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Earth Quest: A game of Environmental Literacy

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Environmental Quizzes

K-2 biodiversity quiz

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Green Holidays Calendar

 

Missouri Environmental Education News
June 2018

Table of Contents: Feature: MEEA's "Not the Standards" Guides to MO Learning Standards, Kudos!, Call for Presenters, Things to Look Out for in June, MEEA News, Grants, Contests and Awards, Conferences, Workshops, Jobs, Teaching and Learning Resources

MEEA's "Not the Standards" Guides to Missouri Learning Standards

Bioplastics Challenge

High School Students in Oregon work in small teams to make thin, biodegradable, bioplastic films from plant starch. Their goal was to create a prototype film that could be used as a patch for dispensing drugs without creating more plastic waste. An activity like this ties together these high school science standards: ESS3A1, ESS3C2, LS1C3, PS1B2 and all of the ETS. MEEA's "Not the Standards" Guides can help organize standards around solving environmental problems.

by: Jan Weaver, MEEA Executive Director

 Jan at Asilomar

Missouri revised all its Learning Standards in 2016. The science standards reduced the overall number of standards while increasing the focus on mastering concepts and use of scientific and engineering practices. Still, with six grades plus middle and high school, and three major content areas, there is a lot of ground to cover if you want to know who is being taught what.

So MEEA is sharing its "Not the Standards" Guides to the Missouri Learning Standards for Earth and Space Sciences (ESS), Life Sciences (LS) and Physical Sciences (PS). Skip to the guides.

Goals of the MEEA NtS Guides
1. To help narrow the search for a specific standard with which a lesson aligns,
2. to make connections and guide curriculum development for standards covered in the same grade,
3. and to provide a map for the development of a concept from Kindergarten to High School so educators know how a concept fits into the big picture, and when might be the best time to teach it based on students' developmental ages.

How to Use the MEEA NtS Guides
1. If you have a lesson to teach, scan for the core idea, the component and then the learning standard that fits best – then look up the full standard description at https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/curriculum/missouri-learning-standards
2. If you have an audience to teach, scan across its grade level to see which standards might line up with a lesson you have or would like to create. Proceed as in number 1 above.

Your alignment or curriculum development should be based off of the standards on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. These include the complete language, including how the standard should be taught using the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices, as well as information about how deep to go into the topic and how it will be assessed. DO NOT rely on the Not the Standards Guides. They are just intended to help you find the standard you need.

To illustrate - below is the table for the LS Learning Standards, from the first and second page of the guide. The left column has the grade, followed by the number of standards in that area for that grade in parentheses (if the number is more than listed on the page, then the remaining standards are on the next page). The top row is the core ideas for the standard, and the second row is the component within each core idea, with the number of standards in parentheses.

MEEA Not the Standards - Life Sciences p.1
MEEA "Not the Standards" Guide for Life Sciences, page 1

For example, 3rd grade has six life science standards, two under LS 1 From Molecules to Organisms, one under A Structure and Function, and one under B Growth and Development of Organisms on page 1. There are four under LS3 Heredity, one under A Inheritance of Traits, one under B Natural Selection, one under C Adaptation and one under D Biodiversity and Humans on page 2. There are no standards for LS2 Ecosystems or LS 4 Biological Evolution in 3rd grade.

MEEA Not the Standards LS p2
MEEA "Not the Standards" Guide for Life Sciences page 2

Note that LS4 Biological Evolution doesn't show up until Middle School, but its foundation goes back to 1st grade when students observe that young are similar to adults. Or that sensory processes are only explicity covered in 4th grade (LS1 D), though they can certainly show up body system functions (LS1 A) in Middle School and interacting systems (LS1 A) in High School.

Once you have found a likely standard from the "Not the Standards", note the Strand, ESS, LS or PS, then the core idea (number 1 - 4), then the component (letters A - E), and last the learning standard number for the grade of interest. For example, the 6-8 grade water cycle is ESS.2.C.1 and the 9-12 grade 2nd Law of Energy is PS.3.B.1.

To find the actual standard, visit https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/curriculum/missouri-learning-standards, scroll down the page to Missouri Learning Standards and click on Science. Just below the top section of the page, there are links to download the standards as PDFs or as an excel file. The excel file is nice because you can sort and search the whole file.

 

Earth and Space Sciences K-12

Life Sciences K-12

Physical Sciences K-12

Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science K-12

 

 

Kudos to MEEA and MELAB Members!

City of Springfield receives $300,000 EPA Brownfields Grant to assess hazardous substances and petroleum along Historic Route 66 (College Street and Kearney Street corridors).

Maplewood Richmond Heights MS Receives International Honors for Sustainability. The Green Schools National Network and the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today recognized Maplewood Richmond Heights Middle School as a winner in the “Best of Green Schools” class of 2018. The jury selected MRHM’s nomination as one of only two winners for the K-12 School category.

 

2018 Missouri Green Schools and Environmental Education Conference

CALL for PRESENTERS!

Missouri Green Schools and Environmental Education Conference
November 2-3, Columbia MO

Four Formats - Hands On, Bright Spots*, Table Talks and Posters

Three Strands - PreK-5 Curriculum, 6-12 Curriculum, Nuts and Bolts

*We are seeking youth as well as adult presenters for the 10 minute Bright Spots. If you work with a youth or a youth group 12 to 23 that carried out a project they identified and selected, we would love to hear about it.

Deadline August 4, 2018

Things to Look for (or Look Out for) in June

Check out all the 2018 Green Holidays.

What to Look for Right Now - MDC's list of What's Out There in June!

MEEA News

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Coming Up in the Next Two Months

(These count for Environmental Educator Certification categories 1, 2 or 3. Visit the EE Certification page here)

EE Jobs details here

Teaching and Learning

Uncovering Student Ideas in Earth and Environmental Science, by Page Keeley and Laura Tucker $37.95 at NSTA

A bionic chandelier that breathes out oxygen, created by the Victoria and Albert Museum's first Engineer in Residence

Elementary students race solar-powered plastic bottle boats

 

 

 

 

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Missouri Environmental Education Association
P.O. Box 220983, Kirkwood MO 63122