Fall 2013 | CREEC Region 6 e-
Newsletter
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| A Message from your Region 6 Coordinators |
From Conni and Wendy:
It's been a challenging start to the school year for many schools in
Region 6 due to the still-burning
Rim Fire.
All schools in Tuolumne County were closed for days at the start of the fire, and many more in our region were impacted by the heavy smoke.
As total containment of the fire nears, and rehabilitation of the land begins, there will be many real-life learning opportunities to share with your students. Although there is often controversy regarding various forest management practices, one thing we can all agree on is that the health and prosperity of our human communities is closely linked to the health of our forest lands.
We hope our brand new CREEC website serves as a resource for you to help your students understand the many issues related to this significant event.
If you're an EE Provider, please visit the new CREEC.org to create a master account for your organization and post your programs so teachers can find them!
If you're a teacher, please visit the site to see what's coming, and come back again in a few weeks after the providers have had a chance to post!
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Conferences, Events and Workshops!
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November 18-19: 1st Annual California STEM Conference, Sacramento, CA
There are many more conferences on the CREEC site!
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A Great Day with the Delta Studies Bus Tour!
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Early Saturday morning, September 14, the Delta Studies Bus Tour left Stockton with a group of teachers and tour guide, Michael Miller, from the Department of Water Resources.
The first stop was the Walnut Grove Cross Channel Gates where they learned about water management on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Other stops included the Owl Harbor Marina to see and talk about subsidence and non-native plants in the delta and Twitchell Island to see the carbon sequestration project and the set-back levee.
 We spent our lunchtime at the new Big Break Regional Park Nature Center and the wonderful "Delta Discovery Experience," a 1200 square foot walk-on map of the delta (photo left). The afternoon saw the teachers exploring the Tracy Pumping Plant and the Skinner Fish Facility where the fish are screened from the pumps before the water is sent south. The teachers will come back together on November 12 to attend an EEI training and learn about the place-based Delta Studies curriculum. They will go back to their classrooms to lead an environmental education activity, then come back to the group in May to share their experience. Contact Conni to put your name on the list for next year!
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Professional Development and Teacher Resources
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National Geographic Education and Annenberg Learner invite you to a FREE online teacher professional development course
Water: The Essential Resource
October 9 - December 11, 2013, includes 45 hours of instruction, focusing on the ocean and freshwater systems and incorporating strategies designed for grades 4th to 8th.This experience supports the California Environmental Education Initiative (EEI).Teachers taking this course will:
- Increase their environmental science content knowledge
- Develop an understanding of the importance of water in Earth's natural systems
- Have access to National Geographic explorers and scientists
- Prepare classroom content using engaging and effective instructional strategies
- Be part of a statewide, collaborative online community
- Receive continuing education credit upon completion of course
Registration is open!
Aquapedia
Check out the Water Education Foundation's online
water encyclopedia!
Here you will find vetted information from an objective source.
Search the Resources on CREEC's new website!
Please check back often, as we're completely reinvigorating our directory with
programs from thousands of providers statewide!
Please pardon our dust during construction!
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Local Grants
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GreenWorks! Grant Program Deadline: September 30, 2013
The Project Learning Tree GreenWorks! grant program provides funding for service-learning projects led by students, such as school/community native plant gardens, forest improvement projects, streamside restoration plans, recycling programs, and energy conservation projects. Grants are available in two award levels: traditional GreenWorks! grants up to $1,000 and GreenWorks! grants up to $3,000 for registered PLT GreenSchools!
Applicants must have attended a PLT workshop, have a project that involves service learning, have at least one community partner, and must secure a 50 percent match (in-kind or cash). Applicants for the Registered PLT GreenSchools! grants must register on the PLT GreenSchools! website,have an established Green Team, have completed one or more of the PLT GreenSchools! Investigations, and have a project based on the findings of one or more of the PLT GreenSchools! Investigations.
Earth Day Mini-Grants San Joaquin County Teachers
Mini-grants provided by the Earth Day Festival are available for environmental education projects in your classroom! Up to $250 per teacher is awarded for field trips, materials and/or speakers to enliven classrooms in San Joaquin County. Participants will be asked to share their activities at the Earth Day Festival in Stockton so the community can see the great things happening locally in environmental education. Contact Conni for more information. Download Application
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Student Opportunities
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Nature Bowl 2014 Engaging Youth in Science, Conservation and Citizenship
May 6: New Melones Visitor Center 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
February 6: Coaches Workshop 4:15 PM - 5:30 PM at the Calaveras County Office of Education in Angels Camp
Inviting Teams from Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne County Schools
For more information or to request a Registration Packet, email Wendy by December 1, 2013.
Nature Bowl is a cooperative team environment where 3/4 and 5/6 graders actively participate in science-based activities (correlated with the Next Generation State Science Standards) that emphasize local and regional environments
Calaveras Big Trees State Park NEW Visitor Center
The grand opening of the brand new Visitor Center with state of the art exhibits and a new audio-visual production is planned for Memorial Day weekend 2014. However, a soft opening will occur sometime this fall. If you'd like to incorporate this new resource into a field trip with your students, email Interpreter Wendy Harrison for details. |
e-Newsletters are a publication of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Office, California Department of Education. Anne Stephens, Statewide Coordinator. Please direct inquiries to astephens@cde.ca.gov or 916-319-0241. Visit us @ http://www.creec.org |
Copyright � 2013 Reprints and Permission: Although CREEC holds the copyright to this email, we grant permission to use our copyrighted text for a variety of education related purposes, and therefore encourage dissemination and sharing via social media and other reprint, reproduction or dissemination whether electronic or hard copy print.
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