MEEC Online » Teachers

Upcoming Fall Teacher Workshops

Christie — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:00:45 +0000

Begining in September, MEEC is offering several FREE and exciting new teacher workshops for our members in addition to our sponsor workshops. The first scheduled workshop is hosted by MEEC Sponsor Abengoa Solar. Three other workshops offered are hosted by our Boeing sponsor and will take place at different locations throughout the High Desert. A very limited, but very special, workshop will be offered in November, and will be limited to (10) teachers.

“Solar Energy 101″ is a two hour workshop presented by MEEC Sponsor Abengoa Solar, which will present the varieties and uses of solar energy. This will include descriptions of both PV and solar thermal systems and a special emphasis on the solar thermal power plants both in the area and planned for construction near here. This workshop is being offered on September 23, 2010, from 4:00 – 6:00PM, and is being held at the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District Office in Victorville. Seating is limited to 45. Early signup is recommended. To register for this workshop please contact Christie Robinson, MEEC Program Specialist at (760) 245-1661 x 6101 or email: christier@mdaqmd.ca.gov

Project Learning Tree “Energy & Society”: This fun, 3-hour workshop will provide teachers PreK-8 with new tools and activities which are designed to help you teach your students about their relationship with energy and how to investigate the environmental issues related to energy’s role in society. Each teacher that attends the workshop will receive a FREE Project Learning Tree “Society & Energy” activity kit (includes activity guide, music CD, video, and posters, valued at $40)!! PLT’s “Energy & Society” Program kit helps students develop critical thinking skills to make decisions about their personal energy use. In addition to hands-on activities, “Energy & Society” integrates music and dance to enhance the study of energy issues and correlations to the California Science Standards. Three workshops will be offered in the following areas; Antelope Valley, Morongo Basin, and Needles. Limited to (20) teachers at each workshop location. Dates to be announced.

“Clean Air” Workshops: This fun and informative workshop is a hands-on training session for teachers. The new MDAQMD “Ozi & Parti” Curriculum will be introduced. Four standards-based air quality lesson plans designed for middle through high school students will be included on a CD. Lesson objectives include understanding the density of air and the causes and effects of ozone. Students can also create their own statistics about recycling in their classroom and design ways to make a concrete contribution in the fight against air pollution. A fuel cell car kit, lab supplies, and standards-based activity lessons will also be included in the FREE $150.00 kit that each attending teacher will receive. Three workshops will be offered in the following areas; Victorville, Antelope Valley, and Barstow. Limited to (10) teachers at each workshop location. Dates to be announced.

Joshua Tree Desert Studies Workshop Scholarship. (10) Scholarships will be awarded for this two-day learning experience (Saturday 11/6 & Sunday 11/7). Teachers will stay in a private residence at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center, and will work directly in the field with wildlife biologist/photographer David Lamfrom. The workshop will demonstrate to teachers how to utilize concepts like exposition and sense of place to deepen and make richer the content of any lesson. Teachers will be instructed on, and discuss the benefits of, using digital photography, pen and ink drawing, 3-D modeling, sculpture, and other media to help students comprehend concepts and retain information by making it more personal and relevant. The place-based outdoor workshop will take place in both Joshua Tree National Park and the Morongo Preserve over the two days. All meals, tuition, and lodging are covered, as well as a $25.00 transportation stipend. Scholarship announcement will go out to all teachers via email the end of September, so be sure to look for the email announcement.

For more information on any of these upcoming workshops, please contact Christie Robinson, MEEC Program Specialist at (760) 245-1661 x 6101 or email: christier@mdaqmd.ca.gov

MEEC Teacher Shares Immediate and Positive Student Response Using Project WET Classroom Ready Activities

Christie — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:30:16 +0000

In May of this year, educator Brenda Campbell attended a free MEEC/Boeing Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) workshop that was supported by Needles Unified School District Superintendant, Dr. Mike Davitt. Brenda shared her experience with me on how she was able to easily modify the lesson to work with her special ed students immediately after the workshop. I shared her letter with Brian Brown, California State Project WET Coordinator, which he included in the just released “California Project WET Gazette” “Summer Gazette”

Below is an excerpt of Brenda’s experience with her students.

Water Meter

“We had been talking about conserving water off and on all year. It’s a pet peeve of mine to see water being wasted while we live in a desert and are in a drought.

