Log onto your TDSB Google account through AW. Make sure that you are not logged on to a personal Gmail account or you will not be able to open the application form. Need help? Click here for instructions.

Happiness...and toys

Loop Scoops | Happiness Store | PBS KIDS

Oliver, Brad, and Clementine have 60 seconds in a toy store to choose whatever they want to make them happy in this 2-minute animated video for younger grades.

A helpful TDSB energy conservation tool

The 3-in-1 classroom Energy Monitoring Chart is a real favourite--check your lights, vents, window blinds closed at day's end. To order in glorious colour (11x17"), click here.

Citizen Science

Do you know about Ice Watch? As citizen scientists, you and your students can provide observations for climate change scientists studying the freeze-thaw cycles in northern bodies of water. Citizen records can supply data to fill some of the gaps in the current monitoring network, creating a more complete picture of changes happening at different rates in different spots. Might this be a good student assignment?

Mobile Devices for Learning: What You Need to Know

This Edutopia guide explains how mobile devices like cell phones, tablets, and smartphones can engage students. Resources for teachers just starting out with tech-enhanced education, K-12 apps, and online tools are also included.

A seasonal tip from Pam: As colder weather makes recording with pencil and paper more challenging, this app can allow students to continue inquiry outdoors, whatever the weather. For instance, with a camera or mobile device, gathering observations for "Wild Writing"(K-4) can happen any time.

Isleboro, Maine schools takes technology outdoors

Using Technology to Connect Students & the Environment

Teacher comment that stands out in this 5 minute video: "What I see

[in students' work] in the end is much better than when we just used paper and pencil."

2014 National Sweater Day is Thursday, Feb. 6th

Schools have found this a spirit-raising way to draw attention to conserving energy. Does your school go beyond the single day to make it part of a larger campaign? Any tips for schools that haven't celebrated National Sweater Day before? Write to us! Send us your pictures!!

For more water photos, go to Burtynsky's website

Looking for school-wide eco-themes?
Instructional Leader Pam Miller invites schools to contact her for ideas. And if you have some to share, Pam would love to hear from you!!!

With teacher guidance, Thorncliffe Park students have become stewards of the Valley near their school, not only cleaning up the area, but arranging for a sign that they hope will send a message!

Thorncliffe Park students in their now cleaned-up Don Valley outdoor classroom sitting near "Gramma Oak" (believed to be over 200 years old) which they will ask the City to designate as an historical monument.

Click here to read more about the Classroom Energy Diet Challenge

We are all connected (1:15)

Dia Mundial do Meio Ambiente/

World Environment Day

Rio deJaneiro, June 5, 2013

Expanding kindness and caring at the TDSB

EcoSchools Section 1, Question 1.1; Section 3, Question 3.1; Section 4, Question 4.6

Caring for ourselves, others, and the environment are closely intertwined. As one child said, "If I care for the environment, I care for myself." The TDSB Acts of Kindness website has been set up to capture stories, pictures, and videos to share acts of kindness. But why stop at caring for people when we know how much caring for other living things also teaches kindness? Animals in classrooms are known to call forth students' empathy. Alas, the trees outside your windows can't speak for themselves. They can't come in and visit to remind us that they too need attention. These mighty plant relatives of ours need our care to survive--regular mulching and protection from machinery (are your newer trees caged?) as well as regular watering in season. In return they give us so much. Click here to read a few students' stories about what their schools' trees mean to them!

In this season of kindness and caring, we hope you'll hug a friend...and maybe even a tree!

What's new?

Don't miss this deadline: Apply to be certified or re-certified by Dec. 15th!

EcoSchools Section 1, Questions 1.1, 1.3

If you still haven't registered, do it NOW to be on the list for (re)certifying as an EcoSchool. It is quick and painless! All you need is a contact name, role, phone number, TDSB Outlook address, and a password that's easy for other team members to remember. If EcoSchools staff do not hear from your school by that date, you will not be eligible to have an audit and become (re)certified this school year. Please join us!

