Time: 7 p.m. ET
Video Conference Log In: meet.google.com/mxo-fkqc-owb
Phone Dial In #: (‪US‬) ‪+1 484-641-8305‬
Pin:732 637 522#‬‬

Before New York City was the Big Apple, it could have been called the Big Oyster. Author Mark Kurlansky tells the remarkable story of New York by following the trajectory of one of its most fascinating inhabitants–the oyster, whose influence on the great metropolis remains unparalleled.

For centuries New York was famous for its oysters, which until the early 1900s played such a dominant a role in the city’s economy, gastronomy, and ecology that the abundant bivalves were Gotham’s most celebrated export, a staple food for the wealthy, the poor, and tourists alike, and the primary natural defense against pollution for the city’s congested waterways.

Filled with cultural, historical, and culinary insight–along with historic recipes, maps, drawings, and photos–this dynamic narrative sweeps readers from the island hunting ground of the Lenape Indians to the death of the oyster beds and the rise of America’s environmentalist movement, from the oyster cellars of the rough-and-tumble Five Points slums to Manhattan’s Gilded Age dining chambers.

FIRST LOOK: Preview the questions for the 2025 Teacher at Sea Field Season application! We plan to open our online application during the month of November, but you don't have to wait till then to learn more. GET A GLIMPSE of the application format and questions in a view-only PDF available now at the Teacher at Sea Program website.

Photo of a sandbar shark's eye by TAS '23 Martin McClure.

Tuesday, November 5, 2024 | 2 p.m. ET

Recent climate events across the country–extreme heat, wildfires, floods, and hurricanes–have provided many opportunities to engage in learning and conversation with students in the classroom. These events can also give rise to challenging emotions in students and teachers. Research shows that a majority of teachers don’t feel equipped to address climate change or the complex emotions the topic provokes. According to a recent report, climate change is impacting the mental health of 68% of U.S. youth (Blue Sky, 2023) and 64% of adults are worried about it (Yale, 2024). 

Navigating climate emotions effectively is vital for student and teacher well-being and emotional resilience. In this online workshop, participants will be supported to reflect on their own climate emotions, engage in activities and discussion related to helping their students express and manage theirs, and will leave with tools and resources for their K-12 classrooms. CTLE credit is available.

Register for the American Natural History Museum online event

Application Deadline: November 8, 2024

The American Meteorological Society invites applications from K–12 teachers to participate in its summer 2025 Project Ice teacher professional development course, offered as part of the National Science Foundation/Oregon State University (OSU)-led Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (COLDEX). Teachers will be selected competitively from across the country, with a focus on those educating underserved students. Participants will engage in a graduate-level, multi-week hybrid course in paleoclimatology and ice core science that includes a workshop at OSU in Corvallis, Oregon, where they will engage with COLDEX scientists and visit the OSU ice core lab and Marine Geology Repository. 

Some support for travel, lodging, meals, and tuition will be provided for about 24 selected teachers. The course’s online portion will take place May 27–June 21, 2025, with the on-site residence experience scheduled for June 22–28.

Earlybird Application Deadline: December 15, 2024 

Final Application Deadline: January 15, 2024

PlantingScience is a Student-Teacher-Scientist partnership founded in 2005 by the Botanical Society of America. This no-cost program facilitates mentoring relationships with real plant scientists and teams of three to five students in grades 6–12 classrooms. Through asynchronous online conversations, the scientists provide support and encouragement as students design and carry out a plant-focused scientific investigation in the classroom. Teachers will receive free materials that will provide the content information needed, along with support from the participating scientists. 

Audience: Students enrolled at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI), and American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) chapter students

Notice of Intent Deadlines:
Moon and Mars Tracks – October 24, 2024 
Gateway Track – December 9, 2024 
Contact: rcannon@carthage.edu

The First Nations Launch competition offers student teams the opportunity to demonstrate engineering and design skills through direct application in high-powered rocketry. Teams are guided through the engineering process on one of three tracks (Gateway, Moon, and Mars) to design, build, and fly high-powered rockets.