We made the meters as described in the activity, but without the liters on one side. My special education students would get all wrapped up in trying to figure out the difference and not pay attention to the main idea of the assignment. So with gallons listed we made the ribbon slide. We listed a few of the things they use water on and they kept track daily for only three days. On the fourth day we combined our info and discussed each individual’s data. My students did not all follow the directions but we got the general idea and displayed one student’s data on the board (they are too low in math for this). I showed them how fast their usage of water adds up. I asked them to come up with ways to help slow down the use of water in their homes. They had a lot of good ideas.

They met my overall goal of increased awareness of their water use. They suggested making a contract for all of us to sign that says we promise to try and use less water every day. Many things on the list include turning off the water while you brush your teeth, turning off the shower after getting wet to soap down and then turn back on to rinse off. This is where one student said his sister shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the shower!

It was definitely an adaptation of the lesson in the Project WET activity book. I had limited time, limited abilities in the students and never thought I could do a lesson even remotely this satisfying. If it had not been for the lesson in the book…ready to go…I wouldn’t have done it. I don’t usually take manuals home for the summer to study, but I am taking this one home. Thank you.”

- Brenda Campbell, Vista Colorado Elementary School, Needles Unified School District. Brenda participated in one of the Mojave Desert Project WET workshops offered by the Mojave Environmental Education Consortium (MEEC) sponsored by a grant from Boeing.

If you have attended a MEEC teacher workshop and have a success story using materials or techniques gathered from a workshop that you would like to share with other teachers, please contact Christie Robinson, MEEC Program Specialist at (760) 245-1661 ext 6101 or email: christier@mdaqmd.ca.gov and share your story.

National Energy Education Development Project

Christie — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:32:45 +0000

NEED: The mission of the National Energy Education Development Project is to promote an energy conscious and educated society by creating effective networks of students, educators, business, government and community leaders to design and deliver objective, multi-sided energy education programs. NEED works with energy companies, agencies and organizations to bring balanced energy programs to the nation’s schools with a focus on strong teacher professional development, timely and balanced curriculum materials, signature program capabilities and turn-key program management.

The PG&E Solar Schools Program provides curriculum materials, hands-on kits, Bright Ideas Grants, and teacher training to schools in Northern and Central California. Visit PG&E Solar Schools

The NEED Project supports ENERGY STAR®’s 2010-2011 Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR® Campaign. Our goal is to encourage at least 2,000 individuals to take the Pledge. As a leading pledge driver in the 2009-2010 campaign, NEED teachers and students reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 54,083,565 lbs. Join us in making a difference, sign the Pledge today!

Coming Soon! Updates for NEED’s 2010-2011 Change the World Teacher Guide which includes curriculum and activity ideas for implementing the Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR® Campaign in your classroom and community. Check out the Make a Cool Change Refrigerator/Freezing Recycling Teacher Guide and the Make a Clean Change Washer Recycling Guide!

For more information on these programs or to download FREE K-12 standards based curriculum, go to “Energy Curriculum”.

Piute Pond Wetland Education Kits Available

Christie — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:53:27 +0000

Piute Ponds, an enhanced natural marshland located on the south-west corner of Edwards Air Force Base, offers teachers and students a unique “place-based” learning environment. The ponds cover between 600-800 acres, depending on the season, and is a stop for thousands of egrets, heron and pelicans, to name just a few of the more than 200 bird species that stop here as they travel on the Pacific Flyway, a common route between the north and south. The ponds were created by a dike and are kept full by treated reclaimed water released from Lancaster’s sewage treatment plant.

Piute Ponds boasts an observation deck, shade trees, and informational signs placed along the walking path that loops around some of the ponds. A welcome sign with a map shows the route of the walking tour while six signs provide information about plants, animals and insects that inhabit the area.

Funding provided by Edwards AFB and Lockheed Martin was used to develop wetlands education kits for use in the classroom and at the ponds. The classroom kit contains track molds, a night sounds CD, bird talons display, skull replicas, casting kits, owl pellet kits, pond discovery kits, field press and dryers, and much more. The outdoors pond kit contains field microscopes, hand-held magnifiers, field guides to birds, reptiles, and insects, aquatic macrovertebrate life cycle cards, collection vials, water test kit, and scopes for use while visiting Piute Ponds.

