Puget Sound > 2008 Storming the Sound > Conference Agenda

2008 Storming the Sound - Conference Agenda

AGENDA

SESSIONS

Key Note Address: Presented by David Dicks, Director of the Puget Sound Partnership. Is a healthy Puget Sound within our reach?

Working Together, We Can Recover Puget Sound
Sunsets over Puget Sound are as pretty as ever, but below the surface are signs of serious trouble. Commercial shellfish beds and swimming beaches are closed. In Hood Canal, there are dead zones. Orcas are among the most contaminated animals on the planet.

For the first time in a generation, the political will to change the Sound’s fate exists. The Puget Sound Partnership will be a broadly based catalyst for Puget Sound action. This community-led effort of citizens, governments, tribes, scientists and businesses working together is our last good chance to save Puget Sound for future generations.

1a. Environmental Education Report: Empirical Evidence, Exemplary Models, and Recommendations on the Impact of Environmental Education on K-12 Students. The Office of Superintendent for Public Instruction and Cascadia Consulting group will present research on best practices and models in environmental education, and the positive impact high quality environmental education can have on student achievement. We will also share information on the Sustainable Design Project a new public-private initiative for K-12 students to design solutions to real-world challenges in the context of systems and sustainability.

1b. Citizen Science; Public Participation in Authentic Field Investigation: Learn about best practices in Citizen Science monitoring through a panel discussion, which includes scientists and educators from the Pacific Education Institute, the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Seattle Aquarium. Panelists will share and compare different models of public involvement in longitudinal monitoring studies, including classroom and adult participation.

1c. Puget Sound Action Agenda: The roadmap for Puget Sound restoration and protection efforts. What does it have to do with Environmental Education in Washington State? The Puget Sound Partnership needs your voice to inform their development of an Action Agenda, recommendations to restore Puget Sound to Health by 2020. The Puget Sound Partnership provides a driving force in future environmental education funding efforts, compiling information regarding best practices to help shape environmental education and public outreach opportunities of the future. Your perspective is needed to develop a comprehensive plan.

1d. Conservation and Inquiry-based education is under sail: Join marine educators and researcher from the Zodiac, Martha and Adventuress Schooners, as well as scientists and educators from Marine Science Afloat. Learn more about diverse learning opportunities incorporating conservation, inquiry, and authentic science research in classroom, group and family environmental education programming.

1e. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium: Join our education staff to find out what the Zoo can do for you! Learn about field trip visits, programs and activities and how you can invite us out to your classroom for a formal wildlife lesson. Enjoy a hands-on experience with some of our special “biofacts” including polar bear fur and a real walrus tusk. We’ll also bring some of our small animal ambassadors so you can get in touch with your wild side!

Environmental Education Association of Washington EEAW and E3 will provide an overview of Washington State’s environmental education resources, our gaps and overlaps. New resources for your use include an online resource database. EEAW will be holding an afternoon workshop designed to provide your input into the existing strengths and need of informal and formal education connections.

12:15 Lunch/Poster Session

2a. Nature Mapping: Join the Pacific Education Institute and the Department of Fish and Wildlife scientists and educators on an exploration in Cooper Elementary schools’ own wetland! Participants will experience Nature Mapping first hand, gaining understanding of the value of student and public participation in data collection and contribution to authentic research.

2b. Mathematics, Science, Engineering Achievement: Learn about MESA’s environmental education curriculum, fostering math, science and engineering within culturally relevant curriculum.

2c. Environmental Education Association of Washington, E3: Participants will work in small groups to provide input to E3. E3 needs your voice as one of these constituent groups: youth, families, communities, the environmental justice/public health sector, and non-formal education. We will take the time to exchange information and think strategically about how to address the gaps and overlaps in PreK-12 teacher training and pre-service environmental education training. This activity will help provide information useful for developing the regional and state E3 plans.

2d. Biodiversity Education: This session will highlight biodiversity education resources at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. See how specimens can be used to introduce the concept of biodiversity to your students. Learn about the Burke’s biodiversity tours, exhibits, research, and on-line field guides to the plants and animals of Washington. Participants will also demonstrate biodiversity by creating a Web of Life for an old-growth forest.

2e. Inquiry-Based Science: Classroom and School Yard Investigations: Learn strategies for engaging students in inquiry-based investigations in the classroom and/or schoolyard? This workshop will involve participants in activities that introduce inquiry and prepare students for guided or open inquiry in either environment. You will also learn about residential field science opportunities in the Olympic National Park for students and educators.

3a. Join Salish Sea Expeditions and Seattle high school students for a sail: Learn about Salish Sea Expedition and the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition’s collaborative work involving urban Seattle high school youth. Experience the Sound under sail with Salish Sea Expedition’s crew as you join students and teachers investigating student driven science investigations, extending classroom learning.

3b. Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence—Ocean Learning Communities: Meet with ocean scientists and educators both formal and informal to discover ways you can bring ocean science research and science inquiry into the classroom and out to the public.

3c. An Innovative Model for Education and Habitat Restoration, Cooper Elementary School and the Nature Consortium: “Buphalo” will present information on this unique partnership between a Seattle Public School and a nonprofit habitat restoration organization. This presentation provides a model of student application of inquiry-based classroom science education in a field setting. It includes a walking tour of Cooper Elementary schools’ wetland restoration.

3d. Engaging K-12 Sustainability Curriculum with Cecilia Lund of Facing the Future, Seattle. This hands-on session presents easy-to-use, interdisciplinary, standards-aligned curriculum to engage students in interactive lessons that promote critical thinking on global issues and sustainable solutions. Facing the Future curriculum uses a systems framework to examine the linkages between the environment, economy, and society in the world. Participants will explore how to make complex issues that affect people and the planet relevant to young people. Each participant will receive a complimentary book of Facing the Future curriculum for grades K-5 or 5-12.

3e. Nature Journaling; Hone Observational Skills and Data Collection through Scientific Illustration and Writing: Join People For Puget Sound and expand student observational skills and spark active engagement through regular nature journaling. Follow in the scientific footsteps of true naturalists, explorers and scientists like Charles Darwin, John Muir, John Audubon, and Lewis and Clark. Contrary to common belief, you don’t need to be a great artist to capture valuable information through journaling. Learn tips and techniques that help students develop their journal as a valuable tool to aid observation, knowledge construction and data collection. Participants will practice drawing from nature, weather permitting, outdoors.