancing Equity in Science & Technology Ideation Challenge.  Help OSTP advance equity in science & technology through this challenge in three specific ways: Participate!; Spread the word to your networks; Connect with OSTP about opportunities to collaborate on advancing equity in science and technology. Email equity@ostp.eop.gov with questions, comments or suggestions.

In this Science Update from the National Science Teaching Association and NOAA, you'll learn all about the main Hawaiian Islands insular false killer whale and why they are endangered. This presentation will also introduce activities and resources to support classroom explorations, including how to be a community scientist and identify this species, how to report sightings and upload dorsal fin photos, and what you can do to help protect them. Register today to participate in this web seminar.

To help teachers seeking Earth science professional development, the American Meteorological Society’s Education Program is waiving all course fees for the first 36 participants that are successfully matched to a mentor team for each of the three online Spring 2021 DataStreme courses in weather, ocean, and climate science! Participants earn three accredited graduate credits per course.

Nearly 23,000 teachers have completed a DataStreme course, helping them leverage real time data in their classrooms, advance their careers, inspire their students, and become science leaders in their schools and communities. Teachers should fill out the DataStreme Interest Form ASAP to get matched with a mentor for the spring semester. Learn more about this exciting microcredential at http://ametsoc.org/CAT.

(Completion of any two courses offered by AMS Education fulfills the requirements to become a Certified AMS Teacher!)

Are you interested in diversity and inclusion in the participatory sciences? IDEAL Citizen Science is a new working group funded by the National Science Foundation. The initiative is in response to recognizing striking demographic limitations of large-scale citizen science projects (accessed in the top link on this page). If you are interested in learning more and/or being part of the IDEAL citizen science initiative, please fill out this form. Thank you!

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) - including computer science, is now accepting nominations! The PAEMST is the highest honor the U.S. government bestows for K–12 mathematics and science teaching, honoring up to 108 teachers each year. Presidential awardees receive a certificate signed by the President; a trip for two to Washington, D.C. to attend recognition events; and $10,000 from the National Science Foundation.

Consider nominating a talented teacher or applying for the award yourself here. This year, teachers in grades K–6 are eligible. Nominations close on January 7. Applications will be due by February 6.

The Journal of Emerging Investigators is an open-access journal that publishes original research in the biological and physical sciences that is written by middle and high school students.  JEI provides students, under the guidance of a teacher or advisor, the opportunity to submit and gain feedback on original research and to publish their findings in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Because grade-school students often lack access to formal research institutions, we expect that the work submitted by students may come from classroom-based projects, science fair projects, or other forms of mentor-supervised research.

Young people research their community and report on how they're going to make their food system more sustainable.  The young people's budget is then reviewed and money is distributed to complete the plan. Action Plan funds are first-come, first-serve with only completed submissions eligible. The first 100 complete submissions will also receive an extra $100.* Finallly, young people submit their story of how they took action and asked for a change.

Download a Student Workbook, Adult Partner Guide, and more details at earthforce.org/csc. 

Filmmakers, Share Your Great Lakes & Ocean Stories at Thunder Bay International Film Festival!  Inspired by NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary system, this competition is designed to give high school students an opportunity to tell their Great Lakes and ocean stories. Top entries will be selected to have their films screened at the virtual Thunder Bay International Film Festival in January 2022, prizes awarded to top three entries.  Deadline: 4 January 2021.

And Don't Forget...

• 'Picture Climate Change' from NOAA: Calling all 5th - 12th Grade Students! Competition.
       Deadline: 15 November 2021. Hurry!
• Annual NOAA Marine Debris Program Art Contest & Calendar. Deadline: 10 December
       2021

Climate change impacts are not equitable and continue to harm marginalized communities at a high rate. Dive into this web series on transforming the conversations we have about climate solutions, and hear from voices on the front lines of climate change impacts in communities across the county. Find the series here >

As a part of the extensive HistoryMakers archive, ScienceMakers provides biographies and oral histories of more than 200 African American pioneers in STEM professions. The ScienceMaker biographies and accompanying classroom toolkits engage K–12 students in pursuing STEM careers by showcasing the compelling life stories of a diverse group of STEM professionals.  Find out more and access the resource >

The Adaptation series highlights the intersection of environmental education, geography, and anthropology. Explore these resources and classroom activities that promote civic action by students to make real connections in their local communities as inspired by the actions in the global examples presented in each episode. These lessons could apply to geography, life science, or environmental science/studies classes, as well as innovation and engineering programs with a human-centered design approach.

Ever wondered who owns Antarctica? Who is allowed to visit? What scientific research and exploration occurs on the southernmost continent? A post from the blog Teaching With the Library of Congress (LOC) shows middle and high school teachers how to engage students in a study of Antarctica using two primary source maps from the LOC. The post describes how the maps can be incorporated as part of lessons in various subject courses and includes guiding questions for each area. The maps also enable students to develop understandings about geopolitical and scientific interests in the region. Find the tool here >

• NOAA Fisheries has issued a Final Recovery Plan and Recovery Implementation Strategy for the main Hawaiian Islands insular false killer whale. This distinct population segment is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and has less than 200 individuals. These documents serve as a blueprint, guiding efforts to conserve and recover this highly endangered species.
  
  
• The New Jersey Marine Debris Emergency Response Guide is a product of collaboration among state and federal agencies and will improve preparedness for response and recovery operations following any natural disaster or event that generates large amounts of marine debris in New Jersey.
  
  
• The NOAA Marine Debris Program is pleased to share the 2021 Washington Marine Debris Action Plan. This document represents a diverse partner-led effort to guide marine debris actions in Washington State for the next two years.