The kits are now available for teachers to check out at the MEEC Environmental Resource library located at the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District Office in Lancaster, and may be checked out individually or as a pair. For details on the kits, contact Christie Robinson at (760) 245-1661 ext 6101 or email: christier@mdaqmd.ca.gov. For information on the AVAQMD’s hours of operation, call (661) 723-8070. To arrange authorization to visit the Ponds or for more information, please contact Wanda Deal at (661) 810-9622, or email: wanda.deal@edwards.af.mil

MEEC 2010 Spring Newsletter!

Christie — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:30:24 +0000

MEEC N April 2010
The MEEC 2010 Spring Newsletter has arrived! We hope that you will enjoy reading about the many programs, essay contests, teacher workshops, EnviRetreat, and much more that has happened during the last few months.

The Growing Classroom Teacher Workshop

Christie — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:27:10 +0000

The Growing Classroom:
Introduction to Garden-Based Learning
April 29-30, 2010 – $300

This two-day workshop, located at the amazing Garden Classroom or at your school site, is ideal for those interested in supplementing their existing science program with garden-based learning. Using The Growing Classroom activity guide for grades 2-6, you’ll experience hands-on activities, learn basic science concepts and gardening techniques, and develop management strategies for a school gardening program. Find out how to teach the standards while you guide students through the natural cycles of the garden. You’ll receive Life Lab’s 480 page book, The Growing Classroom as well as many other ideas and resources. Two days 9:00-3:30. One-day Growing Classroom workshops can also be arranged.

1 semester unit of graduate education credit available for an additional $60 per workshop day.

Life Lab is able to provide a limited amount of financial assistance for educators interested in attending our local workshops. Applications for financial assistance will be considered up to one month prior to each workshop, based on need.

Key Workshop Components

Learn …
How to lead garden-based learning activities from The Growing Classroom activity guide. Basic gardening skills, including composting, making seed flats, preparing garden beds, transplanting, and garden planning.

Discuss …
The Life Lab approach to Science. How to make outdoor, inquiry-based education work for different student populations.
The resources inside of The Growing Classroom activity guide, including sections on: Creating a garden, garden-based learning activities, gardening “how to’s,” and connecting garden-based learning to academic content standards.

Take home …
The Growing Classroom activity guide and an action plan for your school garden.

All workshops require advanced Registration and deposit. For more information, go to LifeLab.

Introducing……….Kelly Miller

Christie — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:29:43 +0000

No one would ever believe that Kelly Miller has been a teacher for the past 21 years, as her youthful demeanor and high energy belies that fact. Kelly teachers 7th grade Science and brings unbridled environmental enthusiasm to her classrooms. Kelly has been an active MEEC teacher for several years and attended the Key Issues training in 2008, was an EnviRetreat teacher in 2008, and is a past recipient of MEEC’s Mini EE grant for her classroom. Two years ago, Kelly founded her schools Ecology Club. The first year they participated in the Edison Challenge with only 18 students and 3 teams. By the following year, the program had grown to 7 teams and 50 students! Each team of 5-6 students focuses on environmental issues and teachers an elementary school class about what they have learned. In addition, each group performs some form of community service with their lessons.

This year, the Ecology Club has grown to 150 students and their primary goal has been to help Amargos Middle School and Lancaster School District “go green”. Kelly has sought partnerships from MEEC, Keystone Institute, and Generation Earth to help her programs startup. Her classrooms have also started collecting paper, bottles, and cans before school once a week. Each classroom has containers for recycling bottles and cans. Kelly also has a leadership team that teaches environmental lessons to club members on Thursday afternoons.

Kelly is an active teacher who encourages her students to participate in many events, which the year includes projects such as beach cleanups, host MEEC’s annual AV Youth Environmental Leadership Conference, and an Earth Day Dance/Carnival. In January, one of Kellly’s Edison teams presented an assembly for K-2 and 3-5 grades at John Miller Elementary School to help their school go green. The students performed skits, a recycle rap, a break dance routine, produced a video that will be viewed on YouTube, an recycle quiz game and workbooks for the different grade levels, and a binder on how to start a recycling program at their school. The end of the year culmination activity will be an overnight trip to Sea World to learn about endangered aquatic life.

Boeing Essay Contest “Forests: The Lungs of the World, Can We Live Without Them?”

