Announcements December 1, 2008
Annual Membership Social and Lecture
"Diving, Exploration and Research in Long Island Sound"
Adam Grohman, Underwater Historical Research Society
at the Unique
Alley Pond Environmental Center,
Saturday December 6, 2008 at 7:00 P.M.
Mystery abounds under the surface of placid Long Island Sound. To uncover the unknown, we have enlisted the assistance of the head of the underwater Historical Research Society. Adam Grohman will address our group and discuss his research into various L.I. shipwrecks and a general tour of this underwater environment. In addition to telling the story of a bygone era, shipwrecks are marine habitats that support important eco-systems.
As has been our tradition, dinner will begin at 7:00 P. M. It will consist of a variety of meat and veggie heros and salads, plus other holiday dishes, desserts, hot and cold beverages. As a member we want you to contribute, too - you're the ones who can bring to this program more special goodies in the way of appetizers, main courses and desserts. The more the better.
Please note that our year runs from June conference to June conference. If you attended the conference this past year or if you have sent in money since then, you are a member in good standing. If you do not fall into this category then your dues is past due. Please join or pay your dues by going to http://www.nysmea.org/membership.htm
We are requesting a $8 dinner contribution for any non-member guests who are accompanying you.
Please call or email, Anita Freudenthal (516) 798-2545 Hfreudenthal@cs.com so that we can adequately prepare for you. Please note that this is a very popular event so it is important that you (If you call and get the answer phone please leave a call back number)
Directions: http://www.alleypond.com/directions.htm
Please join us for the rest of the days' activities.
Teacher Enrichment Activity
3:00P.M. Walking tour of the unique marsh and uplands environment at
the
Alley Pond Environmental Center
(Reservations required by Tuesday
December 2nd via email lousea@aol.com
)
4:30 P.M. Directors meeting - Please get active and join us in our plans for the future.
Directions:
http://www.alleypond.com/directions.htm
Hold the Date
"Liquid Assets: A History of New York's Water
System"
Diane Galusha, author, Education and Communications Director
of the Catskill Watershed Corporation
Friday, January 23, at 7:00 PM
American Museum of Natural History
(Preceded by Directors Meeting (5:00 PM)
NYSMEA has again received a grant from
the ERM Foundation
to fund the
South Shore Estuary learning Facilitator (sSELF)Program
We are happy to report that NYSMEA has again received
the South Shore Estuary Learning Facilitator (sSELF) grant from the ERM
Foundation for calendar year 2009. The program, run in cooperation with
the South Shore Estuary Reserve Office,
is designed to train students and community members to do basic
testing of various environmental parameters on a regular basis.
Lou Siegel, the creator of the program will give a presentation on
the program
on Wednesday, January 7th, 7 PM
Room 027 of the Kramer Science Center
Dowling College in Oakdale
at the meeting of
Long Island Sierra Club.
All Welcome
Contact Lou at LouSea@aol.com
for further information or if your group is interested in the program
Ocean Guardian Programs
The purpose of the NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries Ocean Guardian Programs are to encourage teachers and students to explore their natural surroundings to form a sense of personal connection to the ocean and/or watersheds in which they live.
• Students can make a difference by becoming a member of our Ocean Guardian Kids Club.
• Teachers can get their classroom involved in environmental conservation at their school or in their community to be an Ocean Guardian Classroom.
• Everyone can download a free copy of our Ocean Guardian Activity Book to learn more about the ocean and why its important through word searches, games, and coloring pages.
The "Year of Science" Celebrates Oceans and Water in June.
Be a part of the celebration!
Part of the Year of Science website for June's Ocean and Water theme will feature a slide show entitled "A Day Without the Ocean."
We are collecting digital images (photos or scanned drawings) from the ocean education community, scientists, teachers, students, and anyone else interested, that illustrate what the world would be like if we lost this vital resource for a day.
To participate, just send a digital image and caption explaining your thoughts.
Selected photos will appear on a rotating basis on June's Year of Science Ocean and Water website
( www.yearofscience2009.org/).
With your submission please include:
a caption no longer than 80 words
your name, your occupation/grade, and city.
E-mail all entries and questions to jen@paleobio.org.
Use ;"Day Without the Ocean Submission" as the subject.
