Drawing on Nature

Much of our understanding of science comes from interpreting visual images. The images that accompany scientific writing can enhance our knowledge of a subject and can add more precision to our perception.

 

Drawings that accompany field notes offer researchers several paths which to interpret their experiences. Incorporating drawing into research improves one’s observation skills.

 Take your students to an area of the school grounds or someone where they can see animals. Instruct your students to:

• Find an animal – watch it as closely as you can; look at its color, form, and body shape
• Close your eyes and try to reconstruct the animal in your mind
• Using a pencil, try to draw the body shape of the animal; sometimes it helps to look at the animal-and not at the paper

Sketching is an important tool to focus observations. The more that students draw, the more they will see. Students who are more comfortable drawing should include writing in their notes as well, while students who prefer writing should include sketches and diagrams with their writing. Combining writing and drawing gives the pages less of the feel an art project and more of a place where information is collected.

Creating a classroom nature comic book is a fun alternative to traditional field notes. Have each student record sequences of animal behaviors in the form of a comic book. Integrating the comic into recording a real nature event will help motivate students to accurately record their data.

Helpful web sites

Instructional videos on drawing and sketching in nature

 

John Muir Laws drawing templates:

• Leaf (multiple)
• Flower (multiple)
• Leaf and Flower

Opening the Worldthrough Nature Journaling (includes instructions for drawing birds and flowers)

Celebrate Earth Week With Free Seedlings From Trees For Kids

To celebrate Earth Week, the Trees for Kids program is offering free seedlings to schools and communities across Iowa.

The first 100 schools and 100 communities to make a request through the State Forest Nursery will receive a “Create-a-Packet” at no cost.  Each custom packet consists of 200 bare-root seedlings, 50 each of four selected species. The seedlings are between 8 and 24 inches, depending on the tree or shrub species.  Size requests do not apply to this program.  

To take part in this offer, schools and communities should call the State Forest Nursery at 1-800-865-2477 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and mention the Trees for Kids Earth Week program. Each school building or community may order one free Create-a-Packet. Orders will be filled on a first-come first-served basis until 100 packets have been requested for schools, and 100 packets have been requested for communities, or 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, whichever comes first. This offer only applies to new orders.

Schools and communities receiving packets will be asked to e-mail at least one photo of the trees being planted and a short paragraph indicating where and why they were planted.  No other requirements are necessary to receive the free trees.

Recommended packet choices include:

Butterfly host packet

Seedlings selected as hosts for more than 16 species of butterflies.
Choose 4 of the following 5 species:

• Black Cherry
• Bur Oak
• Hackberry
• Redosier Dogwood
• Silky Dogwood

Storm water management packet
Species selected for superior storm water interception, tolerance of wet conditions and water uptake, suitable for planting along streams, rivers and waterways.
Choose 4 of the 5 following species:

• Silver Maple
• River Birch
• Bur Oak
• Sycamore
• Hackberry

Property edge planting
These trees and shrubs are selected because the make an excellent visual screen, block the wind and are attractive. 
Choose 4 of the following 5 species:

• Redosier Dogwood
• Ninebark
• River Birch
• Red Oak
• Bur Oak

Anyone in Iowa can purchase Create-a-Packets from the Iowa State Forest Nursery to increase wildlife habitat, pollinator potential or diversify backyard woodlands.  Cost of a Create-a-Packet is $110, plus shipping and handling. Seedling choices can be seen in the Seedling Catalog.

Trees for Kids also provides landscape tree planting grants to schools and communities. For information about how to apply for a fall 2015 Trees for Kids grant, visit the DNR website or contact the grant coordinator at laura.wagner@dnr.iowa.gov.

The Trees for Kids and Trees for Teens grant programs are funded by Iowa Department of Natural Resources Forestry Bureau, MidAmerican Energy, Black Hills Energy, Alliant Energy, Iowa Bankers Association, Trees Forever, Iowa Tree Farm Committee, and the Iowa Woodland Owners Association.

For more information about ordering your no-cost Earth Week seedlings, contact the Iowa State Forest Nursery at 1-800-865-2477. 

Apply for a GreenWorks! Environmental Improvement Grant

Do you have an idea for a school/community native plant garden, a forest improvement project, a streamside restoration plan, a recycling program, or energy conservation project for your students? Need funds to implement it? Apply for a Project Learning Tree GreenWorks! grant! The deadline is September 30, 2015.

