NOAA Planet Stewards, Elkhorn Slough and South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRS) are hosting a simultaneous three-day workshop for educators who work with middle or high school level students.

To register at the physical location you will be attending the workshop and receive more detailed information, visit these links:

• South Slough NERRS Workshop Registration Link
• Elkhorn Slough NERRS Workshop Registration Link

Reserve your place today! Spaces are limited!

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

2022 marks The NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program’s 20th anniversary! In the 20 years B-WET has been working around the country, the program has been a powerful catalyst for environmental literacy. B-WET and the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) framework support environmental education, foster student success and interest in learning, and empower students to implement environmental solutions in their own communities.

Visit the B-WET anniversary website for stories that illustrate how the B-WET program has impacted students, schools, and communities over the past 20 years. And look for B-WET posts highlighting #BWET20andGROWING on NOAA Education’s social media and B-WET’s Facebook page on August 8-19.

In this episode, an expert from NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program discusses a disease affecting long-spined sea urchin populations in the Caribbean. You'll hear how disease has impacted these organisms in the past, their important role in keeping coral reef systems healthy, and how you can help save them. Listen to the podcast.

Long-spined sea urchins in the Caribbean are being affected by a disease. Signs of the sickness include loss of spines (as seen in the photo), excess mucus on their spines, reduced spine mobility, or they may lose their ability to attach to the reef.

• Session 1—Grant Basics for Youth Garden Programs.  Watch the recording (replayed from Aug. 4)
  
  
• Session 2—Crafting Your Narrative for Grant Applications.  Register for the webinar on August 11, 2022, 4-5 pm ET.
  
  
• Session 3—Meet the Grantmakers Funding Youth Garden Programs, August 18. Hear from KidsGardening, Whole Kids Foundation, Green Our Planet, Big Green, and others—all national youth garden grantmakers—about their upcoming grant opportunities and their thoughts on what makes a strong grant proposal. Register for the webinar on August 18, 2022, 4-5 pm ET.

MapBuilder is an easy-to-use tool for creating customized monitoring applications. The upgraded MapBuilder application is free with a public ArcGIS Online account. During the webinar, participants will get an overview of the new version, which includes an improved interface and workflow, and an enhanced pool of new datasets. Speakers will also demonstrate how to create a MapBuilder application with the new easy-to-fill form feature.  All technical levels and questions are encouraged to attend! Available in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Bahasa Indonesian. Register for the webinar.

National Geographic is offering free storytelling courses for educators. Help your students craft their stories for powerful change. Sign up below to bring storytelling to your classroom.

• Why, How, and When: Introduction to Storytelling.           Register for the course.
• Storytelling for Impact in Your Classroom:
       Photograph. Register for the course.
• Storytelling for Impact in Your Classroom: Video.
       Register for the course.
• Storytelling For Impact In Your Classroom: Audio. Register for the course.
• Storytelling For Impact In Your Classroom: Graphics. Register for the course.

In its pilot year (2022 to 2023), Solar Decathlon (SD) Pathways will connect Solar Decathlon alumni with high school classrooms and academic groups across the United States. Alumni will share their personal pathways to careers in the buildings industry and/or renewable energy to inspire the next generation to join the clean energy workforce and offer the many paths to a STEM career.

SD Pathways looks to support all future clean energy workforce participants and educators by prioritizing schools in traditionally underserved communities across the country.

Email the team at SDPathways@nrel.gov with any questions. Complete the interest form if you would like to learn more!

1. "Striving for Sustainability Globally" Video Contest for all ages. 

The American Geosciences Institute invites individuals and teams to submit a brief, original video exploring the many ways people are using the Earth sciences to make decisions that maintain and strengthen the planet’s ability to support thriving life! Learn more here

2. "Sustainability in Action" Photography Contest for all ages.

Sustainable practices promote Earth’s capacity to support life throughout the biosphere, which involves interactions with other Earth systems such as the geosphere, the hydrosphere, and the atmosphere. How does geoscience knowledge help support sustainability where you live? With your camera, capture an image of the ways geoscience informs local efforts to build a sustainable world. Learn more about the contest.

3. "Our Sustainable World" Visual Arts Contest for Grades K-5 

A “sustainable” planet is one that supports living things — and that means taking care of all the things that life depends on, including land, water, air, and other living things. What does a sustainable world look like to you? What is necessary to have or change? What is not necessary? Use your artistic ability to produce an original work of art that shows how land, water, air, and living things interact in a sustainable world. Learn more about the contest.

4."Geoscience for Sustainable Development Goals" Essay Contest for Grades 6-9. 

We have all been called upon to help meet 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) articulated by nations around the world. Geoscience - which addresses interactions of the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere - can play a critical role in this. How can Earth sciences help achieve SDGs in areas such as poverty, nutrition, education, equality, ecosystems, climate change, and/or industrial innovation? Learn more about the contest.

#GenGeo is a global community of young people who are helping to shape the conversation, drive progress, and seek solutions to help protect our planet. Learn more about #GenGeo and register below for the #GenGeo Storytelling for Impact courses to learn how to craft a story for powerful change.

• #GenGeo Storytelling for Impact: Photography. Register here.
• #GenGeo Storytelling for Impact: Video. Register for the course.
• #GenGeo Storytelling for Impact: Audio. Register for the course.
• #GenGeo Storytelling for Impact: Graphics. Register for the course.

In celebration of Shark Week (July 24 - July 30), a Cape Cod newspaper - The Enterprise, spoke with Jaida Elcock about her shark science research; her efforts to increase diversity in the field of science, technology, engineering and math; and her creative take on science communication.

Ms. Elcock’s works as a doctoral student at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and co-founded a nonprofit that supports gender minorities of color in shark science. She also has 43,700 followers and 1.2 million likes on her TikTok page dedicated to fun facts about sharks and other animals. Try using Jaida's TikTok posts in the classroom with your students!

The NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is seeking proposals under the Great Lakes B-WET program. Great Lakes B-WET is a competitive grant program that supports existing, high quality environmental education programs, fosters the growth of new, innovative programs, and encourages capacity building and partnership development for environmental and place-based education programs throughout the entire Great Lakes watershed (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin). Successful projects provide Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) for students and related professional development for teachers, while advancing regional Great Lakes watershed education priorities. The Great Lakes B-WET program is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Take a look at the applicant resources.

Contact the Great Lakes B-WET program coordinator for questions: sarah.a.waters@noaa.gov or phone at (989) 312-3520.