At our last Book Club meeting NOAA Planet Stewards had a dynamic discussion of Katharine Hayhoe’s new book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientists Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World -a wonderfully written, multilayered look at science, faith, and human psychology surrounding conversations and climate change.

Join us Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at 7:00 PM ET, for our next Book Club meeting. We’ll be discussing The Highest Tide, a young adult fiction book by David Lynch

Future meeting dates,  book sections, and how to log in are found in the Book Club section of our Upcoming Events Page. 

All are welcome! Bring a friend!

You can find over 50 fiction, non-fiction, and Young-Adult selections from past Book Clubs with each book's discussion questions on our Book Club Archive Page. There’s something for everyone at the NOAA Planet Stewards Book Club: catching up on some knowledge, enjoying a quick fun read, or finding a book to use with your students. Join us!

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NWS Spring Seasonal Safety Campaign

The Spring Safety Campaign officially launched on March 1!  Are you WeatherReady for the Spring? Check out the latest weather safety graphics, videos, social media posts, and more at: weather.gov/wrn/spring-safety

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This is an amazing story of how NOAA kept the world’s longest record of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere running despite considerable odds. Last November, Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in almost 40 years, paralyzing the Mauna Loa Observatory where scientists had been measuring air for six decades. Up to 30 feet of lava toppled power lines and buried a mile of the main road. But as reported in The New York Times, lots of ingenuity, “a transoceanic scramble and a dose of luck” enabled scientists to restart readings, taking them for the first time on a neighboring volcano. Shown here, Aidan Colton, NOAA atmospheric technician, holds his breath, preventing the carbon dioxide in his lungs from corrupting the sample before collecting air in a glass flask atop Mauna Kea, one volcano over from Mauna Loa. Read the full story.

Check out this exciting story map describing NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) work. The CRCP brings together expertise from across NOAA for a multidisciplinary approach to understanding and conserving coral reef ecosystems. The program uses a resilience-based management approach to conservation that enhances corals’ capabilities to withstand and recover from stress. The CRCP partners with governments, academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and communities to target local issues that impact coral reef ecosystems. CRCP’s focus areas include climate change, land-based pollution sources, unsustainable fishing practices, disease, and coral restoration. View the story map to learn more about the Coral Program and meet the team!

Join Earth Force to learn about how effective community and stakeholder engagement is critical for an impactful civic action project. Get tips to connect with resource professionals and community members. Register now.

Teachers want to incorporate authentic scientific data into their curricula, but struggle to find accessible and meaningful datasets that can be easily integrated into modern teaching practices. In response to this problem, climate scientists and instructional specialists from the University of Colorado Boulder have created "Data Puzzles," a free resource that uses instructional practices outlined by Ambitious Science Teaching (AST) to engage students in data analysis in the context of important scientific research. Data Puzzles challenge students to analyze and interpret climate datasets to create explanatory models for important questions like, "What is causing the megadrought in the Colorado River Basin?"

In this session, participants will be introduced to AST practices and authentic climate datasets as they engage with a Data Puzzle and leave prepared to facilitate Data Puzzle resources in their own classrooms.

The webinar is free, but registration is required. Register now. A recording of the webinar will be posted on the AGI YouTube Channel.

Please join the Yale Center for Environmental Communication to learn how museums and cultural centers are engaging millions of Americans in informal science education and other programming related to climate change. This is a chance to engage young people and adults to learn about climate change and to dream and move forward on pathways to reach a better world. Miranda Massie, Director of the Climate Museum in New York City, will moderate a conversation with Jen Kretser of the Wild Center and Nan Renner from the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Register for the webinar.

Secondary science teachers seeking ways to introduce more inquiry into their classrooms can spend three weeks (July 17–August 3) immersed in hands-on, inquiry-based science activities and discussions at San Francisco’s Exploratorium. There is no fee to attend the Summer Institute; teachers must only pay for their travel, food, and lodging. Each participant will be awarded a $2,500 stipend after completing the institute. 

Applicants must be current in-classroom science teachers for grades 6–12 and should have at least three years of experience teaching science in a classroom. Educators of color and educators working in public schools, especially Title I schools, are encouraged to apply. Apply now. 

Hey teachers! It’s time for you to have a terrific time getting your hands dirty exploring physical oceanography and weather!  The American Meteorological Society's 2023 summer courses, Project Ocean and Project Atmosphere, are accepting applications through 24 March, 2023. These competitive professional development courses are open to K-12 teachers and include online and in-person components and field experiences. All travel expenses are covered and participants receive stipends and earn graduate credit upon successful completion of the courses. Don’t miss this chance to learn from the experts, connect with other outstanding teachers, and have the earth science experience of a lifetime! Learn more and apply!.

Join Restore America's Estuaries, Black in Marine Science, and Minorities in Aquaculture for the next installment of our monthly webinar series. Take a look at the importance of oysters to estuaries and coastal communities, how women owned and led minority focused non-profits play a role in conservation, and why community engagement is critical for improving diversity, equity, and environmental justice in coastal restoration. Register now.