Don’t have any engineering, design, or rocketry skills yet? Students from all majors can sign up for the no-experience-necessary Gateway track where they’ll receive all the instruction and support they need to design, build, and fly their first rocket. Teams also give back to their communities by conducting outreach and serving as role models to inspire the next generation of explorers. The competition is managed by Wisconsin Space Grant and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Application Deadline: January 31, 2024 

The Earth Prize is an annual, global $100,000 environmental sustainability competition for students between the ages of 13 and 19, which rewards the teams whose projects have the most potential to address environmental issues. It aims to inspire and empower the next generation of environmental leaders and innovators, creating a global platform for sharing and scaling their solutions.

In 2025, there will be seven regional winners, each receiving $12,500 to implement their ideas. The regions are Oceania, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America, and Central & South America. Additionally, The Earth Prize will recognize three mentors and three educators of the year, awarding each $2,500.

Audience: Grades 6-12

This NASA Space Apps Challenge invites teams to create a game that integrates Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program protocols, helping players understand the world around them, develop awareness of one or more local or global environmental topics, and more.

Application Deadline: November 8, 2024 

The Future Blue Youth Council is a diverse, international group of young people working together to advance Bow Seat’s mission and to empower their peers to advocate for our environment. Council members are paid to serve one-year terms as project managers, advisors, and creative idea generators!

Future Blues support Bow Seat’s by-youth, for-youth True Blue Fellowship, from reviewing applications to mentoring existing projects.

The 2025 Future Blue Youth Council Application welcomes all Bow Seat alumni to apply. If young people are not yet an alum, they are eligible to apply if they participate in the Ocean Awareness Contest by November 8th.

In the Coastal Pollution Tutorial you can explore three major types of coastal pollution: oil spills, marine debris, and harmful algal blooms. These pages present the sources, impacts, and solutions that environmental scientists, responders, and others are using to address each type of pollution. Developed by NOAA’s Ocean Service Education and Office of Response and Restoration, the tutorial is intended for middle through high school-aged students, and everyone concerned with our oceans and waterways. 

The EnviroAtlas tools are a collection of standards-aligned lesson plans from the EPA that provides educators with grade-level appropriate curriculum to teach a variety of environmental concepts.

There are ready-made lesson plans for every grade level, from kindergarten through undergraduate that can be used in formal and informal educational settings.  

All lessons are aligned with Next Generation and State Science Standards.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Marine Energy Adventure Game, allows people of all ages and educational backgrounds to explore how an Atlantic salmon and a harbor porpoise might interact with a tidal or riverine energy turbine.

The video game can also be reached via the Marine Renewable Energy Educational Resources page, which includes a marine renewable energy video series, a coloring book for download, and short science summaries on the environmental effects of marine renewable energy.  

If you have feedback on the video game, use this Marine Energy Adventure Game feedback survey to share it with the developers.

Teachrock developed a collection of interdisciplinary lessons which bring together science, music, and civics in K–12 classrooms.

Each lesson includes essential questions, learning objectives, student procedures, as well as links and handouts to facilitate classroom implementation. Titles include Cleaning Up the Plastic Beach (elementary and middle/high school levels); The Science and the Civics of the Flint Water Crisis (elementary/middle and high school levels); Confronting the Climate Crisis (middle/high school); Greta Thunberg, Music, and the Climate Crisis (middle/high school), and Mountaintop Removal Mining in Appalachia (elementary, middle, and high school).

E-mail registration is required to access the collection’s complete lesson plans.

In this Oyster Reef Recovery activity, suitable for 6th-12th grade students, students will 60 years of oyster landing data from the Virginia Marine Resource Commission database to:

Compare landings from natural and seeded beds

Evaluate and graph long-term trends in shellfish harvests

Answer questions about environmental pressures facing oyster growers

Determine if oysters are on the rebound or if there is more work to be done

Students will also have a chance to think critically and creatively as they design their own public service campaign to encourage consumers to donate used shell to recovery efforts.

