NOAA Education has created a new needs assessment for educators working with elementary through university-level students. Its goal is to provide NOAA information about the types of STEM multimedia and distance-learning tools educators want to use with their students and for their own professional development.

Help NOAA Education by taking this survey and distributing it to your colleagues and networks in education. Take this very short survey and let NOAA know how it can help you!

Last night NOAA Planet Stewards got together to discuss Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the World with Rachel Sarah, the books author. It was a blast!

Didn't get a chance to make it to the meeting? That's OK.

You can join us on Monday, April 11 at 8:00 PM ET when we'll get together to talk about Sy Monntgomery's book:

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

We hope you'll join us; You'll be glad you did!

Discussion questions will be posted prior to the meeting on our Website. To join the discussion Dial 866-662-7513 (toll free) then use the pass code 1170791#. Learn more here and see our entire lineup for the rest of the 2021-2022 academic year.

In 2022, the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center’s Innovative Lives series will focus on the Washington D.C. region as a place of invention. Kavita Shukla is the founder and CEO of The Freshglow Co. and the inventor of FreshPaper, a simple innovation taking on the massive global challenge of food waste. She holds four patents and is the youngest woman to receive the biennial INDEX Design to Improve Life Award–the world’s largest prize for design. Her story of simple beginnings, belief, and empowerment was the subject of a short film by Hollywood director Bryce Dallas Howard. In honor of Women’s History Month, Lemelson Center Associate Director Monica Smith will interview Shukla about her inspirations and innovations. Register here.

 A systematic literature review identified 49 research papers that reported effective strategies for teaching about climate change. Climate change is challenging because of the controversial and value-laden issues and misperceptions that swirl around it. Community projects and deliberative discussions help students deeply understand the issues and build skills for working toward solutions. This presentation explains the focus on key themes that might help educators emphasize valuable and effective strategies in their climate change programs. Find resources that work here.

If you're looking for educational resources or ideas to plug into your academic planning, 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 as well as their students and audiences.

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

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

Join Learning for Justice—a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center—and cohosts from the Smithsonian Science Education Center for a webinar that will introduce connections between social justice and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education with a focus on our environment. You’ll learn how to use a transdisciplinary lens to approach complex problems with respect for student and community knowledge. And you’ll gain tools for supporting students and spurring them to turn their learning into sustainable action. Register here.

A new Middle School level unit on Earth's Resources & Human Impact is available for download today! This resource from OpenSciEd begins with students observing news stories and headlines of drought and flood events across the United States. Students figure out that these drought and flood events are related to rising temperatures. Find out more and explore the unit today.

Check out the following Webinar highlighting the Unit:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology's K–12 Education offers free webinars each month for all educators that provide background content, highlight new and relevant educational resources, and allow discussion for successful implementation. Each webinar is roughly 60 minutes with questions. Access all archived webinars through K–12 Education Cornell Lab's YouTube channel. You can also receive letters of completion or Continuing Education Units. Register for the webinars here.

The 3rd Annual Recycle Regatta is now on! Students in grades K-12 are invited to compete in this free virtual regatta. First, build a model sailboat out of recycled and repurposed materials. Then, race your boat to victory while learning all about engineering, mathematics, sailing, buoyancy, and stewardship. Classrooms, boating centers, families, and all community organizations are encouraged to take on the challenge.

The 2022 Ocean Awareness Contest is a platform for young people to learn about environmental issues through art-making and creative communication, and become advocates for positive change. Its theme, THE FUNNY THING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE, challenges students to learn about climate change and its impact on the ocean, and to explore new ways, like humor, satire, or kitsch, to communicate the urgency of the climate crisis. 

Visit the website for full details, and be sure to check out Bow Seat’s Resource Studio on methods that break the mold on your typical doom and gloom messaging.

Special Awards:

• The We All Rise Prize  View the 2021 Winners.
• The Voice of the Sea Award –  View Voice of the Sea Award Winners.

There will also be an Educator Innovation Awards. If an educator brings the Ocean Awareness Contest into your physical or virtual classroom this year, Bow Seat wants to hear from you! Nominate yourself or a colleague for a $750 award. Learn more >

Live ship to shore interactions are free 20 or 30-minute Q&A connections with professional ocean explorers onboard Ocean Exploration Trust's Exploration Vessel Nautilus that allow students to experience modern expeditions and ask scientists questions in real-time. Interactions are available daily and scheduled to meet your needs, conducted using Google Meet or Zoom,. All you need is a computer with an internet connection, speakers, a projector, and a microphone. The vessel and it's crew are now studying the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and will be in the Hawaiian islands region from March 14 to mid-October 2022.

From engaging presentations  to lively exhibitor workshops and specially-developed Texas sessions, to a vibrant Exhibit Hall featuring the latest science teaching tools, materials, and technologies available, NSTA Houston22 is sure to provide YOU with the very best professional learning experience around! Visit us at the NOAA booth should you attend! Find out more here.

According to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), extreme wildfires are projected to be more frequent and intense, and are expected to increase 50% by the end of the century. Extreme fires are defined as a catastrophic fire occurring roughly once every hundred years. The report also warns of increased risks in the Arctic and other regions previously unaffected by fires. Scientists point out that climate change and land use can drive the fire increase. They urge governments to radically shift their spending from response to prevention of extreme fires. Read more...