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New! Missouri Green Schools Program

Earth Quest: A game of Environmental Literacy

earth quest gameboard

Environmental Quizzes

K-2 biodiversity quiz

Coloring Sheets

channel catfish coloring sheet

Green Holidays Calendar

Missouri Environmental Education News
December 2018

Table of Contents: Feature: 2018 MOGSEE Conference, MEEA Seeking New Director, Things to Look Out for in December, MEEA News, Grants, Contests and Awards, Conferences, Workshops, Jobs, Teaching and Learning: 2-Dimensional Learning and the Missouri Assessment Program

2018 Missouri Green Schools and Environmental Education Conference

2018 MOGSEE Conference Attendees

Friday Field Trip

The Conference started off with a tour of school garden programs at Rock Bridge Elementary, West Middle School, and Douglass High School.

2018 MOGSEE Friday Field Trip

2018 MOGSEE Friday Field Trip 2018 MOGSEE Friday Field Trip

Friday Social

Rock Bridge Elementary hosted the Friday Evening Social. Attendees enjoyed pizza, got to know each other a little better and watched a selection of videos on the benefits of using outdoor spaces and a celebration of 40 years of EE. (see the list of videos here)

2018 MOGSEE Social

Sessions

Folks who use environmental education are a diverse group, and this year we structured the strands a little differently to make it easier for each segment of that group to find resources they can use. We had a PreK-5th Grade Strand, a 6th-12th Grade Strand, a Nuts and Bolts Strand aimed at non-formal educators and a MEEA Strand that covered our Certification and Green Schools programs. Our other change was to make the sessions 75 minutes instead of 60 minutes. Besides giving attendees more time for hands-on and outdoor activities, it meant sessions could count for professional development for more programs.

2018 MOGSEE Session 2018 MOGSEE Session 2018 MOGSEE Session

Keynote

Our keynote focused on how Formal and Non-Formal education programs can work together. Mike Szydlowski of Columbia Public Schools and Kristen Schulte of Missouri River Relief gave a brief outline of their collaboration on a program to get Columbia students out on the Missouri River. Then they took questions provided by the audience as a way to get into the nitty gritty of the relationship.

2018 MOGSEE Keynote

Awards

Every year MEEA recognizes people, institutions, agencies and organizations that have made a significant contribution to EE in Missouri. This year's awardees include

Mike Szydlowski - 2018 Environmental Educator

Mike Szydlowski is presented with the 2018 Environmental Educator Award by Emily Reynolds

Columbia Sustainability Office - Agency Award

Columbia's Sustainability Office is presented with the 2018 Agency Award by Jan Weaver

Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture - Grass Roots Organization Award

Adam Saunders is presented with the 2018 Grass Roots Organization Award

Lea Langdon - Lifetime Environmental Educator Award

Lea Langdon is presented with the 2018 Lifetime Environmental Educator Award

 

Certification

Mary McCarthy EE Re-certification MEEA also recognizes those of its members who have achieved a new level of Environmental Educator Certification or who have renewed Certification. This year Mary McCarthy completed renewal of her EE Certification.

 

Bright Spots

Another innovation this year was providing a venue for youth. Bright Spots were 10 minute presentations by youth or youth groups on a project they were doing. Thanks to a donation by Debby Barker, we were able to provide free registration for folks 18 and under to attend. On the left are Deah and Branden Powell from the MDC Jr. Leader's program (mentored by Melvin Johnson) and on the right are Miles Bradford, Sarah Lavelle and Catherine Glick from St. Louis Zoo's Zoo-Alive Teen Volunteer Program.

Bright Spots 2018 MOGSEE Bright Spots

Posters & Table Talks

We had over a dozen table talks and posters. The youngest presenter was Owen Kroes, who with his mom Beth, presented on Macon's SPROut Kids Hands-On Nature Explorer Program. SPROut received a MEEA EE Grant in 2017 for its program.