To join the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) and
Year of Science Celebrations visit http://www.copusproject.org/
Nominations open for the 2009 Richard C. Bartlett Environmental
Education Award
The Richard C. Bartlett Environmental Education Award is awarded
annually by the National Environmental Education Foundation to an
outstanding educator who has successfully integrated environmental
education into his or her daily education programs. The award is given
to a 5th-12th grade educator who can serve as an inspiration and model
for others. A $5,000 cash award is provided for the recipient to
continue their work in environmental education. Do you know a teacher
who stands out among the rest? If so, please nominate him/her for the
2009 Richard C. Bartlett Award. Nominations will be accepted through
January 31, 2009. To learn more or submit your nomination visit
http://www.neefusa.org/bartlettaward.htm.
The American Museum of Natural History Announces
the 2009 Young Naturalist
Awards Competition for students in grades 7-12
Deadline: March 2, 2009
Presented by the American Museum of Natural History and sponsored by Alcoa
Foundation, the Young Naturalist Awardscompetition--invites students in
grades 7-12 to conduct research in the
natural world. Students investigate questions they have in the areas of
ecology, biology, Earth science and astronomy and present their findings in
an essay. Winners (2 from each grade) receive cash awards, from $500 to
$2,500, and an all-expense paid trip to New York City to attend the awards
ceremony at the Museum. There they take a behind-the-scenes tour and meet
with Museum scientists. The winning essays are published on the Museum¹s
website and excerpted in Natural History magazine. 36 finalists receive a
$50 award. All participants receive a certificate and a letter from the
judges who read their essays. The letters highlight the strong points of the
investigation and suggest ways they could be improved. The contest is open
to students in the U.S. and Canada.
For more information visit the website at http://www.amnh.org/yna or email
the Young Naturalist Awards Administrator at yna@amnh.org
If you would like a free educational poster, please email the YNA
administrator with your address.
Register today for National Environmental Education Week
National Environmental Education Week (EE Week) is the nation's largest organized environmental education event. Held each April, EE Week promotes understanding and protection of the natural world by actively engaging K-12th grade students and educators of all subjects in an inspired week of environmental learning and service before Earth Day. Join the thousands of schools, nature centers, zoos, museums, and aquariums nationwide who have made a commitment to engage students in environmental learning through participation in EE Week!
This year's EE Week theme is Be Water Wise! Registered partners will have access to a wide variety of FREE environmental education resources, including:
- Standards-based environmental education lessons and activities, including water conservation, watershed, and water quality curricula,
- Access to EE Week's school water audit tool in which students "find the leaks" in water usage at school,
- Opportunities for online communication and knowledge-sharing with educators from across the country, including participation in the EE Week Photo Blog contest,
- Monthly electronic newsletters highlighting the latest EE curricula, professional development, and funding opportunities,
- Certificates of participation for themselves and their students, and
- A
free issue of National
Geographic Explorer magazine for those registering
before
You can join a national network of educators dedicated to increasing environmental literacy, promote environmental learning, and gain national exposure for your school or organization by registering today at www.EEWeek.org.
Questions?
Contact Jessica Culverhouse at culverhouse@neefusa.org or
call
Applications for the next round of grants for Watershed Education projects
are now available from the Catskill Watershed Corporation. Please see the
attached announcement and then visit our webpage for details and forms:
http://www.cwconline.org/programs/pub_edu/pe.html
Also on the web site, check out "Evaluation Guidance," a link to MEERA
(My Environmental Education Evaluation Resource Assistant) for help in
formulating a plan to evaluate the impact of EE projects.
"VADLO" is a very interesting new science search engine to let you explore a great variety of subjects.
For example, it brought up some lovely PowerPoint shows when searched on "plankton" and "oceanography"
www.vadlo.com
from the website:
Vadlo search engine caters to all branches of life sciences. This beta offering allows users to search within five categories: Protocols, Online Tools, Seminars, Databases and Software.
"Vadlo: (vud-lo) - Vadlo is a large fig tree characterized by aerial roots that eventually become accessory trunks. This allows it to grow horizontally to amazing proportions. Aerial roots provide for convenient swings to the kids, who, along with eager birds, also enjoy the ripe red figs on Vadlo, called Teta (Singular: Teto )."
NOTE*Before
you use Vadlo or refer your students to it, you might want to read
“Vadlo Disclaimer Vadlo does not guarantee that our search results are complete, adequate and accurate, that when you click on a search result, the link is active, that the information presented on a website on our index is not inaccurate, irrelevant or plain wrong, and that the content of an indexed website is not offensive, objectionable, harmful to you, your research program, your computer system or to a third party through your actions.”
an email to info@NYSMEA.org and put "please remove" in the subject line.