Thursday, June 20, 2013

Gardening for Children with Special Needs - invitation to discussion, Thursday July 11

Gardening for Children with Special Needs
Thursday July 11,  10.30 AM-12 noon

Arlington Central Library, 2nd floor meeting room
1015 N Quincy Street, Arlington

A discussion of the book Gardening for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Special Educational Needs, by Natasha Etherington.

Reading of the book is optional.

Discussion facilitators include:
  •  Elenor Hodges, Nancy Striniste and Mary Van Dyke, NoVA Outside
  • April Rosenthal, Therapeutic Recreation Programmer.
    Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation
Sponsored by Arlington Special Education PTA and NoVA Outside - An Alliance for Environmental Educators

More information:www.novaoutside.org or 703-228-6427.


Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Get the Buzz on Pollinators.....and celebrating National Pollinator Week

Here's celebrating National Pollinator Week in the United States with an in-depth article about bee behavior  How do different kinds of bees transport pollen from flower to flower and back to their hive or nest? And why?
Photo by Mary Free


Also during National Pollinator Week, Beatriz Moisset is making her new eBook, Beginners Guide to Pollinators, available for FREE. This can be another resource in your toolkit for help with bug ID both at home, school and in the field using your iPad.
You may need to download Adobe eBook Reader too if you don't already have it. Click on the link to download
 

Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Art and Science of Journaling....

Do you like doodling?




http://blog.ted.com/2013/06/10/a-field-guide-to-ted-graphic-notes/
Click on the link to a TED (Technology Design Entertainment) blog about graphic notes....

I also like to extend my thinking and creative design by written notes, drawing, modeling and doodling.  I play while I think!  Observation and recording is in my DNA and upbringing: I come from a family of archeologists, scientists and artists.  My father would take notes, sketch and take photos in the field wherever we travelled.  In Greece, we would walk up mountains and look for evidence of people, ancient settlements and sacred places.  We would look for pieces of pottery or ruined walls and take time to record and map them.  As a young child I kept travel diaries and later, as an architect student, I always had a sketch notebook and camera with me.  Now thirty years on, I refresh my memory of both people, places and buildings through my drawings, photos and social media.
I use sketches, notes and poetry to process, understand and reflect on the world around me.

And how about you?  Do you like to write and draw, observe and record?  What media do you use?

Observe and journal with children at school
Here's my photo and a second grader's sketch 10 minutes later after seeing the Space Shuttle fly over the school, April 17, 2012.




And here other children reflect on their observations in the schoolyard...







Record date, weather and plants and animals each time you go out to study in your schoolyard using the Field Study Data sheets in Growing Up Wild (for ages 3 -7),  page 58-59.


Do an extended project like Journey North's Tulips with 5 - 10 year olds.  Record the tulips' growth in a special notebook.  Plant the tulip bulbs in the fall, and watch them grow and flower in the spring. Share your observations.

Have a Garden Science Notebook for each child for the year.

Journal
Make your own journal as a project.
http://www.kidsgardening.org/node/11764 

Or as a simply decorate your own spiral-bound notebook - or buy a ready-made journal.

Or splashout and buy an artist's moleskine journal.

Black, white or color?
Experiment: What is the difference in your record-keeping is if you use: pencil, pen or color, paint, crayons, felt pens? Any trade-offs between expediency and rendition?






Plain or Lined?
Do you notice a difference between using plain or lined paper? Why?
I prefer to use plain paper...

Extension
Try other media for observing and journaling: use your phone, tablet, blog, other social media.
Can you share your observations and data with other citizen scientists?

Design
Try a design project based on your observations...

References
Growing Up Wild: http://www.projectwild.org/growingupwild.htm
Journey North Tulips: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/tulips/AboutSpring.html
Create a Journal: http://www.kidsgardening.org/node/11764
Arlington Traditional School Garden Blog: http://www.apsva.us/Page/3592




Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Citizen Science Academy Summer Online Courses for Educators


NEON Citizen Science Academy
Registration is open for summer sessions of Citizen Science Academy courses for Formal and Informal educators. Each course is completely online, generally takes 10-30 hours to complete, and is limited to 50 participants.

About The NEON Citizen Science Academy

Citizen science programs combine the needs of both the science and education communities. The NEON Citizen Science Academy seeks to engage citizen science efforts across the United States in collaboration, data sharing and data analysis. The Academy, provides educational tools that formal and informal educators can use in their educational settings.

We are proud to offer our newest course, "Working with Project BudBurst Data in an Educational Setting" again this summer! This course highlights Project BudBurst's collaboration with National Geographic FieldScope

Interested in teacher re-certification? Two optional graduate-level continuing education credits available from Colorado School of Mines. For more information, visit http://citizenscienceacademy.org/FAQ .
une 25 - July 31
June 25 - July 31
*  Introduction to Project BudBurst for Educators
*  Using Project BudBurst Data in an Educational Setting

September 17 - October 16
*  Introduction to Project BudBurst for Educators
*  Using Project BudBurst Data in an Educational Setting

Questions? Email: CSAregistrar@neoninc.org

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Want to Build a Bamboo Teepee or Gourd Palace in Your Yard?

Have you ever wanted to curl up under a leaf?  Or build a structure out of sticks and branches?



It's a fun STEM design project to build frames out of bamboo and grow plants up the framework - or cover the framework with fabrics to make a shelter.


I have a plentiful supply of invasive bamboo that needs cutting back from a neighboring yard.  Each year, I prune the bamboo to make beanpoles. If I need larger diameter bamboo I negotiate to cut some from friends yard further afield.  I work with groups of children helping them design and construct different backyard or schoolyard projects. Sometimes we build frames tied with hemp rope  Sometimes we tie fabrics or plant seeds and grow climbing plants to cover the frames.

We talk about:

  • Concept -  What do you want to do in your structure?  Do you want to sit, run, read, play?  
  • Site - What sort of micro-climate and environment do you already have and want to create?
  • Design - What materials are you using?  What are the materials' strengths and weaknesses? How do you make connections and work with gravity, wind, and other forces?
  • Model - Can you draw or make a smaller or larger model or life-size prototype to test?

Here's some examples of some seasonal plant-based structures:

A Chinese-style Geodesic Dining Dome:
Note my daughter's model that we used to share the visualization of the project as we built...











A Living Willow Tunnel pathway:


Split bamboo tomato frames - using Japanese bamboo-working tools


Today I am planting pole beans, bush beans, sunflowers, and corn and squash to make a Three Sisters Teepee Garden.  I put mesh around the base, and plant inside the framework - to keep rabbits from nibbling the seedlings!



At the Arlington Art Center this year artist, Doug Retzler,  is making a "Gourd Palace with a rebar-reinforced bamboo frame!

Follow the progress of the Gourd Palace at the AAC blog...

http://www.arlingtonartscenter.org/blog/imagining-the-gourd-palace/

I'll also post photos of my family's Three Sisters Bean Teepee as it grows....




Monday, June 3, 2013

Accessing nature for lifelong learning

A thoughtful new NSTA blog post about nature and lifelong learning: Accessing nature for lifelong learning

via the Coalition for After School Science Facebook page