We published a response to Congressman Cravaack’s amendment to cut funding for climate change education in the Duluth News Tribune.

Read the article…

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week and many thanks to all of you for doing the great work that you do!  We loved this observation describing the Spring posted to the online classroom today from Nikolaus at Great River School.  He titled it, There Is Life Among Us.

I'm sitting outside of my apartment building. In the back there is a little enclosed off area kind of hidden in the woods, it is between housing and the golf coarse. It is really nice. I'm just sitting in the sun listening to all of the birds chirping and playing around. I can hear lots of scrapes on the bark of trees as squirrels run up and down trees. The sun is heating up my back and my head while the wind cools off my body. It is very peaceful. When I look around I see wonderful bright green trees that look like they are overexcited that it's springtime. There are still buds on the trees but most of them have turned into rich green leaves. On some of the trees there is even lots of bright pink flowers. I could sit here for days just listening to the leaves swaying in the wind, hearing the birds chirp and hearing the animals play. It is a very nice day.

In other news, the Twin Cities Naturalist, is a great phenology resource for those of you in the Twin Cities Metro Area keeping up with nature as it wakes up this spring and read Minnesota farmer Jack Hedin's reflections on how climate change is impacting agriculture.

Richard Alley's recent article is a fun illustration of how deniers will cherry pick data to support their claims.  Read it here.  As part of Earth: The Operator's Manural, Aley's How to Talk to An Ostrich series of videos are great short videos that give rebuttals to denier arguments. 

Check out TEDtalks new TEDEd!  They have taken TEDtalks, created quizzes and questions to think about so they can be more useful in the classroom.  We especially like the James Balog's Time-lapse proof of extreme ice loss.

Enter the White House's Youth Sustainability Challenge.  Submit Your Videos Today! 

 The first public draft of the Next Generations Science Standards is open for review May 11 – June 1.  This will be an opportunity to influence the future of science education and see where climate change fits in.  There will be focus group meetings across the state to learn about the standards and to provide joint review.  Register for the meetings and receive location information. 

Professional Development
Don't forget to register for the Minnesota Association for Environmental Education's Annual Conference June 21 and 22 at Itasca State Park. 

The Minnesota Department of Education is offering 1 day workshops on Teaching Outside the Box: An Introduction to Integrating Environmental and Outdoor Education in Grades K-12 throughout the summer and fall.  More info

Mark your calendars for August 6, 7:00 PM at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Cowles Auditorium for an evening with Dr. Eugenie Scott and Will Steger. Dr. Scott, is the Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE). For the past 30 years NCSE has primarily focused on defending the teaching of evolution in the classroom. In 2012, in response to complaints from teachers that they were coming under fire for teaching global warming and other climate change concepts, NCSE decided to support the teaching of climate change in addition to evolution.

We are still looking for teachers interested in presenting for 5-10 minutes, August 8, about how they used Minnesota's Changing Climate.  Sign up here or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions.

Join the other educators on this map and register today and share with your colleagues this Summer's Institute for Climate Change Education, August 7-8.

We were very disappointed to learn today from Patrick Fitzgerald at NWF, that Congressman Chip Cravaack of Minnesota's 8th Congressional District, has offered an amendment to eliminate funding to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Climate Change Education Program.  This will affect great science-based climate change education projects here in Minnesota that includes the Como Zoo & Conservatory and SERC at Carleton College, an important partner in the Climate Literacy Network.  In the Great Lakes Region NSF has been funding a Great Lakes Network, focused on bringing together educators, scientists and others focused on climate change education to encourage collaboration and decrease duplication of efforts.  Funding from the National Science Foundation for climate change education is integral to the work we do: developing science based climate change education resources and programs and maintaining a nationwide network dedicated specifically to climate change education.

Please call Representative Cravaack's office today (202) 225-6211 and tell him to vote NO on Amendment 7 to HR 5326 (from Congressional Record 5/7/12)

Sample talking points

• I am a constituent from ____...
• I’m calling today about your amendment to eliminate the NSF climate change education program…
• Environmental and Climate Change Education is important to me because…
• I’m involved in X, Y and Z related to this issue…
• I hope you will consider withdrawing your amendment to eliminate NSF’s climate change education program

More on HR 5326
OFFERED BY: MR. CRAVAACK
AMENDMENT NO. 7: At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following: SEC. ll. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to carry out the activities of the Climate Change Education program of the National Science Foundation.

For more background, here is NSF’s program summary.

Here is the list of NSF grantees.