• Grants must be completed in one year
• Applicants must have attended a PLT workshop
• The proposed project must involve service-learning.
• The proposed project must demonstrate student voice.
• The proposed project must involve at least one community partner.
• The proposed project must secure at least 50% matched funds (in-kind acceptable).

GreenWorks! is the service-learning component of Project Learning Tree that engages educators, students, and their communities in “learning-by-doing” local environmental stewardship projects. Since 1992, AFF has distributed more than $1 million to fund more than 1,000 PLT GreenWorks! action projects in communities across the country.

“These grants help students take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to the real world,” said James McGirt, PLT manager of education programs. “Youth engage with the local community, and develop their critical thinking and leadership skills as they work to improve the environment.”

PLT’s GreenWorks! Guidebook offers practical ideas and pointers for getting a GreenWorks! project off and running.

Taking STEM Outside: WILD Project-based Learning in Your Schoolyard

June 24 & 25, 2015 (100% attendance required for credit)
8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden (909 Robert D. Ray Drive, Des Moines)
Registration Deadline: June 17, 2015
Registration Fee: $75* (includes lunches, materials, and 1 license renewal credit); or $150* (includes lunches, materials, and 1 EDEX graduate credit)
Electronic Registration

Learn how to take STEM outdoors. Spend two days turning outdoor projects and exploration into project-based learning units specifically geared for your teaching situation. We will demonstrate how to bundle your favorite Project WILD and Aquatic WILD activities with field investigations to foster inquiry-based learning and meet local and state learning standards. Much of this “flipped” professional development will be spent creating your own path through a host of nationally developed and tested resources to engage your students in authentic inquiry through modeling, discussion, and practice using your school yard or a local natural area and your classes as the framework.

Co-sponsored by the Iowa Conservation Coalition, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, and Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department.

 

For more information, contact: Barb.Gigar@dnr.iowa.gov; 515-494-3891.

Iowa Review Team Recommends New Science Standards

Members recommend Next Generation Science Standards; report to be issued to the State Board of Education

DES MOINES – Members of Iowa’s Science Standards Review Team today recommended adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards with modifications as Iowa’s new science standards.

The recommendation will be formalized in a report next month and will be sent to the State Board of Education for consideration.

The Next Generation Science Standards is the name of science standards developed by 26 states, including Iowa, that all states can consider adopting and adapting to meet their needs. Academic standards represent consistent expectations for what students should know and be able to do from kindergarten through 12^th grade. Iowa’s academic standards are being reviewed, starting with science, as part of Gov. Branstad’s Executive Order 83.

The review team’s recommendation proposes modifying the Next Generation Science Standards for Iowa so that only the performance expectations section is used, rather than the entire standards document. Members said the performance expectations are easier to understand, especially for teachers in subject areas other than science, and allow for more local control because they are broader than other parts of the standards document.

The team’s recommendation also proposes modifying the Next Generation Science Standards for Iowa by separating them by grade level for kindergarten through 8^th grade and organizing the high school standards into a span of grades.

The Science Standards Review Team’s recommendation was based on the expertise of members and feedback from Iowans gathered through public forums and a statewide survey.

Team members said the Next Generation Science Standards represent an improvement from Iowa’s current science standards for a number of reasons. They reflect more modern practices in science, were developed by experts in a process led by states including Iowa, and include engineering practices – which is important as Iowa grows its commitment to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, said Kris Kilibarda, a review team member. 

“These standards will prepare our students to be scientifically literate citizens and will provide the base for more advanced study for Iowans who pursue careers in science and engineering,” said Kilibarda, who is director of the Jacobson Institute for Innovation in STEM Education at Grand View University.

The recommendation capped off more than five months of work by the Science Standards Review Team, which is made up of education and business leaders with expertise in physical science, life science, earth and space science, and engineering, technology and application. Iowa Department of Education Director Brad Buck convened the team last fall to review Iowa’s science standards, as well as rigorous science standards from other states and organizations, and to make a recommendation for improvement.

In December, the review team made a preliminary recommendation to take the Next Generation Science Standards to the public for feedback.

