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Special Edition Newsletter:
Int'l Year of Biodiversity
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Dear Contact Teacher
|  The United Nations has designated 2010 as the International
Year of Biodiversity (IYB) to celebrate the importance of biodiversity
and
highlight the different threats facing this irreplaceable natural wealth
across
the globe. Celebrating the
International Year of Biodiversity in your school is a great way to
engage with
issues around sustainable development, a key study theme for UNESCO
Associated Schools.
To help you get started we have produced a booklet titled Biodiversity
is Life. We have also launched a competition to find the school that best communicates the
important messages of the International Year. 22 May is International Day for Biodiversity, so why not use the week leading up to the day to put biodiversity on the agenda at your school.
We have
also put together an overview of some available teaching resources and activities around
biodiversity to give you ideas and inspiration to address this important issue
in your classroom.
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Only few weeks left to enter!
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 Enter our IYB competition - a great way to mark the
International Year of Biodiversity in your school! The competition aims
to find the school that best communicate the important messages of the
International Year. The competition is open to all primary and secondary
schools in the UK.
Participating schools are asked to devise a creative and effective campaign that
can spread the messages of the International year of Biodiversity to their
local community. Schools can submit a poster, collage, brochure, video or
podcast. There will be prizes for the best entry in each category and for
runners up. The deadline for competition entries is 28 May 2010. For more information please see: www.unesco.org.uk/iyb |
Biodiversity is Life
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 You should already have received our Biodiversity is Life pack in the post. The pack includes practical suggestions
for how you can celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity and examples
of how UNESCO helps protect biodiversity in the UK, including case studies from
UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and natural World Heritage Sites which have distinct
biodiversity. Contact me on abreivik@unesco.org.uk if you want additional copies of the pack.
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Rising Tides
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 The
BBC documentary 'Rising Tides' investigates how two 'twinned' coastal biosphere reserves, one
in the UK and one in Kenya are
comparing their mutual challenges and sharing the lessons learnt in trying to
find sustainable solutions to local development in the face of climate change.
The 'twinning' has taken place within the framework of the UNESCO World Network
of Biosphere Reserves which includes 551 biosphere reserves in 107 countries.
North
Devon is one of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in the UK. It is a living laboratory for
people and nature where conservation, sustainable development and scientific
research go hand in hand. Here, climate change will affect local industries
such as tourism, fishing. In
Malindi Watamu, North Devon's twin biosphere reserve in Kenya, coral
reefs used by artisan fishers are under threat which means loss of vital protein
in the diet of poor families. Without planning, encroaching development on
beaches together with the impact of sea level rise will impact on
internationally important turtle habitats.
If
you would like a copy of the film please contact lvincent@unesco.org.uk |
IYB posters in all 6 UN languages
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We still have UN International Year of Biodiversity posters available in all UN languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese
and
Arabic. To get your free posters, contact lvincent@unesco.org.uk. |
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TEACHING RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES
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New Discover Darwin Education Pack
|  A new and exciting education pack has been produced to help
teachers explore the science of Darwin
and to replicate some of his experiments in the classroom. This celebratory
educational pack has been produced by the London Borough of Bromley and the
Charles Darwin Trust to encourage
children to follow in Darwin's footsteps using The Origin of Species as a route map. The pack explores the
subjects and chapters in 'The Origin of Species' and breaks them into easy to
use lesson plans for KS2 and KS3 with accompanying powerpoints for teachers to
use.
The lessons in the pack are designed to introduce children to Darwin's
experiments in his garden and the countryside around Down House where Darwin lived and worked.
The school grounds, a local park or even wasteland may become the key to
stimulating student's interest in the distinctive value for local scientific
investigations, just as Darwin
did. The resource pack covers curriculum topics in an integrated way; science,
literacy, numeracy, art, history and ICT are included. Each lesson is
self-contained but together they form a module that could be attempted in a
science or environment week.
The pack is available to download for free from www.darwinslandscape.co.uk. We
have also got a few hard copies of the pack, to receive a free copy please
contact abreivik@unesco.org.uk
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The Green Wave
|  The Green Wave is a multi-year global campaign that enables
children and youth to make a difference - one school, one tree, one step at a
time. The Green Wave brings together children and young people from around the
world to raise awareness about biodiversity, and the need to reduce its loss.
Students plant a locally important tree species in or near their school yard.
Ideally, the tree species would also be locally indigenous. Where possible, the
tree should be planted on 22 May - the International Day of Biodiversity. In
some countries, it may be too hot, too cold, too rainy, too dry or too
something else to plant on 22 May. If such conditions apply in your country,
you should plant in another month but still hold a special ceremony on 22 May.
On 22 May, students around the world will count down to 10:00
local time, when they will water their tree in their respective school yards,
thereby creating a figurative "green wave" starting in the far east and travelling
west around the world. Throughout the day, students can upload photos and text
summaries on The Green Wave website to share their tree-planting story with
other children and youth from around the world. The interactive map will be
launched at 20:10 local time, thereby creating a second "green wave". For further information please visit: http://greenwave.cbd.int
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| The Great Plant Hunt
|  The Great Plant Hunt is an
exciting new project from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, funded and commissioned
by the Wellcome Trust to mark the 200th anniversary in 2009 of Charles Darwin's
birth.
The Great Plant Hunt aims to encourage primary school children aged 5-11
to explore the natural world around them. It takes place in the classroom,
online and in the great outdoors! For further information please visit: www.greatplanthunt.org
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| Cool-it Schools |
 Celebrate the 2010 International
Year of Biodiversity by writing a poem!Cool it Schools is organising a
competition to help young people to use their own creative responses to
understand the challenges that the natural world faces at the beginning of the
21st century. It is open to young people of all nationalities but the poems
must be written in (or translated into) English. The first, second and third prize winners will be selected
by the novelist and poet Sue Hubbard and published on the Natural
History Museum's website and featured in the October edition of Second Nature
the museum's fascinating magazine for young members. The winning poets will receive prizes of beautiful books on
biodiversity and conservation generously provided by Dorling Kindersley and Silver
Jungle. See www.coolitschools.com to enter the competition. |
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UNESCO Associated Schools
in the UK is part of a global network of schools promoting quality education.
The UK
network supports the integration of international perspectives in schools and
promotes the values of UNESCO, including human rights, mutual respect and
cultural diversity.
We are eager to
showcase activities related to the UNESCO Associated Schools network. If you
have a story about your school you want to share, please contact Anne Breivik,
UK National Coordinator (T: 020 7766 3460 / abreivik@unesco.org.uk).
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