Happy October!
We’ve had a blast the last few weeks with Bloomington Lutheran and Open World 
Learning Community students down at Ft. Snelling State Park within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Staff from the Mississippi River Fund, National Park Service and the Will Steger Foundation led students through activities around weather, climate and phenology and the students were able to do a buckthorn removal service project in the end. Our featured photo this month is of Bloomington Lutheran students hard at work. The field trips are funded through support from the National Park Foundation as part of the Parks Climate Challenge. See more photos and learn about the trips here.
We are happy to welcome our new education assistant, John Smith! John comes to us with a background in environmental education and most recently worked with St. Paul Schools as an energy and sustainability associate.
There are a number of great opportunities coming up in November including free public forums around Minnesota with Will Steger and J. Drake Hamilton of Fresh Energy. If you are an educator in one of the communities they are visiting and are interested in sharing any of the work you have been doing with students please send me an email.
Keep up the good work! Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions or to share how you are bringing climate change into your educational setting.
Kristen
Professional Development
Green Schools Workshops, Presented by the Minnesota Department of Education:
These workshops will provide resources and networking for K-12 administrators, staff, teachers and anyone else interested in making schools more healthy, efficient, and effective. You will see, first-hand, the benefits of green schools and learn about resources available in the areas of green buildings and energy, health and safety, and environmental education.
Dates and locations:
Workshops will be held at Minnesota’s 2012 Green Ribbon Schools National Award Winners
Monday, October 29: St. Joseph – Kennedy Community School
Monday, November 5: West St. Paul – Garlough Environmental Magnet School
Wednesday, November 28: Duluth – North Shore Community School
Cost: None – they are FREE! Clock hour certificates available.
More information and to register.
The Not Serious Climate and Energy Bookclub
At the next book club we will discuss 12 year old Pavan Raj Gowda’s book Gecko Boy, The Battle of Fracking. I had the privilege of meeting Pavan last week at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference and was extremely impressed with his maturity and interest in raising awareness around environmental issues. The book club will take place Thursday October 25, 2012 at 3:30 MT/4:30 CT/5:30 ET. For more information email Susan Buhr, Susan Buhr, Susan.Buhr@colorado.edu. Read a review of past bookclubs here.
Classroom Resources and Opportunities
COP 18 will be held in Qatar and we will be following a delegation of high school students from the School of Environmental Studies that are attending. Discuss the upcoming climate negotiations with your students using our Citizen Climate lesson plans, available to download here.
Thanks to a partnership with Chasing Ice, the Will Steger Foundation will be providing complimentary tickets to see a free screening of the film for educators, youth and key partners in our network. Screenings will be held November 30 through December 4th at the Lagoon Cinema, Uptown Minneapolis. If you are an educator interested in tickets for yourself or your class, please contact me. More information.
News of Note
Just Released from the National Academies of Sciences- Climate Change Education in Formal Settings, K-14.
Frontline will explore the shift in public opinion on climate change tonight on PBS.
Is Global Warming Happening Faster Than Expected? (Scientific American)