Skype a Scientist matches scientists with people all around the world!

This program allows scientists to reach people from all over the world without having to leave the lab! They have thousands of scientists ready to chat, nd teachers can choose the type of scientist that will best fit their classroom and curriculum.

Application Deadline: November 1, 2024

The Greater Farallones Association (GFA) is excited to share a Marine Science Education Fellowship position with the Visitor Center Field Trip Program.

This fellowship is aimed at providing underprivileged candidates with a paid opportunity for immersive teaching and a mentorship experience in marine science. This fellow will work closely with our federal partners in education at the Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries. GFA hopes this fellowship will prepare those entering the marine science education workforce. Pay is $25/hr.

The Marine Science Education Fellow will provide instructional and administrative program support for the Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank Visitor Center Field Trip program. This is a part-time temporary position with the Greater Farallones Association and will require a commitment of 12-16 hours per week. This position runs from November 2024 through the end of April 2025, with a potential extension through June 2025.

Application deadline: November 14, 2024

The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship is a professional learning opportunity for pre-K–12 educators. National Geographic staff will select exemplary educators to host aboard Lindblad Expeditions’ voyages for a life-changing, field-based experience. Grosvenor Teacher Fellows will transfer their onboard experience into transformative ways to teach students, engage colleagues, and bring new geographic awareness into their learning environments and communities. 

Fellows are expected to be active and engaged members of the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship over the course of the expedition year and the year following. This includes participating in an in-person preparatory workshop, tentatively scheduled for April 9–13, 2025, in Washington, D.C., as well as periodic virtual meetups. Fellows are also expected to serve as ambassadors of the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship in all professional settings. 

Full-time pre-K–12 classroom or informal educators who spend 50% or more of their time working directly with students are eligible.

Educators must be residents of the 50 U.S. states, Canada, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico or U.S. citizens teaching at a U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity school.

Application deadline: December 1, 2024 

Teachers of grades 6–12 can apply online for a Toshiba America Foundation grant of less than $5,000 to help bring an innovative project into their own classroom.

Teachers who have an innovative idea for improving STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning in their classroom, and if their idea involves project-based learning with measurable outcomes are encouraged to apply.

Application deadline: December 31, 2024 

Based out of North Charleston, the Environmental Conservation Corps (ECC) is an AmeriCorps-accredited workforce development and service-learning program for young adults pursuing careers in conservation and environmental fields. Through this program, participants can gain desirable field skills and training while addressing coastal resilience and habitat restoration needs in the Lowcountry region. Projects include oyster reef fabrication, living shoreline construction, marsh grass planting, water quality and microplastic monitoring, rain garden maintenance, and more!

The Sustainability Institute is recruiting for Restoration Crew Members to serve from March 10 to July 25, 2025. This 20-week program is designed for young adults between the ages of 17-24 who are not in school nor working full-time.

The positions earn a total living stipend of $8,100.00 (pre-tax, paid bi-weekly) and an AmeriCorps Segal Education Award of $2,817.14 upon successful completion of the program. 

Benefits include: 

Trainings: Build knowledge and skills in a diversity of conservation and sustainability jobs 

Certifications: Receive professional certifications relevant to the field 

Compensation: Earn a living stipend and a Segal Education Award 

Connections: Meet and work with a wide variety of governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations 

Teamwork: Experience working in a team of peers and within a nonprofit organization 

Leadership: Help lead critically important conservation projects to combat climate change 

Service: AmeriCorps members get things done!!

For more information or to apply, visit: Join AmeriCorps - The Sustainability Institute

If you have questions, contact Darby Reed, at darby@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org

Nomination Deadline: January 6, 2025

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching are the top honors bestowed by the U.S. Government to K-12 STEM teachers. Each year, up to 110 outstanding educators from across the country may be recognized by the White House for their passion, dedication, and impact in the classroom.