January 2008



Project WET Workshop

Project WET is designed to help students, parents, educators, and communities of the world with water education. It contains wesites of interest that may be useful, as well as information about Project WET teacher training in Santa Clara County through the Santa CLara Valley Water District. This day long training will introduce you to the Project WET curriculum and activities which you will receive. Kathy Machado will show you how the activities work, how they can be adapted to different grade levels, and provide supplementary material, all water related! The next project WET is scheduled for Friday, March 7 2008 and is an all day event.

For more information about other upcoming Project WET trainings or to get some water based activities visit the Santa Clara Valley Water District website or contact Kathy Machado at kmachado@valleywater.org or (408) 265-2607, ext. 2331.

Bay Area Enviromental Education Resource Fair

Discover the latest in classroom materials, environmental education programs, and field trip sites. Join in the fun and attend workshops introducing conservation and wildlife education, school gardens, and strategies for fostering environmental awareness!
The event is specially designed for teachers, community educators, students, families, and all concerned about the environment we share.

Saturday, January 26th, 2008
Marin Civic Center located in San Rafael
10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For more information visit BAEERFair.org

Check out "The Story of Stuff"

It's a 20 minute film by a Berkeley filmmaker on “stuff” and the “materials economy.” The movie can be viewed on-line at http://www.storyofstuff.com/. It is a very worthwhile twenty minutes, simple, enlightening and thought provoking.

Sea Levels and Climate Change

Watch what is happening to sea levels as a result of climate at the Climate Change and Sea Level site from the University of Arizona. To map the level changes select the link for Coterminous U.S.A., then choose one of the options (from a 1-meter to 6-meter rise), then click on Refresh map.

Enter the California Coastal Art & Poetry Contest!

The California Coastal Commission invites California students in kindergarten through 12th grade to submit artwork or poetry with a California coastal or marine theme to the annual Coastal Art & Poetry Contest. Up to eight winners will be selected to win $100 gift certificates to an art supply or book store, and each winner's sponsoring teacher will receive a $40 gift certificate for educational supplies. Students may have their work featured on Commission web pages and materials. Entries must be postmarked by January 31, 2008 to be eligible for this year's contest. For rules and entry form, visit www.coastforyou.org, email coast4u@coastal.ca.gov, or call (800) Coast-4U. Contest flyers are also available upon request


CSTA Members! CSTA wants to hear from you about how they can best meet your needs.

Please help by completing their online survey at this link: www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx
The survey will take about five minutes of your time, and the rewards will be great: The knowledge that you've helped your professional organization better meet your needs!

Learn More about Global Climate Change and its influence on Evolution

University of California Museum of Paleontology is offering a short course discussing Global climate change and its influence on evolution. For more information click on the link: short course

Take Pride in America's schools program

Take Pride in America's schools program encourages schools and students to become active stewards of America's public lands by engaging in at least two volunteer events each year. Becoming a Take Pride School is a great way to participate in EE Week in April, either by cleaning up your favorite park, maintaining nearby nature trails, sprucing up your school or playground by planting trees and picking up trash, or monitoring water quality in local rivers. To sign up your school or find out more, visit Take Pride in America at www.TakePride.gov.

The Bay Area Earth Science Institute presents CALIFORNIA'S RESOURCES

Current and future 6th grade teachers this workshop is keyed to the California science standards focusing on: renewable and nonrenewable resources, water sources, supply, and quality, useful rocks and minerals, fossil fuels and climate change, and alternative energy sources. On June 23-27, 2008 from 9:00 am - 3:30 pm each day, it will be held in room 306, Duncan Hall at San Jose State University. You can earn a generous stipend (pending final notification of funding in late March), 2 units of Geology 104 for $44/unit, and receive classroom materials and ready-to-use teaching activities for your classroom. Ellen Metzger and Richard Sedlock of San Jose State University, Department of Geology/Bay Area Earth Science Institute will be teaching the workshop. For more information and application materials, call Ellen Metzger at(408)924-5048 or send email to metzger@geosun.sjsu.edu.

