News
EPA award nominations now open! Applications for the Presidential Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) and Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) are now open through Wednesday, January 15, 2025. To find out more about the eligibility, the process and how to apply to either award, please visit https://www.epa.gov/education
The Call for Conference Proposals is OPEN for the 2025 Outdoor Learning Conference in Banff National Park!
Idaho Bee Atlas is roaring! Watch about the state of the Idaho Bee Atlas on Idaho Public Broadcasting and read more about the efforts in Idaho from University of Idaho Extension.
The World of 8 Billion student video contest is open for submissions through March 2025. The contest is free to enter and open to middle and high school students worldwide. They ask students to think critically about global issues and share their ideas for a solution in a 60-second video, with prizes up to $1,200. This year’s topics are: Child Wellbeing, Rainforest Ecosystems, and Sanitation. They provide many resources, including a digital Project Organizer, to support educators and students through each step. The deadline for submissions is March 5, 2025. They are also offering mini-grants of $100-500 to support educators who need additional resources to teach the contest in their classroom. Grants are awarded on a rolling basis and educators can apply until November 15, 2024. See https://www.worldof8billion.org/ for full details on the contest and the grants.
Statewide programs for next spring and summer are coming soon! Our EE partners want to be sure you know about three programs to start planning for now:
The Idaho Envirothon will be held April 28-29, 2025 near Challis, Idaho. This high school Science competition is for teams of 5 students who will address topics of Forestry, Soils, Aquatics, and Wildlife through the theme “Roots and Resiliency: Fostering Forest Stewardship in a Canopy of Change”. Details at https://idahoenvirothon.weebly.com/.
The Idaho State Forestry Contest introduces students in grades 5 through 12 to basic forestry and resource management. The contest is typically held the second Thursday in May and is sponsored by the Idaho Department of Lands, Bonner Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). More than 250 volunteers donate their time to run the contest and a record 700 students participated in 2019. More details at https://www.idl.idaho.gov/about-forestry/idaho-state-forestry-contest/
The University of Idaho Natural Resources Camp location near Ketchum, Idaho typically runs in June each year. More details at https://www.uidaho.edu/extension/natural-resources-camp
Newsletter schedule changes coming soon. The Earth Tracks newsletter from IdEEA will transition to a quarterly schedule in the new year. This will be the last edition in 2024, and our Spring 2025 edition will be released in late March/early April. For more regular EE updates from around the state, we invite you to follow our blog and Instagram and Facebook posts.
Professional Workshops
Getting Children Outside 101 - Early Childhood Fall Workshop. This workshop from the Teton Science School will be November 16, 2024 from 9:00am-12:00pm MST. Join them for a morning of exploring the why and how of getting young learners outside and connected to their natural environment. Find inspiration and connection with other early childhood educators about going outside with young children, explore local community resources for helping to get children outside and discuss with others successes and challenges with getting young learners outside. They will discuss and share: the reasons why it is so important for young learners to play and engage with the natural world & helpful systems, tools and materials that can support teachers to do this successfully. You will also have the opportunity to learn more about how you can bring the outdoors inside and how we can connect what children are curious about in nature to the curriculum we are doing in the classroom. Class fee is $20; snacks, coffee, and tea will be provided and three STARS hours are available for participants.
New Braiding Sweetgrass course for educators this January. The Outdoor Learning School and Store has confirmed a new 4-session 'Braiding Sweetgrass for Educators' course with award-winning and best-selling Indigenous author, Monique Gray Smith, who adapted Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults! Monique will take educators on a learning journey, exploring the 6 sections of Braiding Sweetgrass for Youth Adults and the chapters within each of them, including key content for students. Early bird registration is available until December 15. See link for details and registration: https://outdoorlearning.com/event/braiding-sweetgrass-for-educators
PLT Explorations. In this self-guided training, explore a PLT curriculum of your choosing, conduct PLT activities, explore supporting resources, and plan how you will use PLT in your context. This course is always open and accepting new participants. Fee $35;1 PD credit for an additional $60. Register at idahoforests.org/plt.
Professional learning opportunity from National Geographic. The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship provides pre-K–12 educators the opportunity to travel aboard Lindblad Expeditions’ voyages for a life-changing, field-based experience, exploring destinations like Antarctica, the Galápagos Islands, or Southeast Alaska. Grosvenor Teacher Fellows will transfer their onboard experience into new ways to teach students, engage colleagues, and bring new geographic awareness into their learning environments and communities. Applicants must be a full-time pre-K–12 classroom or informal educator who spends 50% or more of your time working directly with students; a resident of the 50 U.S. states, Canada, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or are a U.S. citizen teaching at a U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity school; returning to a classroom or teaching environment the year following the expedition; and able to fully participate in all elements of the two-year fellowship (including the April pre-expedition workshop, expedition and virtual seminars). Submit your application today and share your teaching and leadership abilities and how this experience will positively impact you, your students, and your teaching environment.
Project Dragonfly applications now open for multiple graduate programs. Miami University’s Project Dragonfly is accepting applications for 2025 Earth Expeditions graduate courses that offer extraordinary experiences at global field sites in 15 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Earth Expeditions can build toward the Global Field Program (GFP), a master's degree that combines summer field courses worldwide with web learning communities so that students can complete the GFP master's part-time from anywhere in the United States or abroad. Project Dragonfly also offers the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) master's degree that combines web instruction from Miami University with face-to-face experiential learning and field study through several AIP sites in the U.S. In addition to their master's degree programs, Project Dragonfly's core online and AIP web+ graduate courses may be taken on a stand-alone basis for professional development and lifelong learning.
Resources
Super Salmon Learning Kit from the Outdoor Learning School and Store. In collaboration with their partners at Wildsight & NatureKids BC, the Outdoor Learning School and Store have released both the Super Salmon Learning Kit, and the FutureMakers Learning Program. Read more about these 2 excellent new learning resources.
Upcoming Events
November 7-9: NAAEE 2024: Building Bridges in Pittsburgh, PA
November 12-15: Idaho Earth to Sky in Grand Teton National Park, WY
November 15-17: Washington’s Growing Together conference for outdoor, environmental, and sustainability educators
IdEEA Updates
Climate curriculum available! We have units for grades 5-12 based on the Idaho Climate-Economy Impacts Assessment and tied to the Idaho Science Standards for a place-based discussion of climate variability relevant to Idaho’s students. See the full list of lessons at https://www.idahoee.org/climate-curriculum.
Support EE in Idaho by becoming an IdEEA member today! Stay current with all our updates: subscribe to this newsletter and follow our blog at idahoee.org. If you have an interest in supporting our mission more fully but don’t have the capacity to be on the board, join one of our committees. Any active members are eligible to meet with a committee to help with specific events and projects. Let us know you’re interested by emailing communications@idahoee.org under the subject “Committees” and we’ll connect you to the correct Committee Chair.
About this newsletter - We bring you the latest Environmental Education resources, events, and opportunities from around Idaho four times per year. You can be a part of this process by sharing resources, events, jobs, etc. with communications@idahoee.org under the subject “Newsletter.”
Comments