August 3rd, 2010 Bob
The activity schedule for BioBlitz! 2010 at Kaw Lake is starting to shape up. So far we have biologists organizing and leading:
- Mammal tracking stations
- Setting up mammal traps
- Night-time insect collection
- Carrion beetle traps
- Plant identification walks
- Pond and Lake Seining for amphibians and fish
- Bird walks
- Snake walks and talks
- Oklahoma City Zoo education booth
- Junior Biologist activity
- Craft activities for little ones
Keep up to date on BioBlitz! developments, become a fan of our Facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oklahoma-BioBlitz/265354110309
Online registration is now open—Sign up today!
http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/bioblitz/BioBlitz.html
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June 7th, 2010 Bob
*NEW*
Project Learning Tree Early Childhood Experiences Activity Guide
Open to In-service and pre-service teachers, methods faculty, nonformal environmental educators, daycare instructors, head start teachers…
July 19th, OKC University, Time: 9:00 – 3:00
Cost: $15
The new state specific PLT based guide, the Oklahoma Children’s Garden, will also be featured. Participants will receive both guides. Interested? Simply email Christina at christina.stallings@oda.state.ok.us to register!
Specific workshop details will be forwarded once you are registered. Bring a friend
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June 4th, 2010 Bob
Oklahoma Project WILD is offering a Project WILD workshop on June 19 from 9 AM to 3 PM at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Center for Outdoor Adventure Recreation at Lake Arcadia near Edmond. The workshop is suitable for K-12 educators and costs $15.
Project WILD is one of the most widely used conservation education programs among educators. It is based on the premise that young people and educators have a vital interest in learning about our natural world. Emphasizing wildlife because of its intrinsic value, Project WILD addresses the need for human beings to develop as responsible citizens of our planet.
Project WILD is concerned with providing information, as well as helping students to evaluate choices and to make responsible decisions. In short, Project WILD’s mission is to help students learn how to think, not what to think about wildlife and the environment.
Workshop participants who attend a Project WILD workshop receive both the Project WILD K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide which focuses on wildlife and habitat and the Project WILD Aquatic K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide which emphasizes aquatic wildlife and aquatic ecosystems. The guides are organized in topic units and are based on the Project WILD conceptual framework. Because these activities are designed for integration into existing courses of study, instructors may use one or many Project WILD activities or the entire set of activities may serve quite effectively as the basis for a course of study.
To register or for more information contact Lisa Anderson at okprojectwild@fullnet.net . For a schedule of other upcoming workshops, go to www.OKProjectWILD.org.
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May 20th, 2010 Bob
Life Along a Prairie River poster
This is the 4th poster in our series Biodiversity of Oklahoma. This FREE poster features a beautiful landscape photograph of the Canadian River by Kim Baker surrounded by portraits of species found in and along the prairie rivers of Oklahoma and other states of the Great Plains.
To view the poster and request your copy go to our web site –
http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/posters/OBSposters.html
Also available online are profiles of the featured species and an extensive educator’s guide, which contains lessons and activities on ecological topics relevant to prairie rivers.
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April 19th, 2010 Bob
Project Discovery is an interactive field trip produced by Instructional Television (ITV) and South Carolina ETV. Now in its seventeenth year of providing quality programs for students, the educational series takes students to visit interesting and exciting places, providing an opportunity to explore and learn from historians, scientists, naturalists and other experts!
Designed for upper elementary, middle and high school students, this special program will be broadcast LIVE on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day from Congaree National Park to give us the opportunity to learn about the conservation and preservation of one of the oldest and largest tree canopies in the world!
Join host Bette Jamison and naturalist Rudy Mancke with special guests from the National Park Service and SC Department of Environmental Control (DHEC) as we take students on a virtual visit to this “Biosphere Reserve,” an international designation received because of the uniqueness of the Congaree National Park – a place of towering trees, primeval forest landscapes and diverse plant and animal life.
We’ll share swamp stories, learn the history of this national landmark, and experience national and state champion trees and astonishing biodiversity as we explore the largest remnant of old-growth floodplain forest remaining on our continent and talk about its conservation to keep it here for all of us and future generations.
Students are invited to e-mail questions to “Wireless Warren” before the program so Rudy Mancke and guests can answer during the LIVE broadcast: projectdiscovery@scetv.org
The interactive, hour-long field trip is scheduled for broadcast on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, 2010, Noon – 1 p.m. It will be broadcast LIVE on OETA. Please check with your local cable or satellite company for information about how to receive the program. Once you record the program, you can use the tape for an unlimited time. The only rights restrictions are that you cannot edit or sell the tape. The program is presented and distributed by SCETV/ITV (South Carolina Department of Education). An e-mail address is included for you and your students to use to submit questions before the program.
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April 18th, 2010 Bob
Online registration for this year’s BioBlitz! at Kaw Lake is now open! The inventory will be Friday Oct 8th 3:00 p.m. until Saturday Oct 9th at 3:00 p.m. with base camp at Camp McFadden on the western shore of Kaw Lake. If there is sufficient interest, we may also hold a camp fire discussion on Saturday evening.
There are a few changes to this year’s registration procedure. Please read carefully the following information before registering –
Online preregistration is open from April 12 – October 3. Cost is $5 for students, $15 for non-students.
Late on-site registration will be more expensive: $10 students and $25 for non-students.
You must register by September 20 to be guaranteed a t-shirt.
Everyone must register individually, including students (except children 5 and under – they may attend for free).
BioBlitz! will only be cancelled or postponed in the case of severe, dangerous weather. BioBlitz! will be held if it rains. There will be no refund of registration fees in the event that BioBlitz is cancelled or rescheduled. Your registration fee will be considered a donation to the BioBlitz! and used to organize future events.
