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!

All are welcome! 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 lineup for the rest of the 2021-2022 academic year.

NOAA needs your help! 

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

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

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

Cornell Lab of Ornithology's K–12 Education offers free webinars each month for educators. These interactive events provide background content, highlight new educational resources, and discuss methods for successful implementation of \activities. Each webinar is about 50 minutes with 10 minutes for questions. You can access all their 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.

Attend a dialogue between historians of science Leila McNeill and Anna Reser, and Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, a multidisciplinary artist known for portraiture projects. Lacey Baradel, science historian at the National Portrait Gallery, will moderate the conversation to examine recent approaches that represent women in the history of science through portraiture and biography. It will explore challenges in upending established historical narratives and defining women’s participation in the history of science, the role of collaboration in producing and consuming these histories, the use of new technologies and media platforms, and efforts to identify and engage specific audiences.
Register here.

The Call to Action for Science Education issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine seeks to advance science education programs and instruction in K-12 and postsecondary institutions in ways prepare students to face global challenges of the future as engaged participants in society and as STEM professionals. Learn how the report’s recommendations are being implemented across the country. Register here. 

UCAR Center for Science Education (SciEd) is hosting a virtual event as part of Bard College’s Worldwide Teach-in for Climate/Justice. This webinar will feature a panel discussion about climate change solutions, action, hope, and why justice is a critical component of it all. There are two opportunities to participate in a live interactive session. Pre-registration is required to submit questions and engage with the panelists. Register for the 1:00 pm ET webinar or the 8:00 pm ET webinar. The event will also be live-streamed on YouTube and will not require registration. Middle and high school students are highly encouraged to attend.

The research is clear and incontrovertible: the climate emergency is causing sea level to rise, threatening millions of people around the world. These impacts will fall hardest on those with the least capacity to adapt. During this event, Columbia Climate School’s visionary thought-leaders will discuss their strategies for empowering, protecting, and transforming the communities most vulnerable to this climate catastrophe. Join this online broadcast for an illuminating discussion with world-leading landscape design innovator Kate Orff, renowned polar explorer Marco Tedesco and Climate School Dean Alex Halliday. Register now!

School of Ice is an National Science Foundation funded professional development program for faculty at Minority Serving Institutions. This program will train participants to understand paleo-climate evidence derived from ice cores and acquire the skills necessary to bring this exciting inquiry into new and existing Earth and environmental science classes on their campuses.

There will be two opportunities to attend School of Ice this summer. Help reduce your carbon footprint by considering the one closer to you geographically. Learn more at icedrill-education.org/school-of-ice/.

Travel expenses are paid and all resources are provided to workshop participants!

Registration is open now and applying early is highly recommended!

Summer Institute for Climate Change Education

Dates: July 18-22, 2022

Join Climate Generation, the NOAA Climate Office, and 14 other amazing climate change education partners virtually at the Summer Institute for Climate Change Education! Gain the skills to bring climate change into your educational setting, whether it be a classroom, nature center, or museum! Learn more and register here.

Join Sarah R. Johnson, environmental education specialist at Wild Rose Education, and International Arctic Buoy Program PolarTREC educator to learn how scientists collect weather, climate, and sea ice data amidst the frigid Arctic challenges. Johnson will share real-time updates from her late March PolarTREC Expedition in Alaska as well as her blog, Arctic Ruminations. Read the real-time updates and post questions and comments, and participate in a live-stream PolarConnect event on April 5, 2022 at 11:00 AM ET to meet the scientists at the Arctic Ocean on the sea ice. Be sure to sign up to receive the journal and blog posts (links above) in your email to get all the details.

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.

Can you think of ways to depict innovative, new technologies for greener shipping in the maritime industry? Students are asked to submit an original poster depicting creative ideas about the possibilities for new technology leading to a sustainable future for shipping and our global society. Twelve entries (six from grades K–5 and six from grades 6–12) will be selected as finalists by May 13. The winning artwork will be featured on the North American Marine Environment Protection Association, the United States Coast Guard (USCG),  and the Inter-American Committee on Ports of the Organization of the American States websites, as well as on a printed bilingual (English & Spanish) calendar distributed throughout the Americas.Two grand-prize winning artists, chosen from the finalists in each of the grade brackets, will receive a $100 cash prize and a USCG prize package, in addition to the certificate and calendar.

Learn more about the contest here.

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 >

Sharks play a vital role in the health of our ocean, but in some parts of the world, many shark species are in decline. By contrast, many shark species in U.S. waters are doing well thanks to the efforts of NOAA and fishermen. Learn about the conservation success in the U.S. and why sharks are in trouble elsewhere - and what you can do to help!

Check out the Ocean Today video and accompanying links to learn more about sharks and shark conservation.

If you’re looking to deepen students’ understanding of climate change, check out these resources from HHMI Biointeractive intended to extend the information presented in the film, The Science of Climate Change.

In North America, Spring is upon us and flowers are beginning to bloom, but along with the warmer temperatures and April showers can come a bloom of a different color. Harmful algal blooms, also known as HABs or red tides, occur when there is a population explosion of potentially harmful phytoplankton such as certain diatoms, dinoflagellates, and cyanobacteria. In this activity, students compare concentrations of harmful algal blooms to determine if the situation is getting worse over time.