In the past I have blogged on the importance of the "translator" or communicator of climate change, especially when it comes to some of the more complex science.  These two articles caught my eye today.

The article:  Could methane produced by sauropod dinosaurs have helped drive Mesozoic climate warmth? published in Current Biology by David M. Wilkinson, Euan G. Nisbet, and Graeme D. Ruxton

became...

Excuse me: Gassy dinosaurs helped warm Earth written by Seth Borenstein and posted to the Minnesota Public Radio News page.

Which one are you more inclined to read? 

Just last night PBS NewsHour featured about a ten minute segment entitled, Teachers Endure Balancing Act Over Climate Change Curriculum.  Overall it is an impressive vignette of what some educators face when they decide to teach about climate change in their classroom, but also what makes for good climate change education. Cheryl Manning, the featured teacher, points out the importance of starting with asking questions and identifying the misconceptions that may persist among students.  She also discusses the importance of understanding the difference between a theory in everyday life and a scientific theory, based on evidence and much testing.  
 
You can watch the video of the news segment here or

Watch Teachers Endure Balancing Act Over Climate Change Curriculum on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

and if you are free at 5PM Eastern (4PM for us in Minnesota) TODAY, May 3, take time to join a live chat with Cheryl, as well as Susan Buhr from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado, Boulder and Pavane Gorrepati, a high school senior, who founded her school's environmental club, met with President Obama, written a children's book about the environment and researched climate change in China.

Exciting news!  The Minnesota's Changing Climate Project- which includes all of the great work you have been doing, has beennominated for a Minnesota Environmental Initiative Award.  Winners will announced at an event on May 24.  More info.

We have confirmed that Eugenie Scott,the Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education(NCSE), will be speaking on Climate Science in Schools: the Next Evolution, at our free public forum held the evening of August 6th at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Cowles Auditorium, with Will Steger. Moderated by Steve Kelley. 

For the past 30 years NCSE has primarily focused on defending the teaching of evolution in the classroom. In 2012, in response to complaints from teachers that they were coming under fire for teaching global warming and other climate change concepts, NCSE decided to support the teaching of climate change in addition to evolution.  The work of NCSE is clearly important, especially after yesterday's passage of a bill in Tennessee that allows teachers to teach that the science and issue of climate change has "two sides."  More info. 

It is hard not to notice the unusually warm weather that hit Minnesota in the last few weeks, following what we like to call, "the winter that never was."  There has been some pretty
interesting coverage that highlight these anomalies.

Climate Central's interactive map shows how early spring has arrived around the country

The big news in the Climate Change Education world the last few weeks has been the controversy surrounding leaked Heartland Institute documents.  The documents show, among other things, their plan to develop a curriculum for teaching about climate change in K-12 schools. Dr. David Wojick, who is not a climate scientist and received his PhD in epistemology, will develop a set of modules on topics he deems to be “controversial” when in fact there is no controversy.  Curriculum modules include the role of humans causing climate change (science concludes humans are a major driver of climate change so yes, it is us!); how climate models work (science proves their models are reliable) and if CO2 is an air pollutant (which it is).  Two days ago Dr. Peter Gleick admitted to leaking the Heartland documents.  His admission has instigated a variety of responses on whether Dr. Gleick should be considered a hero or condemned for his actions.

Some of you may have seen Will's editorial last week in the Star Tribune raising awareness about the importance of climate literacy.  He wrote:

"Teaching and understanding climate change is a process involving scientific inquiry and educational pedagogy; it is not about politics or partisanship. There is virtually unanimous scientific agreement about climate change."

Reading through the comments that follow the editorial, it is clear that there is a lot of education that is still needed.  This presents a great opportunity for all of you and your students to practice rebutting the misconceptions and denial that still permeates the public.  How empowering for your students to know that they are "smarter" than the average commenter to the Star Tribune!  You can read the comments here or download a document we compiled with all of the comments here.  Ask your students to choose one and write their response and if you are comfortable with it, send your responses to the Star Tribune or share them with us.  As always, we are excited to hear about how things are going in your classroom.

REMINDER!  Please take a few minutes to take our survey about how you have used Minnesota's Changing Climate Curriculum OR why you were unable to do so.  We are in the process of editing the curriculum and creating a new edition for next year.  THANK YOU!  Take the survey here.

Resources and Opportunities
Registration Opens for 7th Annual Summer Institute for Climate Change Education!: PLEASE Share with your colleagues and consider coming back for new sessions and also to share how you used Minnesota's Changing Climate this year.  Information here.