2018 MOGSEE Table Talks 2018 MOGSEE Poster

Carbon-neutral Conference

At the 2017 Conference, MEEA had the event audited for greenhouse gas emissions. At this year's conference we took steps to reduce and offset ghgs by inviting people to carpool and collecting donations to the Central Missouri Community Action Coalition's Weatherization Program. We collected $71.33 in donations plus $20 given directly to CMCAC.

Thanks and Kudos!

Thanks to our Committee Thanks to our Sponsors

2018 MOGSEE Commitees

A huge thanks to this year's conference committee: Jan Weaver (MEEA), Lori McCurdy (Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture), Emily Reynolds (Columbia Public Schools), Jennifer Szydlowski (Columbia Public Schools), Christine (Jie) Li (MU School of Natural Resources), Jennifer Grabner (Missouri River Communities Network),

Not pictured - Mike Szydlowski (Columbia Public Schools)

2018 MOGSEE Sponsors

A huge thanks to the conference sponsors: Columbia Public Schools, the City of Columbia Office of Sustainabilty, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Larry P. O'Reilly & Family Foundation, the MU School of Natural Resources, and Debby Barker.

A huge thanks to Amber Edwards who took all these pictures!

 

 

2019 MOGSEE Conference - Save the Date!

Next year's conference is planned for November 1-2 in St. Louis.

MEEA Seeking New Executive Director

MEEA is looking for someone to lead the organization through its next stage of non-profit development, maintaining the existing programs while establishing a secure income stream and expanding the diversity of the organization and its reach.

The position is half time. Deadline for application is January 10, 2019

Executive Director Position Description

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

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

MEEA News

Back to Table of Contents

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: 2-Dimensional* Learning and the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP)

When the Missouri Learning Standards were revised in 2016, one of the most important changes was incorporating the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices into the science content. Students wouldn’t just learn about concepts like magnetism, the life cycle, and sound waves, they would also learn how to think about them as a scientist or engineer does using these 8 practices:

    1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
    2. Developing and using models
    3. Planning and carrying out investigations
    4. Analyzing and interpreting data
    5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
    6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
    7. Engaging in argument from evidence
    8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

To help educators understand how these practices will be used in the annual state-wide MAP tests (April 1 to May 24 this coming spring), the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has posted Practice Forms for the 5th Grade and 8th Grade Science Assessments and for the High School Biology and Physical Science End of Course Assessments. These are not the same questions that will be used on the tests, but they do show how the questions will be structured. For example, this question is from the 5th Grade Assessment -

MAP 5th Grade Question

It is based on this Missouri Learning Standard: 3 LS1A1 (3rd Grade Life Sciences 1.A.1) - Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular ecosystem some Organisms -- based on structural adaptations or behaviors -- can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence could include needs and characteristics of the Organisms and habitats involved. The Organisms and their habitat make up a system in which the parts depend on each other.]

 

Notice that the first part of the standard is "construct an argument from evidence" which is practice #7. Students still need to understand content like ecosystems and adaptations, but they also have to be able to use that knowledge as scientists and engineers would - to ask questions, design investigations, analyze and interpret data and make an evidence-based case for their conclusions. Therefore, in order to answer this question correctly students need to put together a sentence using the statements (evidence) in the descriptions about the enclosure and the turtle's native habitat that explains how the turtles will be affected.

Where to Find Everything

MAP Practice Forms - https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/assessment/grade-level#mini-panel-grade-level-assessment4

End of Course (EOC) Forms - https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/assessment/end-course#mini-panel-eoc-assessment3

*Missouri elected to go with 2-Dimensional Learning in the assessments. However, the NGSS Standards included a 3rd dimension, the Crosscutting Concepts. While they are not part of the assessments, they are ideas that can explain everything that happens in the natural world at its most fundamental level - and they are the basis of the first questions we ask ourselves when we find something that makes us wonder. Briefly, the 7 CCCs are

    1. Patterns
    2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation
    3. Scale, proportion and quantity
    4. Systems and system models
    5. Energy and matter
    6. Structure and function
    7. Stability and change

 

 

 

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