Back to School: ideas for play, math, science and design with gourds, pumpkins and squash

Here for K- 5 educators - ideas for play, math, science and design with gourds, pumpkins and squash.

Gourd Math from MaryVanDyke

Check out planting, growing and harvesting details for gourd family plants in your zone.
Here in VA, gourds, pumpkins and squash are easy to plant in May and June.
The plants can then look after themselves over the summer vacation...and will be ready to harvest when kids go back to school in the fall.

Ready, Set, Learn: USDA Lessons for Our Nation’s Next Generation

Ready, Set, Learn: USDA Lessons for Our Nation’s Next Generation

Photo Courtesy of Arlington Public Schools.

In honor of back to school week, USDA offers an array of youth-focused curriculum and learning resources.

It’s that time of year! Back to school season is upon us and agencies across the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are working to ensure a stronger and healthier future for our nation’s next generation of leaders. That means providing a happy and healthy learning environment for our kids, and helping them grow up with the tools they need to succeed. 

Here we’ve assembled a few youth-focused curriculum and learning resources from USDA to help teachers, administrators and parents give kids fun tools for the classroom and beyond. Be sure to check out our USDA for Kids page as well for more resources for the classroom on link below.

Read more » 

Reposted from the USDA blog 08/13/2013 12:15 PM EDT

Looking Up at the Night Sky...

I enjoy looking up at the night sky whether I'm in a city or out in a dark sky area.
A starry moonlit sky is a source of amazement, wonder and simple questions about nature and life...

• What phase is the moon in?
• Can I see a planet?
• What's that starry W in the sky?
• How far away are those three stars in a row?
• Where's the Milky Way?
  
  And big questions.
  
• Is there life out there?
• What about the Big Bang and the expanding universe?
• When are we going to the Moon again and Mars?
• What's the latest on commercial spaceflight?

And I give thanks to star-gazers, astronomers and thinkers through the ages - and think about the unknown.

Here for tonight and later this week is some info on the Perseids meteor shower.

http://www.slowfamilyonline.com/2013/08/perseid-meteor-shower-will-light-up-the-night-sky-this-weekend/

Also why not try downloading the "Planets" free app onto your android or iPhone?
Use the app next time you're out at night to help you identify more of our galaxy...

Here's to more science: curiosity and asking questions...

“Not only do we live among the stars, the stars live within us.” 
― Neil deGrasse Tyson, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

Education Outside - San Francisco schools expanding outdoor classroom program

Education Outside and their Corps of Education Outside staff - bring elementary school students outside to learn standards-based, outdoor science.  They take the children out to their outdoor classrooms to learn about environmental sustainability and nature on school grounds.

See more at: http://www.educationoutside.org/

And see the write up of the innovative Education Outside program below...

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• PHOTO COURTESY OF PAIGE GREEN
• Corps member Kelly Nichols works with students as a part of Education Outside, an expanding program in The City.

For more click on link:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/san-francisco-schools-expanding-outdoor-classroom-program/Content?oid=2539274

By Andrea Koskey @SFEX_koskey

Reposted from the San Francisco Examiner

Summer eating and learning about the needs of seeds

By planting seeds and harvesting produce, children are involved with food production and learn about the needs of plants. Click on link below to learn more about teaching your youngest scientists about plant needs....

Summer eating and learning about the needs of seeds

Reposted from the NSTA blog, Peggy Ashbrook, July 30 2013

From Project Learning Tree - STEM and A Technological Twist on Professional Development

Check out this link on ideas for using Technology and the Project Learning Tree Curriculum

A Technological Twist on Professional Development

Using i-Tree Design to show energy effect of a 31" diameter Hickory on the Tuckahoe School building

Today I spent time at Arlington's Gunston Middle School - to plan three days of classes using Project Learning Tree's Focus on Forests - Monitoring Forest Health module.

In September, we plan to work with a science teacher and 5 classes in the schoolyard at Gunston.
Here's our program for the three 45-minute lessons.
Day 1: Draw our Favorite Trees, do Goods from the Woods, and Tree Biology activities.
Day 2: Observe the Tree Outside the Classroom.  Identify the tree using Leafsnap app -(p.s. it's a cherry tree) - and then calculate the tree's ecosystem service benefits using the online tool:  i-Tree Design.
Day 3: Observe and compare 6 groups of trees in the schoolyard: including Eastern White Pines, VA Pines, various Oaks and Cherries and Hollies.  Students note soil conditions, compare tree leaves and barks, note wildlife, lichen, fungus, disease and environmental factors. Then consider civic engagement and environmental stewardship projects.  How could these trees be better managed for long-term sustainability?

Stay tuned for more STEM Outdoors!

E STEM : LINKING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION WITH SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH

In 2013, the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) was awarded a research grant by the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and partners to explore integrating environmental education into STEM learning for young people.
The research will be focused on what NAAEE calls “E-STEM” (Environment, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). 

E- STEM Blueprint Overview
The E- STEM Blueprint will include proposals for strategic programmatic opportunities that can:
• Enhance E-STEM in middle school and high school
• Explore how formal programming can link to community-based organizations to create more comprehensive and interdisciplinary learning opportunities 
• Discover how programming can have local and national-scale impact
• Incorporate the most effective strategies for enhancing efforts around diversity and inclusion, given changing demographics and our new global economy 
• Boost innovation, creativity, and problem solving

For more info on the NAAEE E-STEM initiative click on link:

http://www.naaee.net/sites/default/files/E-STEM/ESTEM_NAAEE2013TearSheet.pdf