Book: Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have by Tatiana Schlossberg

        When: Tuesday, December 13, 2022 | 7:00 PM ET 

Find all upcoming meeting dates and book selections for this year in the Book Club Section of our Upcoming Events Page, along with new information on our new platform, Google Meet - another flavor of Zoom. You can find over 50 fiction, non-fiction, and Young Adult selections from past Book Clubs - with discussion questions, on our Book Club Archive Page.

On our website, catch up on some knowledge, enjoy a quick fun read, or find a book to use with your students, there’s something for everyone at the NOAA Planet Stewards Book Club!

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

• Live webinars with time for your questions: Learn how scientists use explosives to learn about the ice from scientist Danny May, or shells, penguin bones and other markers to study the past (paleoclimate) to determine past sea level from scientist Meghan Spoth, and what it's like to work in bitterly cold places from two young Antarctic scientists!
  
  
• Some background on why we celebrate Antarctica Week! On December 1, 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was signed by twelve nations to set aside all of Antarctica “forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes in the interests of all mankind.” Beginning in 2010, Antarctica Day was established to commemorate the treaty as an event to promote global awareness of this collaborative treaty that set aside 10% of the Earth’s surface and inspire peace and hope for future generations. Please join us!

Contact Margie Turrin if you have any questions.

During this publicly-available and free webinar, participants will learn about the designation of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and innovative approaches for accommodating various uses, including fishing, for the primary purpose of protecting natural and cultural resources. Learn how the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal can be used to visualize use of ocean and coastal space. This webinar is particularly timely given the ongoing designation process of a national marine sanctuary at Hudson Canyon.

Thursday, December 8, 2022 | Half-Day Virtual Event

STEMIE Fest is a gathering of families, early childhood and early childhood special education professionals, faculty, and others, to engage in innovative and inclusive STEM learning experiences for all young children. This year’s event will be a half-day virtual event followed by a series of targeted professional development opportunities in 2023.  

Registration is now open!

Teachers care deeply about their students and about the state of the world. Given that children and young people across the globe are increasingly concerned climate change, the time to make teaching about it a priority in and out of classrooms is now. This session explores one interrelated way of doing this: students and teachers working together as detectives of climate denial and as delegates of climate justice. Join this educator session with James Damico, author of How to Confront Climate Denial: Literacy, Social Studies, & Climate Change.  

Brought to you by the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI).

Register and please share with your colleagues across the disciplines!

Teach Climate Network workshops and conversation series continues into December! There will be a #TeachClimateChat on Twitter and a professional development webinar, both on overcoming barriers to teaching climate change in the classroom. These events are open to the public and all educators and other community members are invited to join in conversation. Register today.

Deadline for spring semester: January 6, 2023

To help teachers seeking Earth science professional development, the American Meteorological Society is waiving all course fees for the first 35 participants that are successfully matched to a mentor team for each of the three online Spring 2023 DataStreme courses in weather, ocean, and climate science.

Participants earn three accredited graduate credits per course. Don’t wait! - DataStreme Courses are going on hiatus during the 2023-2024 academic year, but will return in Fall 2024.

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. 

Fill out the DataStreme Interest Form now to get matched with a mentor for this 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.

You can help others understand climate change and inspire people to take action through art. Youth ages 13-17 are invited to submit artwork related to the topic of climate, people, and nature. Winning artists will be featured in the chapters of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, which is seen by hundreds of thousands of people across the country and around the world. Learn more!

Participants will be asked to create a one-minute video outlining an innovative solution to a current environmental issue that they’re passionate about. Winning videos will be selected by a panel of judges to receive cash prizes, as well as an invitation to the iconic National Geographic Explorers Festival in Washington, D.C.

Students ages 13-18 and educators looking for ways to engage young people around environmental action are encouraged to sign up. Participation is free!

Check out PRI’s YouTube channel where you will find two separate series that address climate change science and solutions. “Climate Solutions, in No Particular Order,” is a 30-video playlist of 60-second videos that each addresses an important climate change mitigation strategy. “In the Greenhouse,” is an 18-video series of 5-15 minute video lessons addressing the science concepts that underlie climate change and opportunities to take action. Both series are supported with lesson plans, science context and background on PRI’s Teach Climate Science web pages.

Why does coffee take so long to cool down? Why is ocean water sometimes the warmest when the average daily air temperature starts to drop? How can buoys help us explore these questions? In this hands-on introduction to heat capacity by the Bridge and COSEE-NOW, students explore the concept and its effects on our daily lives. Students use ocean observing system data to investigate why water acts as a thermal buffer and the practical applications this has.

NOAA Ocean Service Education in partnership with K2 Studios, has developed the Ocean Odyssey Educators Guide - a series of eight elementary school level lesson plans inspired by the IMAX film, Ocean Odyssey. Lesson topics include: ocean biodiversity, marine mammal ecology and migration, ocean currents and climate, sustainable fishing, and marine debris. Watching the film is not required to carry out any of the lessons. Educators, sign up for you and your students to view a special extended preview of the film!

The lessons progress for use from younger to older grade bands (2-5), but all contain aspects and resources which may be adapted for all grade bands.

Ocean Odyssey Lessons include:

• Ocean Dwellers: Students learn about types of plants and animals that live in the ocean 
• Earth’s Water Moves: Water movement around the world and its importance
• Lives of Humpback Whales: Comparison of their lives to humans and why   
• Whale Migration
• Ocean currents: Role of the ocean in climate and how water moves
• Fishing for Solutions: Strengths and limitations of different fishing methods
• Food Matters: Basic fish anatomy and what happens to the food that an animal eats
• Cycles in the Ocean: Students develop a model of how water moves around the world,
        and learn how one major ocean current system may be slowing down

Application Deadline: December 17, 2022

Are you an educator, or know one, who’d like to spend 11 months working at a Federal Agency or Congress? The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship is accepting applications for the 2023-2024 year. Teachers will apply their extensive knowledge and classroom experiences to national education program and/or education policy efforts during this Fellowship. There are many sponsoring Federal Agencies, so check out the full list here see examples of the work of past Fellows. 

The National Science Foundation administers Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST)  are the nation’s highest honors for teachers of STEM, including Computer Science. This year's (2022-2023) awards will honor science, technology, engineering, or mathematics teachers working in grades 7-12. Applications and/or nominations are now open. Recipients will receive the following:

• A certificate signed by the President of the United States.
• A paid trip to Washington, D.C., to attend a series of recognition events and professional development opportunities.
• A $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation.
• An opportunity to build lasting partnerships with colleagues across the nation.

Fund for Teachers provides grant money to full-time, classroom teachers (up to $5000 per individual teacher, up to $10,000 for a team) to design and execute their own summer learning experience.  The money can be used to create your own learning experience or to attend a conference/professional development that already exists. 

Full-time teachers (who are in at least their third year of teaching), anywhere in the US can apply.  Additionally,  Teachers of Color can attend application support sessions by signing up. Learn more and apply.