New Website Shares Tools and Resources to Make Minnesota Schools Healthier and More Sustainable:  The Will Steger Foundation is an active participant in the Minnesota Green Schools Coalition – a group of the state’s strongest advocates for our children who are working to create a Minnesota infrastructure of green schools – healthy, high performance schools that are conducive to learning while saving energy, resources and money.  Use this website as a resource and to share with others you know.

Apply for national recognition as a Green Ribbon School!  Applications due February 22, 2012 :  The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is partnering with the U.S. Department of Education to recognize green schools with the newly launched Green Ribbon Schools program. To be considered for the program, a school will have achieved or made considerable progress toward the three pillars established in the program: 1) energy efficient buildings; 2) healthy students and school environment; and 3) environmental literacy of all graduates.  The combined achievement in these three areas will be the basis for the Green Ribbon Schools award.  More information & a link to the application are found on the MDE website.

In the news…
The USDA Unveils New Plant Hardiness Zone Map  Read More
More on this and how it impacts Minnesota

We want to thank you for being a part of our community of climate literacy ambassadors!

Kristen   

Ann

Winter greetings!  The cold has finally arrived and hopefully with snow right on its heels.  For those of you interested in keeping up on student observations of the Metro area, Great River School has been doing a phenomenal job of getting outside and letting us know what they see!  Also many thanks to Proctor for hosting Will, Nicole and myself a few weeks ago.  It was so much fun to hear what you have learned and get outside to see your journalling plots and observations.  Keep up the good work!

Keep your eyes open for next summer's first institute blast.  We are hoping to have some return teachers that are part of a teacher panel or just want to participate again.  If you enjoyed last summer, PLEASE share with your colleagues and encourage them to attend.  We are able to offer mileage and accommodations for those traveling outside the metro again and will have some great sessions.  The dates this year are August 7 and 8 and the location, the School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley.

There has been an exciting development in climate change education this week, as the National Center for Science Education has taken up the fight against climate change denial and support of teachers teaching climate change.  Some of you are probably aware of NCSE's many years of work on making sure evolution was included in science education.  More on this on the Climate Lessons blog.

Cool Website of the Week- Check out this great interactive on how science works. 

Viral Climate Video of the Week

What does this mild winter mean for Midwest Forests?  Read More Now. 
Check out the latest issue of the Young Scientist's Journal focused on Climate Change. 

Opportunities:
Apply for national recognition as a Green Ribbon School!  Applications due February 22, 2012  
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is partnering with the U.S. Department of Education to recognize green schools with the newly launched Green Ribbon Schools program. To be considered for the program, a school will have achieved or made considerable progress toward the three pillars established in the program: 1) energy efficient buildings; 2) healthy students and school environment; and 3) environmental literacy of all graduates.  The combined achievement in these three areas will be the basis for the Green Ribbon Schools award.  More information & a link to the application are found on the MDE website. 

Stop by the Department of Education to hear from high school students talk about why Learning Outdoors is “Way Cool”  Monday, January 23, 12 – 1 p.m.
Last semester several Minnesota high school students from Mahtomedi and Roseville were busy learning the usual subject matter – history, literature, science, phy. ed., math. Hear why their academic experience was so exceptional.  These fortunate students will be at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to share their experiences at Conserve School (www.conserveschool.org) in Northeastern Wisconsin. Learn why for many of them it was their greatest experience with academics and was also life-changing.
Visitors are welcome, but please notify Jeff Ledermann, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , if you would like to attend.

YEA!MN is teaming up with MPIRG to plan a youth-centered lobby day at the Capitol Building in St. Paul for middle school and high students!  
Lobbying will focus on promoting the Recycling Refund Act which incentivizes and encourages Minnesotans to recycle and reduce litter, and on a bill that would commit Minnesota to a new solar standard of 10% solar energy by the year 2030.  
All are invited to join us as we participate in and learn about an important aspect of our political process.  Participants will have the opportunity to be trained on lobbying and on the particular issues they are interested in lobbying for, meet other youth activists who are working toward a more environmentally sustainable Minnesota, and lobby in the capitol building in front of a legislator.
Here is the information regarding the event:
What: MPIRG/YEA!MN Lobby Day
When: Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 9:00am-2:00pm
Where: The Minnesota Capitol Building, 5 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.  Saint Paul, MN 55155 (the specific room in which we will first meet is TBD)
*Free lunch will be provided*
Please ask your students to register if they'd like to attend.