Join our December Book Club meeting next week! With the holidays season upon us and many people focused on gatherings with loved ones and celebratory meals, we thought it would be a good time to revisit:

The Omnivore's Dilemma

by Michael Pollan

Monday, December 13 at 8:00 pm ET

Dial 866-662-7513 (toll free) then use the pass code 1170791#.
The discussion is open to all, please share with interested colleagues and networks. Learn more here.

What is Antarctic paleo-climate research? In this Planet Stewards webinar archive, Dr. T.J. Fudge and Louis Huffman will discuss SPICE Core (South Pole Ice Core) where scientists seeking data from the past 40,000 years have drilled a 1500 meter ice core to study chemical isotopes, tiny particles called aerosols, and atmospheric gases trapped in the earth's great southern ice sheet. The goal is to investigate environmental change since the last glacial/interglacial transition. Dr. Fudge  shares his work in the Pole's extreme environment, and Louise Huffman - the US Ice Drilling Program’s Education Program Manager, shares related educational resources. Find the webinar archive here.

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

• Background
• Lesson Plans & Activities
• Webinars
• Videos
• Virtual Reality
• Species Spotlight
• Posters & Infographics
• Wildlife Viewing Guidelines
• Web Stories
• NOAA Marine Mammal Resource Collection
• Additional Materials

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The NOAA Ocean Exploration Windows to the Deep 2021 expedition offers a unique opportunity for explorers of all ages to investigate the deepwater areas off Florida, Georgia and South Carolina along the U.S. East Coast, particularly the Blake Plateau. Here you can learn more about benthic fish habitats, deep-sea coral and sponge communities, and U.S. maritime heritage. Bring this science expedition alive for your students using the resources provided here!

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Get started early on your New Year's waste reduction resolutions! The NOAA Marine Debris Program is excited to celebrate a greener holiday season with some creative decoration and gift wrapping ideas that will help you reduce waste and bring holiday cheer into your home. In a series of festive blogs, they share their holiday hacks to celebrate the season while also protecting the planet! 

• Creative Ways to Reduce Waste This Holiday Season
• Zero Waste Holiday Parties and Decorations
• Zero Waste Gifts and Gift Wrapping

Also, try decorating with natural options, such as the dried fruit and eucalyptus garland pictured above, that can decompose at the end of the holiday season.

Guide to a Greener Holiday - Holiday Travel Plans

NOAA’s Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory has a new look. Check out NOAA’s new story map, A Window on the World, which provides an excellent picture of how Barrow’s work, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, has been on the front lines of understanding our climate for nearly 50 years. At a time of rapid environmental change, Barrow’s work has never been more critical, with implications that have an immense global reach.

On Nov. 1, NOAA Ocean Exploration achieved a milestone, mapping 2 million square kilometers of seafloor from NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. That's  more than 770, 000 square miles and over 25% of the size of the contiguous U.S. NOAA Ocean Exploration is at the forefront of the deep-sea mapping community, providing insights into geological, biological, climatological, and other processes to better understand, manage, and protect ocean ecosystems and species. NOAA mapping is vital to U.S. ocean strategy, which calls for a complete map of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone by 2040.

• Take a deep dive into this story. 
• Celebrate 20 years of NOAA Ocean Exploration. 
• Get the facts on sonar — a door to exploration. 
• So much more to discover! 

Imagine this: you are sitting on a beautiful beach enjoying a lovely day, when out of the blue an alarm blasts from your phone and reads “Tsunami warning.” Do you know where you would go and what to do?

Tsunamis are the stuff of nightmares! While they don’t occur very often, when they do they can be devastating and deadly.  At the NOAA Disaster Preparedness Program, we believe that preparedness begins with knowledge and understanding. Read the full blog here. 

Almost 20 years ago a young killer whale named Springer brought the Northwest together. The young orca - first spotted alongside ferries in Puget Sound, turned out to be an orphaned Northern Resident killer whale hundreds of miles from home. The new book "Orca Rescue: the True Story of an Orphaned Orca Named Springer," describes how she was rescued, rehabilitated, and returned to her pod on the north end of Vancouver Island. Today she is thriving, with two calves of her own. Hear the inspiring story from the people who lived it, and its lasting lessons for the recovery of this species. Register here.

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Other NOAA Science Seminar Series of Note:

• Evolution of the Cold Pool in the Bering Sea, 8 December 2021 | 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET 
  The webinar Integrates moorings, models, and new observing technologies to assess the evolution of the cold pool.
  
  
• New Pacific Northwest Drought Early Warning System Drought & Climate Outlook Webinar,  13 December 2021 | 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm ET . The webinar provides interested parties with timely information on current and developing drought conditions, as well as climatic events like El Nino and La Nina.
  
  
• Greenhouse gas exchange of Phragmites and Spartina species in tidal wetlands with different restoration history; 14 December 2021 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ET. Management for maximizing carbon sequestration and at the same time minimizing methane emissions are  sought after in wetland mitigation projects. Join in to hear about the the latest findings and data.
  