Resources

Eco-video workshop pilot:

Is the EcoSchools program helping you make changes at school?

EcoSchools Section 1, Question 1.6; Section 4, Questions 4.1, 4.5, 4.8

Changing thinking: video eco-stories from our schools is open to schools (K-8) where there's strong interest in describing how eco-actions are causing (or could cause!) changes, big or small, in their school. Ten schools will be selected. Each school sends 2 teachers to collaborate on the video; costs for 2 days of teacher release for workshop training (January 22nd and February 4th) are shared by the school and the EcoSchools Accelerating Change program.

Selection criteria include being an EcoSchool, committing to student-centred video planning and production, and submitting the final video (5 minutes or less) to the Planet in Focus June 5th Film Festival. Deadline for festival submission is May 2nd.

Application deadline is Thursday, December 12th



Questions about this program? Contact Eleanor.dudar@tdsb.on.ca or Diana.Suzuki@tdsb.on.ca

Energy conservation: 20/20 The Way to Clean Air

EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.3, 4.4, 4.5; Section 5, Question 5.6

Do you want to anchor your students' learning about energy conservation by having them apply it at home? 20/20 The Way to Clean Air program can help meet that goal. Written at a Grade 5 reading level, the 20/20 Planner is available to teachers and students of all grades. (A 15-minute slide show walks students and their parents through the guide.)

Grade 5 teachers were sent a copy of the student

20/20 Planner at the beginning of November.

To register your classroom and order free print copies, call 416.338.7600 or email 2020@toronto.ca

►Classroom lessons! Preview the TDSB Teacher's Guide (with curriculum connections) and the 13 in-class lesson plans that you can download separately. A quick scan right now will show you what each lesson is about. Best fit is Grade 5 Science, but definitely adaptable!

"Going deeper" with energy conservation

EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.3, 4.5

Our sister organization Ontario EcoSchools has developed several excellent tools for going beyond the basics of energy conservation in schools. Glance at the standby power fact sheet or skim Scientific American's short article about whether or not to turn off fluorescent lights for short periods. If you have access to plug-in electricity meters, your students might enjoy the challenge of becoming the experts on auditing school appliance energy use. Or take a look at the whole list of resources. And thanks to Ontario EcoSchools staff for their fine work!

R4R Step Outside: The magic of ice and snow

EcoSchools Section 4, Question 4.6, 4.7

The elements of a furtive mystery tale take us into the heart of this story. It's not a dark and stormy night, but "...in the dead of a calm, cold night, [when] the surface water begins to get colder," the drama of water freezing unfolds. This awe-inspiring entry reminds us that ice, like water, is critical to shaping our world! How does water freeze? Treat yourself to a quick read that will explain in simple science terms why "this totally ordinary, yet absolutely remarkable event may be responsible for life as we know it." Click here to read more!

Citizen Science in Winter

EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.6, 4.7

Do you have bird feeders at school? In the neighbourhood? Data collected help reveal important patterns in bird numbers and distribution over time.

Watch birds live as they come to a feeding station in Manitouwadge, Ontario FeederWatch Cam (Patience needed! May load slowly, and of course the birds come and go....)

Links to learning activities and resources

EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.2-4.8

Abundant teacher-reviewed environmental learning activities across grades and subjects exist in large searchable data bases. Finding the time to look is tough.

Here are some links:

R4R (Resource for Rethinking) View the Lesson Plans catalogue.

Evergreen's Teacher's Corner Search for Lesson Plans

Green Learning's Cool 2.0 a digital hub for climate change education

Resources for digging deeper

Using Technology to Connect Students and the Environment Educator Toolkit
EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.5, 4.6, 4.7; Section 5, Questions 5.6, 5.7

While young people are increasingly concerned about their environment, they also feel more and more disconnected from it. It sounds counter-intuitive, but mobile devices can literally help focus students' attention on the nature world. The Project-Noah U.S. National EE Foundation Educator Toolkit consists of links to many lesson plans, some for all grades, some by division, that guide your teaching outdoors using technology.

