2018 International Day of Forests Photo Contest

Trees aren’t only found in forests but also along streets, in parks, in front of houses or outside public buildings. Go outside and take a picture of the forests and trees in your town or city and the people who benefit from them.

By capturing the trees of towns and cities in photos with the people they benefit, you can help promote the importance of forests and trees to our cities and the many ways we rely on them.

Send a picture and you could win a trip to Rome!  For details, visit this website: http://www.fao.org/international-day-of-forests/photo-contest/en

Share your thoughts about adapting the Next Generation Science Standards for Colorado.

The science standards review committee is recommending that Colorado adapt the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as Colorado’s science standards.  Proposed adaptation of the NGSS would take substantial parts of the NGSS and incorporate them into the science standards. The committee is not recommending full adoption of the NGSS in its current form at this time as the Colorado Academic Standards for Science.  The committee recommends adaption of three of the four NGSS to fit our state standards. The first three NGSS are the same as Colorado's: physical, life, and earth and space sciences; but the fourth standard, engineering, is not being recommended by the committee due to the potential strain it may put on smaller districts to implement.  In addition, Colorado would retain elements of its own template, which the NGSS does not have, namely prepared graduate competencies, grade level expectations, and evidence outcomes.  Visit this website to share your perspective.

Geo-Inquiry Institute for Middle-Level Educators,Casper College, Wyoming

Join the Wyoming Geographic Alliance for a free two-day summer institute, funded as part of the 2018 National Geographic Initiative on Geo-Inquiry for Middle-Level Educators.
❏ Explore the Geo-Inquiry Process developed by National Geographic to engage students in having a voice in global and local situations.
❏ Free teaching resources and lessons to actively engage students and align with standards.
❏ Limited to 30 participants. A team of two teachers from one school is desired. The team should consist of one social studies, science, library tech, media specialist, or technology educator.
❏ Pending approval, earn 1 WY PTSB credit and optional 1 optional UW outreach credit (subject to UW fee).
❏ Outdoor field work at Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park.
❏ Incorporate biodiversity with Audubon Rockies and Wyoming Game and Fish.
❏ Lodging provided by Wyoming Geographic Alliance.
❏ Free lunch and snacks provided each day.
❏ $50 scholarships available to support mileage reimbursement
❏ Bring your own laptop or device.
❏ Instructors trained by National Geographic.
❏ Opportunity to become a National Geographic Certified Educator.
❏ $50 deposit to hold your spot is refundable at the conclusion of the institute.
Questions? Email Germaine Wagner at germaine128@myncsd.org or wga@uwyo.edu

Learn about AP Human Geography in Wyoming, Summer 2018

● The Wyoming Geographic Alliance will be offering a training opportunity for interested
educators July 9-10th at the University of Wyoming in Laramie lead by Professor Alec
Murphy.
● Presentations will focus on the ways in which core geographic concepts set forth in the AP
Human Geography course outline—region, pattern, place, space, and scale—provide insight
into fundamental developments unfolding around the world.
● The core geographical concepts will be used as critical lenses for assessing such topics as
migration patterns, geopolitical upheavals, environmental change, and the possibilities and
challenges of European integration.
● The goal is show how geographical concepts and perspectives help us understand and
evaluate the complex forces shaping the contemporary world.
● The course is free and participants are eligible for one credit through the Wyoming
Professional Teaching Standards Board Professional Development Program.
● Participants may earn one graduate level credit from the University of Wyoming (subject to
University of Wyoming fees). To register follow this link AP Geography Registration
● Participants are eligible to receive a $50 travel stipend from the Wyoming Geographic
Alliance.
● Daily schedule and course outline will be available in the coming weeks.
● To sign up please email Robert Rust at wga@uwyo.edu for more information.

Presentation Leader: Alexander Murphy is Professor of Geography at the University of Oregon, where he holds the Rippey Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences. He specializes in political and cultural geography, with regional emphases in Europe and the Middle East. Murphy is Past President of the American Association of Geographers and Senior Vice-President of the American Geographical Society. In the late 1990s he led the effort to add geography to the College Board’s Advanced Placement program. He then chaired the inaugural AP Human Geography test development committee, which produced the template for the course outline and exam that is still in use today.

Plan to Register for the Teachers Teaching Teachers GIS (T3G) Online Institute

T3G is for educators committed to helping other educators use GIS. The T3G focus is on teaching and learning -- not "how to do GIS better" but "how you can help other educators grasp why and how to teach with GIS, and how they can learn more." T3G is career-long professional development for educators, by educators, about helping others teach effectively with GIS.

The 2018 event has room for up to 60 participants including up to 20 returning participants. The focus will be on education in the United States, with particular attention to the K12 environment. All participants will be expected to have certain skills and experiences already in place when Day 1 begins. Participants must complete Day 1 to attend Day 2, and all participants will present something during Day 2.

For more details, visit the Esri education community website.

FireWorks Educator Workshop in Missoula, Montana

FireWorks Annual Master Class

For details on the class or to enroll, please call or email Eva Masin at (406) 329-4820, emasin@fs.fed.us or Ilana Abrahamson at (406) 329-4831, ilanalabrahamson@fs.fed.us.

Gain access to a trunk and curriculum containing 40 hands-on activities for teaching about wildland fire science
Cover physical science of combustion, fire history, succession, andfire effects on plants andanimals
Explore new curriculum and streamlined materials
Review fire use by Native Americans
Practice lessons for elementary, middle, and high school levels

G-Camp: 18-day Field Camp for 5th - 12th Grade Science Teachers

G-camp provides an introduction to the principles of geology, as well as the opportunity to develop and share curriculum materials to teach the standards required for grades 5 - 12. During the trip you will explore geologic landscapes, volcanic features, ancient marine deposits, sand dunes, faults, glacial landscapes, streams, landslides, energy resources and mineral resources. G-Camp will travel from College Station through north Texas to New Mexico, Colorado and back through New Mexico and west Texas, from slightly above sea level to locations higher than 13,000 feet.

For details and application information, visit the Texas A & M Department of Geology & Geophysics at this link. The deadline is March 16, 2018.

Learning in Informal Settings

Walking, Reading, and Storying Land: Learning in the Natural World 

Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 3:30pm

Museum of Natural History, Paleontology Hall

Dr. Ananda Marin,assistant professor of education at UCLA, studies socio-cultural dimensions of learning and development in everyday and intergenerational contexts. Her talk will draw from research by Indigenous scholars and interaction analysis traditions, as we discuss walking, reading, and storying land as a methodology for learning about the natural world. Illustrated by parent and child video from one family’s nature walk, Dr. Marin will explore the ways in which shifts in movement — from walking to stopping — and configurations of the landscape provide both the means and content for learning.

The series features innovative informal learning experts from museums to makerspaces to outdoor places, and it is co-sponsored by the CU Boulder School of Education and the Museum of Natural History.  All talks are free and open to the public. Attendees are invited to a meet-and-greet reception following the talks.

Save the Dates for future talks:

• April 3: David George Haskell, Professor at Sewanee, the University of the South and Pulitzer Prize finalist for “The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature”
• May 1: Carrie Tzou, Associate Professor at the University of Washington, Bothell

For more information visit the CU Museum event page or call 303.492.6892.