  
• Volcanoes under the sea and exploring the 53% of US waters that remain unmapped,        15 December 2021 | 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm ET. 
  
  
•  Planning for coastal and marine heritage in a changing climate, 16 December 2021 | 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET. Coupling climate risks with the political and financial constraints facing heritage management, it becomes clear that damage, destruction or loss of heritage is inevitable. In this webinar you will learn about strategies for adapting and accommodating loss that center planning efforts around heritage values, enable transformation of heritage sites, and enhance transparency when difficult decisions must be made.

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With environmental literacy programming, students and educators work to apply earth system science, civics, and interdisciplinary learning to understand and address complex local and global environmental challenges. Join the U.S. Department of Education and NOAA to explore how Federal, state, and local partners are engaged in environmental literacy programming and to learn about resources that can support environmental literacy programming in your area. Register here. 

Join this lunch and learn where Native experiences and expertise will be centered around climate justice in relation to energy. While Native peoples are the most impacted by climate change, their stories are often not represented, even in spaces meant to center on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Register
here >

People of color are the most impacted by environmental issues, but the least represented in decision-making and leadership positions at mainstream environmental NGOs and foundations, which have remained overwhelmingly white. Join Green 2.0, an organization working to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the environmental movement, to learn more about their Foundation Transparency Report Card findings.  Register to attend.

Whale and Dolphin Conservationists will outline their process of creating formal lesson plans and activities with thoughtful consideration to Next Generation Science Standards. Participants are encouraged to ask questions and highlight their familiarity with the NGSS. There will be adequate time to discuss simple ways that informal education organizations can start using the language of NGSS into their already existing activities.

Register by Friday, December 10, 2021 at 5:00pm.

Project Drawdown and the Solutions Journalism Network are partnering to offer a webinar from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education to shift the conversation about climate change away from gloom and doom to solutions that inspire students to take action. Participants will be introduced to Project Drawdown’s new Climate Solutions 101 video series and Solutions Journalism Network’s Climate Solutions Collections that are poised to become go-to resources for education about climate solutions. Learn more here.

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. Completion of any two courses offered by AMS. Education fulfills the requirements to become a Certified AMS Teacher! Learn more about this exciting microcredential at http://ametsoc.org/CAT.

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.

Chosen applicants will receive a $250 check and materials to grow their garden program. Forty programs will receive packages worth $1,050; five programs will receive the base package plus a $1,000 tool grant from Corona Tools; and five programs will receive the base package plus two Garden Towers from Garden Tower Project. Any public or private school, nonprofit organization, or youth program in the United States or U.S. Territories planning a new garden program or expanding an established one that serves at least 15 youth between the ages of 3 and 18 is eligible to apply.

Youth selected as Katie’s Krops Growers get what they need to grow a garden in their community and enhance the health of their cities and towns. A child, or a group of children, can apply if they are ages 7–16  and live in the United States. Applications for all types of vegetable gardens will be considered. Growers receive an all-inclusive grower kit that includes items necessary to start a garden in their backyard, on their balcony or patio, and so on. Students can apply today!

3. Inspired by NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries, this competition gives 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 with prizes awarded to the top three entries. All 3-minute films must relate to the theme: #ScienceInThe-Sanctuary.  Deadline: 4 January 2021.

4. Environmental Justice Video Challenge for Students. The EPA has launched the Environmental Justice Video Challenge for students to enhance communities’ capacity to address environmental inequities. Learn more about the challenge and how to apply.

The EPI Classroom (Ecology Project International) is free, online, and can be adapted to a variety of teaching and learning formats. The goal is to foster inquiry and inspire students to pursue answers using nature in the classroom and nature as the classroom. EPI Costa Rica: Exploring Human Impact in the Rainforest is the first series of lessons. Students will be introduced to the scientific process through authentic data that has been collected at the EPI Reserve. Throughout the 7 lessons, students will analyze footage of active wildlife cameras, contribute to conservation research, and explore the biodiversity of this spectacular tropical ecosystem. Find the site here.

If the learning challenges of the past two years have revealed anything, it's that education must be flexible to meet students where they are. These virtual field trips are a perfect example, offering educators in ecology, biology, life sciences, and other topics the opportunity to "take" their students to see Wisconsin's wildlife. Each of these 15 virtual field trips lasts approximately 5-20 minutes and features stunning visuals and explanations from expert naturalists, conservationists, and tour guides. The Nature Resources Foundation of Wisconsin has created these materials to connect generations to the wonders of Wisconsin's lands, waters, and wildlife.

Access the virtual field trips here >

RECKONING WITH THE US ROLE IN GLOBAL OCEAN PLASTIC WASTE

A new report from The National Academy of Sciences and funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program evaluates the contributions of the United States to global ocean plastic waste and recommends potential solutions. Access the report here.