Top Ten Apps for Taking Technology Outdoors

EcoSchools Instructional Leader Pam Miller chose the Journey North app for its beautiful graphics, ease of use in tracking common species, and the high quality teacher resources such as interactive maps that upload observations from all over North America. One look at the map and we had to hold Pam down to stop her from heading out right then and there to make her mark! A great resource for doing an inventory of biodiversity on the school grounds and tracking seasonal changes, checking out inquiry strategies, and sampling lessons that can transform students into citizen scientists. How can you not take a look?

David Suzuki: "Science Matters"

EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.2-4.5

Do you ever see David Suzuki's e-newsletter "Science Matters"? It's a treat to get once a week and no harm if you can't read every one! "Life flourishes even in the cracks" starts with a lowly weed sprouting up in a sidewalk and moves quickly to describe the whole city as an ecosystem with countless interactions between the natural and built human environments.

Fort McMoney: video game explores Canadian resource development

EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.2-4.5

Described by the Calgary Herald as "part documentary, part choose-your-own-adventure book, and part video game," this new NFB documentary-game takes place over four weeks with new places and people arriving every week. Based on 60 interviews with major figures on the many-faceted issues facing Fort McMurray, Alberta, the game strives for balance that will allow genuine debate and critical thinking. The game asks players to choose whether the city should increase oil production, or reduce it greatly. Players can vote for changes they'd like to see based on what they experience inside Fort McMoney. How the city grows, and how that affects Canada's energy future, will be displayed in a series of projections, updated each week by the latest referendum. English, French, and German versions.

View the 46 second trailer for a tiny taste of what's in store. **You can click to skip the ad!

Technical requirement: You need to install Adobe Flash 11.9 to play this game.

The four-week cycle will begin again on Jan. 20th and Feb. 24th.

Stories from our schools

Platinum audits underway

This year 95 schools have applied to be certified as platinum EcoSchools. Early reports from auditors suggest that enthusiasm is back to its "pre-Pause level" with schools finding ways to involve the whole school in ecoliteracy pursuits through a non-fiction ecolit pathway or a dedicated environmental PLC. One office administrator is keen to address board policies that create over-use of paper (anyone want to join in?--let us know). One secondary school team almost couldn't attend the kick-off because its advisor was ill; another staff member jumped in to take her place, and left the kickoff so inspired that she joined the team! To share best practices and build the program, more schools are connecting (or planning to connect) with other EcoSchools, either through visits with feeder schools or mentorship of another school.

What is happening in our schools at all levels is real and it's important. Students, staff, and parents are making the world a good place to grow up in, starting right at school--and EcoSchools is part of that!

Eco-communication expanding at Humewood CS

EcoSchools Section 1, Questions 1.1; Section 4, Question 4.1; Section 5, Question 5.6

The new Humewood EcoSchools Initiatives newsletter takes e-communication about EcoSchools activities one step further! Instead of reporting on EcoSchools activities through a school newsletter column (which many schools do with great success), teacher and EcoSchools chair Andrew Lister created a dedicated e-newsletter for sharing EcoSchools plans, ideas, and successes with everyone. E-communication is not new to EcoSchools at Humewood. Lister also authors a blog (where you can find links to each e-newsletter issue) as well as a twitter account (#HEATisGreen) on behalf of the student EcoAction Team HEAT.

Click here to read about how "water" became Humewood's school-wide ecological literacy theme. It started with artist Edward Burtynsky's awe-inducing global story of water in photographs and film, and already has inspired modern dance exploration, a study of First Nations water rights, and nature walks along the nearby ravine. In Lister's words, "we can see ecological literacy coming to life for the school community." Check out the e-newsletter for ongoing stories!