Registration includes:
2 nights tent camping at Camp McFadden during event (bathhouse with showers available to all participants)
Event t-shirt
Friday night picnic
Saturday morning early, light breakfast
All educational activities held during weekend
Cabins and RV hook-ups are available at an additional cost. There are six cabins that sleep 10 people for $35 per night. There are six electric RV sites (no sewer) for $15 per night. If interested, please contact me to make reservations. These are available on a first-come first-serve basis.
Also, if you would like to participate as a BioBlitz! educator by leading an activity or helping with the Junior Biologist program, please let me know. We would love to have new people helping to make BioBlitz! fun and educational.
To register and for more information go to: www.biosurvey.ou.edu/bioblitz/BioBlitz.html
Hope to see you in October at Kaw Lake!
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April 13th, 2010 Bob
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22, 2010) at your school! This year’s historic event is a great opportunity for your students to learn about and take action for the environment. Register for Earth Day Network’s free online Educators’ Network at earthday.org/education to receive environmental education curricula and other resources to celebrate Earth Day. Be sure to tell them what you’re doing at education@earthday.org!
Where We Got Our Green – Earth Day 40th Anniversary Curriculum Unit Explores the History of the Environmental Movement
Now that Earth Day is turning 40, it is the perfect time to reflect on how much our world has changed since the advent of the environmental movement.
But when exactly was that event? When did environmentalism begin? How have humans impacted the environment, and how has the environment impacted humans? If you want to explore these questions, check out Earth Day Network’s newest resource, a free online comprehensive curriculum unit on the history of the environmental movement. They’ve divided the environmental movement into five eras – Pre Conservation, Conservation, Modern, Environmental Justice, and Sustainability. This thorough resource will provide you with images, videos, maps, graphs and more to fill you in on where we’ve come from and where we’re headed as a global movement. Hundreds of pages of background information and lesson plans for use in and out of the classroom, as well as references to multimedia resources and extension activities are also freely available from the Educators’ Network.
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April 5th, 2010 Bob
Have you ever been struck by the irony of Earth Day and 89′er Day (or Land Run Day) sharing the same date? So here in Oklahoma we celebrate a monumental and historic land grab while the rest of the world is holding rallies and staging events to promote the preservation and protection of the Earth. So while schools in Ohio and Oregon (the other “O” states) lead kids through environmental awareness exercises, we dress them up in hats and boots or prairie dresses and bonnets and have them run across the playground with a red wagon in tow driving stakes into the heart of Mother Earth. But then again, we don’t really do a whole lot with Columbus Day either (how can you discover a place that already has several million inhabitants?)
But that’s not why you’re here… Earth Day is coming up and Susie Shields and the good folks at OKRA (Oklahoma Recycling Association) are compiling a list of all the Earth Day (or Earth Month) activities state-wide. The list is here. But you might what to check the OKRA website because the list is changing as OKRA find out about other events. Find the latest list here.
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April 2nd, 2010 Bob
The Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative (OWPI) and the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education (OKAGE) are hosting a FREErenewable energy teacher’s workshop titled Windshop: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Sources July 12-15 in Norman. Here is a complete list of the summer workshops OKAGE is offering:
a. Web-Based GIS: “Happy Eating” to “America’s Drive In” — June 8-10, 2010
b. See the USA the OKAGE Way: SE Oklahoma — June 13-17, 2010
c. GeoBasics/GeoTech Institute — June 20-26, 2010
d. Teddy Roosevelt’s Dream: National Park Service Footprints in Oklahoma — June 27 – July 1, 2010
e. Windshop: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Sources — July 12-15, 2010
f. Get Your Kicks on Route 66: Okie Migrations — July 18-23, 2010
Find descriptions of all the OKAGE summer workshops and a registration form HERE. All workshops are open to pre K-12 teachers and pre-service teachers on a first-come, first-served basis. All workshops are FREE and include all materials, meals, and lodging. Space is limited and spots are filling fast, so don’t delay your registration! The registration deadline is April 30, 2010.
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March 12th, 2010 Bob
With the UV Index on the rise, it’s time to remind your students to Slip! Slop! Slap! and Wrap! 
In our effort to raise awareness about a health issue that is largely preventable and too often ignored – skin cancer, EPA encourages you to promote sun safety before the second annual Don’t Fry Day on the Friday before Memorial Day (May 28, 2010). As millions of us prepare to enjoy the great outdoors this Memorial Day weekend, EPA and the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention are reminding Americans to practice sun-safe behaviors. We need your help; go online and pledge to incorporate sun safety into your spring and summer activities.
Take the Pledge: www.epa.gov/sunwise/dfdpledge.html
Participating classrooms and informal education organizations will receive a Don’t Fry Day poster and a set of sun safety stickers. The stickers feature SunWise animals showing children how to Slip! Slop! Slap! and Wrap! Additionally, you will be entered into a random drawing for a SunWise Prize Pack. The prize pack includes a set of UV-sensitive beads, a real-time UV monitor, UV-sensitive nail polish and other sun safety resources.
To learn more about Don’t Fry Day, visit the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention’s Don’t Fry Day resource page, www.skincancerprevention.org, where you can find background information, skin cancer statistics and facts, and public service announcements you can put in your school’s newsletter or distribute electronically to parents.
Also be sure to stop by our home page at www.epa.gov/sunwise to see the new resources we’ve developed for you. You can take an online sun safety certification tutorial, find out how to enter the 2010 SunWise with SHADE Poster Contest (due April 7, 2010), or learn about our new UV Index Facebook app.
If you have any other questions, please visit the SunWise Web site at www.epa.gov/sunwise or email us at sunwise@epa.gov.
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