A statewide survey and four public forums throughout the state generated about 2,600 comments in February. A majority of comments were in favor of the Next Generation Science Standards. For example, the survey results showed 69 percent of survey participants agreed that the Next Generation Science Standards will prepare students to be ready for college, careers and other postsecondary options.

Review team members studied and discussed the public feedback at two meetings in March. At their March 24 meeting, team members agreed that the Next Generation Science Standards should be the basis for their work on a final recommendation.

At today’s meeting, the review team approved the following recommendation on a 9-2 vote:

• We recommend the Next Generation Science Standards performance expectations be adopted in Iowa as grade-specific standards for grades K-8 and grade-span standards for grades 9-12.

The team will work on a final report to the State Board of Education, which has the legal authority to determine the content of Iowa’s academic standards.

To read the Next Generation Science Standards, visit http://www.nextgenscience.org/. 

To read Iowa’s academic standards, visit https://iowacore.gov/.

For more information about the Science Standards Review Team, visit the Iowa Department of Education’s website.

National Environmental Education Week: April 19-25, 2015

National Environmental Education Week (EE Week) is the nation’s largest celebration of environmental education. With support from national sponsor, Samsung, EE Week continues its multi-year focus on connecting the environment with STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) learning. Building off the focus on Technology in 2013 and Engineering in 2014, this year’s EE Week theme is Greening STEM: Surrounded by Science.

Science provides the tools we need to better understand the environment. Through the scientific process, we observe, test, analyze and advance our knowledge of the world. With so many fields of scientific study that examine the environment, there are endless connections through Green Science education that directly relate to the forefront of real-world scientific research and discovery. This year, EE Week is excited to explore these connections to help educators find the most effective and engaging ways environmental themes can be used to enrich science education.

Student achievement in STEM is key to fostering a new wave of innovators who can creatively address complex 21st century challenges. Environmental education can provide students with opportunities to engage in meaningful and exciting scientific studies that can spark their interest in STEM and empower them to take part in solutions to local environmental challenges.

EE Week works to celebrate all of the educators who are making a difference in the world of environmental education and STEM learning and provide them with the tools and resources they need to continue inspiring the next generation of lifelong environmental learners. Whether you already have a project in mind or are looking for inspiration, EE Week registration is free and open to everyone! By registering, you’ll stay up to date with the latest news and announcements about EE Week, including professional development opportunities, educator toolkits, blog posts, related news stories, grants, contest opportunities, partner discounts and more! Visit EEWeek.org to learn more and register online at http://eeweek.org/register.

Baby Wildlife

It is that magical time of year again when baby wildlife are born and hatched. We often stumble upon these cute critters when we are outside enjoying nature. If you find baby wildlife, they should be observed only and not handled or “rescued.” They may appear to be alone, but you can rest assured that the mother (and in some cases the father too) are not far away waiting for you to leave so they can go back to caring for their young.

It’s often possible to reunite the young with their parents by placing the baby directly in the nest or den, or in a box close to where it was found. If a bird nest has been destroyed, an artificial nest can be created and placed near the original nest.

Young birds spend a lot of time hopping around awkwardly as they learn to fly. This behavior can make an observer think that the bird has a broken wing or has fallen out of the nest, but it is a crucial step in development. If you find a baby bird in your yard and are afraid that it will be hurt, clear the area until the parents can return to their fledgling. Contrary to a popular myth, birds will not abandon their young if they detect human scent.

Both fawns and baby cottontails are left alone for most of the day and night, and are only fed two or three times during the day. A youngster alone doesn’t always mean it is an orphan.

Occasionally, an animal may actually be sick or injured. Don’t try to rescue wildlife yourself, especially those that appear ill. If you find an animal, make sure it is actually in trouble. Looks for signs of injury or listlessness. Then contact your city or county animal control staff or local wildlife rehabilitator for advice. If you must intervene, keep the animal in a secure container lined with clothing and place it in a warm, dark, quiet place. Do not attempt to feed or water it. Injured wild animals in captivity may strike out from fear and pain. With few exceptions, all wildlife in Iowa are protected and federal and/or state permits are required to rehabilitate injured animals.

List of Iowa Wildlife Rehabilitators - http://www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/uploads/files/wildliferehab.pdf

Iowa Wildlife Center - http://iowawildlifecenter.org/default.aspx

 

National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association - http://www.nwrawildlife.org/content/help-ive-found-animal