Christie — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:41:32 +0000

The fourth 2010 MEEC essay contest challenges students in grades K-12 to tell us in 250 words or less “What effect does a healthy forest have on our earth?” Forests serve many functions. Forests renew the oxygen supply in the atmosphere by absorbing atmospheric CO2 and releasing oxygen back into the air, thus moderating the greenhouse effect. Healthy forests provide an environment for many species of plants and animals, thus protecting and sustaining the diversity of nature. These are just some of the things that a healthy forest provides our planet with. For more ideas and information about healthy forests, go to: “Library” or “Environment”

There are FIVE PRIZE CATEGORIES:
Kindergarten Grades 1-2 Grades 3-5 Grades 6-8 Grades 9-12
First, second, and third place winners will be awarded in each category. First place winners will receive $50; second place winners will receive $25; and third place winners will receive $15. Kindergarten winners only will receive a $10 award.

All essays submitted must contain the author’s grade, school and home phone number to be considered. Essay deadline for submission is April 9th at 5:00 PM. Submissions may be mailed or delivered to: MEEC, 14306 Park Ave, Victorville, CA 92392.

Winners will be notified by phone and invited to attend the Award Ceremony presentation at 4:30PM on April 21st at the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District Office in Lancaster. Boeing will also present a special award recognition to all winners. For further information, please call Christie Robinson, MEEC Program Specialist, at: (760) 245-1661 ext 6101/

All submissions become the property of MEEC and the Boeing Company.

School Garden Mini Grants Available Now!

Christie — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:21:46 +0000

School Gardens Program Sprouts Success!

The eight schools selected to receive School Garden grants through a grant funding program sponsored by MEEC and the Alliance for Water Awareness and Conservation in fall 2009 was a green success! The school gardens are progressing and this spring promises to be a fruitful venture for the engaged students. MEEC and AWAC are once again offering “seed money”, small grants that will provide schools with the basics to get their gardens growing!

MEEC will begin accepting proposals starting March 1st for school garden projects. Teachers must submit a letter (one or two pages maximum) describing the proposed project and/or desired materials, and how the project will address educational standards. The application letter must also contain a timeline for implementation and a budget cost breakout based on the applicant’s research of actual material costs, including shipping and handling, if applicable. Labor costs are not eligible for funding. Projects must be implemented/materials must be utilized in schools located in the High Desert portion of San Bernardino County (within the Mojave Water Agency’s boundaries). Winners will be notified in June 2010 and grants will be awarded in August.

A total of $5,000 will be available in grant funding. Average grant amounts will vary from $300 to $500. Individual award amounts to be determined by MEEC’s Executive Board. Only one grant will be awarded per school per school year.

Application deadline is May 30, 2010. Proposals may be mailed to MEEC/Garden Grants, 14306 Park Avenue, Victorville, CA 92392 or faxed to (760) 241-6271. For more information, contact MEEC Program Specialist Christie Robinson at (760) 245-1661 ext. 6101 or visit www.meeconline.com today!

2010 Environmental Student of the Year Nominations

Christie — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:29:24 +0000

In 2010, MEEC is proud to sponsor its fifth MEEC “Student of the Year” Awards. Each Student of the Year recipient will receive $60.00 in cash, as well as a $60.00 Staples gift card. The awards banquet will be held on May 13, 2010 at 6 PM at the new and prestigious Marriott Courtyard Ballroom in Hesperia.

To this end, we are soliciting one Student of the Year nomination from each school site. The nomination can come from either a principal or teacher. When selecting the student nominee, the nominator must take into consideration the work that the student has done in leadership toward environmental issues and stewardship. The following stipulations will serve as a guide for assisting you in the nomination process:
 The student will be nominated by a teacher or principal from his/her school.
 The student nominee must have spent a minimum of 12 hours in conservation and environmental education activities.
 The student has educated peer students, school employees or community in environmental issues or conservation.
 The student must have above average academic standing (>2.0 GPA for secondary, and the equivalent for primary grades).
 The student must display leadership qualities, possess good character and a good reputation among peers, and not be a
disciplinary problem.

Please take the time to complete the Student Of The Year Nomination Form, and mail your submission to MEEC, 14306 Park Ave., Victorville, CA 92392. Forms may also be faxed to (760) 241-6271 or emailed to christier@mdaqmd.ca.gov. Deadline for entries April 16, 2010.