Thorncliffe Park PS offering informal ecological PD socials

Teacher James Snetsinger is spearheading a series of explorations that include an outdoor hike along with a video. The first event followed a vigorous Saturday morning clean-up of the valley nearby which is well-used as a Thorncliffe Park outdoor classroom. The second on Dec. 6th featured a hike and a film about eco-activist Vandana Shiva in memory of the 14 women killed at �cole Polytechnique 23 years ago on that day.

Someone asked "How are hikes PD?" Snetsinger sees the hikes as offering both immediate and longer-term mind-shifting professional development: "The hike is a 3D surround-sound immersion experience where we literally ambulate through an actual ecosystem and natural habitat containing live plant and animal species.... Some participants may experience original dialogue connecting their teaching practice with their observations of and interactions with organisms.... Others may... make connections later while teaching. Participants may collect a take-home memento to remind themselves of the experience, such as a leaf or a rusted shopping cart! Special glasses and head sets are not normally provided but are available upon request."

Next event: Winter Solstice, Sat., Dec. 21st

Contact james.snetsinger@tdsb.on.ca with your email address to receive more details about this and other ecological professional development socials.

EcoSchools completes 25 kick-off PD workshops

Schools are bouncing back from last year's slow-down with 385 schools attending the fall kick-off sessions. Taken together, the kickoffs exposed 636 elementary and secondary teachers and 410 students (as well as principals, office staff, caretakers, and parents) to a new and perhaps even more powerful "enviro-bug" to spread environmental ideas and actions across our schools. Watch for them, and join in!

A special thank you goes out to our host schools who are helping to build community eco-hubs in every corner of the city.

Contests/Campaigns

Classroom Energy Diet Challenge--Feb 5th-Apr. 25th (Register by Jan. 19th)

EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.3, 4.4, 4.5

This dynamic Canadian Geographic Education program (K-12) for learning about energy conservation has three streams:

1) Classroom Challenge: 25 energy-focused learning activities, each one with three point levels.

2) Video Contest: students create an engaging 60 second public service announcement that encourages youth to become more energy aware.

3) Green Your School Contest: classes must propose a project that will decrease their school's carbon footprint. The grand-prize winner will receive $10,000 to put their plan in action!

TDSB teachers who have participated give this program high praise for bringing energy literacy and energetic learning to new levels!

Rules and regulations: Click here

Register by January 19th: Click here

Christmas Bird Count for Kids (CBC4Kids)

EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.6, 4.7; Section 5, Question 5.6

Promote nature appreciation, ecological literacy, and environmental stewardship through slowing down and counting birds! Choose a location and a date between Dec 1st-Jan 15th. For details about hosting an event and being part of this annual North American wide bird count for kids, click here.

You can help to protect our ravines!

EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.5; Section 5, Questions 5.6, 5.7

EcoSpark's November newsletter asks "Torontonians--do you love the ravines?" It invites us to follow #LoveTheRavines on Twitter and Instagram to learn more about these outdoor learning oases where we can explore the wild nature that runs right through our city. You can also sign a petition to let Toronto City Council know you want the ravines added to the protected lands of Ontario's Greenbelt.

To learn more, visit www.lovetheravines.com.

From the editors' desk...

Only Connect

David Orr says "ecological literacy is the habit of mind that seeks out connections." Maybe that's what we need to practice! Pausing to look at birds at a feeder or contemplate the magic of how a snowflake is formed; joining a campaign or linking your teaching to the seasonal changes all around us (Project Icewatch; taking students outside with cameras to observe and record species)...actions like these can "fuel us" (carbon-free!), giving us energy and ideas and a way of seeing that seeps into how and what we teach and learn.

And then...connect that way of seeing to the skills and knowledge we are asked to foster grade by grade, subject by subject. Maybe we mystify "ecological literacy" with large definitions. We can start simply. As English novelist E.M. Forster said, "Only connect."

Happy holidays!

Eleanor Dudar, Jenn Vetter, and Diana Suzuki