With continued climate change, elements of the Earth system may reach tipping points of abrupt, dramatic change with irreversible consequences, like the rapid collapse of ice sheets or dieback of the Amazon rainforest. Tipping points also exist in human systems; devastation from extreme weather and major stresses on food, energy, and water could accumulate and tilt society into radically new dynamics such as mass migration or major economic shifts. However, tipping points in human systems can also be positive, and stem from rapidly spreading norms, behaviors, and technologies, such as how battery storage could tip the power sector irreversibly towards renewable energy. Join us for a conversation about the tipping points we are approaching, how to prepare for those we may reach, and how to encourage positive social tipping points for action on climate change. Participants will be announced soon. The conversation will be webcast on the Climate Conversations: Tipping Points webpage.  Register now.

Beyond Doom & Gloom: How to Teach Climate Change Towards Empowerment with CLEAN

Thursday, April 20, 2023 | 6:00 - 7:00 pm ET

Learn about CLEAN’s new resources related to climate mental health and walk away with strategies and activities to integrate into your curriculum and better engage with today's youth. Register now.

The Great Lakes Watershed Field Course is a 4-day professional development experience for teachers from throughout the Great Lakes region taking place in Suttons Bay, MI. Training in the course includes watershed and environmental concepts, place-based education and environmental education pedagogy, and time for curriculum development. Educators will learn how to engage students in local environmental issues, investigate solutions, devise a plan, and take action during this course. Inland Seas staff supports teachers throughout the school year with additional training, online forums, and other forms of assistance to help teachers implement their watershed-based stewardship action projects.

There is no cost for this experience, but space is limited to 30 participants.

STEMSEAS aims to provide ship-based, 6-10 day exploratory experiences for undergraduates from diverse backgrounds aboard NSF-funded research vessels. Students will sail with experienced faculty and graduate student near-peer mentors, and engage in geoscience and oceanography activities (while also having fun)!

Most expenses (travel to/from the ports of call, materials, and living expenses while on the ship) will be paid by the program- there is very little cost to participants. 

Learn more about the program, the 2023 sailing schedule, and the application process.

Calling all young climate change-makers: Do you want to make a real impact on the climate crisis? Follow these instructions and submit your #Youth4Climate solutions for a chance to receive an invaluable mentorship and funding for your project. Choose one of four thematic areas – Urban Sustainability, Food and Agriculture, Education, or Energy – to tackle with your proposal.

Join National Geographic Explorer and storyteller Tara Roberts as she follows a team of Black scuba divers on a quest to document and identify sunken slave shipwrecks. Her goal is to bring to light the forgotten history of those lives lost. Explore the Into the Depths Resource Library collection for articles, videos, and maps you can share with your class.

Women and Climate Reading Comprehension

Designed by staff from Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve, this activity engages upper elementary students around the concept of insulation, an important animal adaptation for winter survival. Students will investigate rates of heat loss in an experiment and learn about other ways animals adapt to cold temperatures.

Celebrating Female Scientists During Women’s History Month

This month read about the careers of notable female scientists of the past and present. As this Association for Women in Science website suggests, “share their accomplishments so they too can be household names like Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking.”

The Smithsonian Science for Computational Thinking are elementary learning modules - available in both English and Spanish – that integrate science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), and computational thinking through a phenomenon- and problem-driven pedagogy.

In Protecting Whales (third grade), students investigate the real-world problem of humpback whales getting hit by ships. The module contains 11 tasks for students to learn about whales, investigate whale migration patterns, consider how heavy ship traffic might affect whale migration, research solutions to help ships avoid whale strikes, and propose a possible solution based on collected data. 

In this climate change lesson from the New York Times’ Learning Network, students in grades 6–12 participate in a jigsaw activity to explore strategies and technologies to help mitigate the effects of global warming, including renewable energy, nature conservation, and carbon capture. Student groups delve into seven main climate change solutions, then reflect on how action can be taken. The lesson plan features an overview and instructions, along with links with more information about each potential climate change solution and graphic organizers to support students in their learning.

In this lesson from KidsGardening, students in grades 9–12 design an accessible garden space to better understand garden features that help meet the needs of all students. The multi-day project involves students in online and in-person research to learn about what is needed to address the needs of all students in a neurodiverse classroom. The lesson plan provides background information and links to more information about the elements and materials to design garden spaces for students with physical limitations, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and other diagnoses.

Climate optimism isn’t about denying what we can see with our own eyes, or ignoring our grief for what we’ve lost. It’s understanding that we know how to prevent things from getting worse and that we’re making progress. Each issue includes timely stories about climate action, and a menu of options to help you find your place in the effort. It’s like a breath of fresh air, straight off the blade of a wind turbine.

Subscribe to stay up to date, and check out the feature, “The Rise of the Climate Optimists,” in the Christian Science Monitor. Learn why The Climate Optimist was started and why it’s important to reframe how we think about climate change in this Blue Sky Podcast interview with the author. Check out past issues of the Climate Optimist at your leisure.

The National Environmental Education Foundation is providing $200,000 in  funding for shovel-ready projects beginning in July 2023. Habitat enhancement projects should directly support the creation, restoration, remediation, improvement, and/or protection of habitats for important pollinator species such as butterflies, bees, bats, and more. The project should impact pollinators on at least 150 acres of public land. Projects should also incorporate community outreach and engagement activities designed to educate and empower the public to help enhance pollinator habitats. Learn more about this exciting grant opportunity.

BIPOC-led groups focusing on water privatization, plastic pollution, or environmental justice are encouraged to apply for The Story of Stuff Project Grassroots Grant Program. Groups with projects that are campaign-focused, community driven, and serve communities of color can receive up to $5,000. Grants are reviewed on a rolling basis and awarded quarterly..