Wacky Watersheds Training Workshop
Wacky Watersheds offers hands-on learning experiences to explore the concepts of water use, wastewater treatment, pollution prevention, and watershed protection. All hands-on activities are correlated with California Content Standards in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science for grades 6 - 8. This workshop is especially designed for 6th - 8th grade teachers at schools located in San José, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Cupertino, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga or Monte Sereno.

Stipends: $150 available for teachers who complete an action project with their students.
Date: Saturday, March 1, 2008
Time: 8:30 am to 12:30 pm
Place: Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT) 1355 Ridder Park Drive, San José
Register: Go to www.raft.net for registration and CEU information. Just follow the links to RAFT Program Workshops.
Cost: Free! $20 deposit is required to reserve a space, returned upon attendance.
Materials: Educators will receive South Bay Water Connections, which includes environmental education classroom activities, 3 videos and a poster plus lots of RAFT materials.
Information: Contact Vanessa Martinez with RAFT at (408) 451-1421.


Grants Available:

Captain Planet
The Captain Planet Foundation an environmental funding resource offering small grants for field trips, gardens, and more.
See captainplanetfoundation.org for full details and application process.

Field Experience Grant from the California Science Teachers Association (CSTA)
CSTA is offering a field experience grant to a lucky CSTA member. The trip we have lined up for this summer is a trip to a place called Savannah Africa, south of Johannesburg (airfare, room and board included, as well as the flexibility to choose what part of the summer a teacher would like to go) Visit CSTA for more information.

Must meet the following criteria:
-Is a member of CSTA for a minimum of three years
-Is a U.S. citizen
-Evidence a willingness to work and learn with a team of scientists
-Agree to share information about the science field experience by presenting a workshop at the CSTA Science Education Conference
-Complete the application and sign the liability release form


Global Action Awards to Honor Students for Global Poverty Efforts (US applicants)
Deadline: January 31, 2008
NetAid, an initiative of Mercy Corps, is accepting applications for the Global Action Awards. The awards honor high school students in the United States who have shown great leadership in areas such as preventing disease, alleviating hunger, protecting the environment, promoting human rights, and improving access to clean drinking water, health care, or education. Projects may involve organizing advocacy campaigns, raising funds, volunteering, or using media and technology to involve others in the fight against global poverty. The honorees receive $5,000 each for college or a charitable cause of their choice, and are honored at a ceremony in New York City. Applicants must be a current U.S. high school student, or have graduated from high school in spring 2007. Guidelines and application materials available here.

Action For Nature's International Young Eco-Hero Awards (US & Overseas applicants)
Deadline: February 28, 2008
Action For Nature, a nonprofit organization that encourages young people around the world to carry out individual environmental action projects, presents the International Young Eco-Hero Awards to recognize the individual accomplishments of young people (ages 8-16) whose personal actions have significantly improved the environment. Action For Nature will award cash prizes of up to $500 each to young Eco-Heroes for their outstanding accomplishments in environmental advocacy, environmental health, research, or protection of the natural world. The applications will be judged according to several criteria, including but not limited to originality, difficulty, organization, length of time devoted to the project, influencing/educating others, use of outside resources (e.g., library, experts, media, community leaders), degree of success in reaching goals, and the impact on the environment. Complete program information and application guidelines available here.

The Volvo Adventure Award (US & Overseas applicants)
Deadline: January 31, 2008
Arranged in collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Programmed (UNEP) the Volvo Adventure Award rewards young people who run their own environmental projects. We are now accepting applicants for 2008. If you know of any groups of 13-16 year olds working on an environmental project they only have a few weeks to enter. All they have to do is register and enter their project by visiting www.volvoadventure.org.
By registering, they have the opportunity to win an all-expenses-paid trip to the final in Sweden and the chance of a financial reward that could make it possible to run, improve or enhance your project. For young people it could be an adventure that offers a chance to make new friends all over the world, attract international attention and recognition for their project.


Congressional Research Awards (US Applicants)
Deadline: February 1, 2008
The Dirksen Congressional Center invites individuals with an interest in studying Congress, including political scientists, historians, and biographers, scholars of public administration or American studies to apply for a Congressional Research Award. To learn more, visit http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm