A Fresh Perspective
New resources for exploring fruits and veggies, along with some nuggets for appreciating the farmers, truckers, grocery clerks, parents, and all the others who bring them to our table.
Learning in the Garden–Lessons & More
Mapping skills, experiments, graphs, and life cycles. The lessons in this post take you through the whole garden year, from planning and planting, to caring for and harvesting in the garden.
Water All Around Us–Lessons & More!
Hands-on learning through ready-to-go activities are content-rich AND fun! A water scavenger hunt. A water cycle simulation. AND an edible model of the water beneath our feet. Connect lessons with current events.
Chalk Art
Watch your kids’ faces light up as they reveal their first horizon line–priceless! Chalk Mountains is a unique way to create a design and experiment with color. It helps with focus and flow. #aSTEaMactivity
Summer Days
School has started now, and I’m reflecting on our summer together–trying to decipher what made it so special. Although our calendar looked wide open, never once did I hear the words, “I’m bored.”
The Peace and Beauty of Winter in your Classroom
Winter has finally arrived! The solstice brings a sense of peace and serenity to the great outdoors. Likewise, Teachers and students are getting ready for some much-needed relaxation.
Devastation in Puerto Rico
Shelly Johnson, Martha McCormick and I planned to travel to Puerto Rico this Tuesday. Next Step was chosen to present at the North American Association of Environmental Educators’ (NAAEE) Annual Conference in San Juan this week. Our presentations were planned, and we were looking forward to learning about a place we had never visited.
Instead, we have anxiously followed the news as two storms approached and hit the island, and through the weeks since. Here are some of the things we learned–
- Eighty-four percent of the population in Puerto Rico is still without power nearly one month after Hurricane Maria.
- According to the Washington Post, only 63 percent of the islanders have access to clean water.
- Just 60 percent of wastewater treatment plants are working. Food supplies and medical systems are inadequate.
People are dying. Three weeks of recovery, yet so many US citizens continue to live in devastation. This is unacceptable.
If 3 million people were suffering in a different part of the country, perhaps even Iowa, I can’t help but think the response would be different. Constant media coverage would put a spotlight on the slow recovery. A stream of politicians would visit. Certainly, the president of the United States would not be threatening to abandon relief efforts.
Obviously, our conference was cancelled. The organizers have scrambled to make some of the conference topics available online. We’ve been invited to submit the materials we would have presented to a virtual conference site.
Here are some of our plans. Focusing on these projects has been difficult because my mind dwells on the families living in such desperate circumstances in Puerto Rico.
SESSION TITLE: Keeping Environmental Education Programs Fresh: Aligning with Next Generation Science Standards
SUMMARY: Naturalists’ interactions with school groups have a major impact on the next generation. By tweaking programs as school curriculum evolves, naturalists can expand their outreach.
- Participate in an interactive online NGSS scavenger hunt to learn about Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
- Align your own programs to NGSS with a template. An example is provided as well.
- A description of Next Generation Science Standards, tips for aligning programs with the standards, and sample before/after lesson tweaks are in our slides. Contact us for a copy.
SESSION TITLE: Teaching with Mini Wind Turbines and Solar Panels: Opportunities and Challenges
SUMMARY: Renewable energy production is on the rise, offering both benefits and challenges for our next generation. Learn about these technologies as well as strategies for incorporating them into STEM learning experiences for students.
- Experience a sample activity from our middle school renewable energy curriculum: VIP interviews.
- To explore opportunities and challenges in renewable energy, take on various perspectives from the assertion jar. Find the Assertion Jar lesson in our middle school service learning curriculum. This renewable energy add-on provides specific statements.
- Build mini circuits using materials from the Teachers Going Green teaching kit. Then search for energy lessons on the website.
- If you would like a copy of our slides, please contact us.
Even though we don’t get to travel to Puerto Rico this year, our hearts are with the people of that small island. If you’d like to donate to the recovery efforts, here’s a link that may help you decide the best route to do so.
Our Sunflower Fort
My children love forts. But a sunflower fort? It exceeded every expectation.
Inspired by Eve Bunting’s Sunflower House, we planted sunflower seeds in a circle last spring. My nine-year-old couldn’t decide on just one variety of sunflowers at the garden store, so we planted two circles of seeds – an inner ring of mammoths and an outer ring of a smaller variety. He left a small gap for the door.
My only experience with sunflowers was when I was as a summer camp counselor in North Dakota during college. One morning we came upon a field of sunflowers. This was no tiny circle, but an expanse of sunflowers, much like cornfields in Iowa. I insisted they stop the car immediately. I marveled at these vibrant sunflowers, all facing the morning sun!
Planting the seeds with my kids, I tried to set realistic expectations. This is our first year! We’re just trying it out! It can be a science experiment – even if nothing grows we’ll learn from experience.
That conversation was unnecessary.
My three-year-old daughter diligently watered the sunflowers, and before long they sprouted. At first we thought they were growing at an angle. With closer investigation, it became clear even their leaves were tilting to face the sun.
And were they ever growing! My son started taking measurements each Wednesday. When they surpassed the reach of his arms, I helped out. Eventually, we needed a step stool and an extended measuring tape. Our plants grew on average an inch a day. In no time, the kids piled into their fort, surrounded by towering plants, hidden from view.
Watching the flowers open, and bloom a little brighter each day was pretty special. We all cheered the day the first bloom opened.
Soon the wildlife arrived. Bees and hummingbirds inspired conversations about pollination and pollinator habitat. Until the sunflower fort, I had never seen goldfinches in our suburban yard. But the sunflower fort attracted them daily. Watching them perch upside down eating seeds became a favorite pastime for my daughter and me. My son pointed out that we watched through the window like we were watching TV. I agreed.
The talk of the neighborhood, the ultimate hide-and-seek location, our very own wildlife viewing station, the perfect summer view: this is our sunflower fort! What can we expect as we head into fall and winter?I’m not sure. I think we’ll just wait and watch closely, soaking in whatever happens. After all, it’s better than TV!
Experiencing the solar eclipse
Monday, August 21, 2017 will be a memorable day. Not since 1918 has a solar eclipse crossed the United States from the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans, giving us a rare opportunity to observe one of nature’s biggest coincidences.
A few tips as the big day nears…
- Never look directly at the sun. Solar eclipse glasses block out everything except for the actual sun itself. My kids were surprised how small the sun looks when using eclipse glasses. Beware of price gouging online. The Science Center of Iowa is currently selling eclipse glasses for $2.50 per pair. Indirect viewing is an option, too.
- Watch something. NASA’s YouTube channel is pretty fantastic. Try downloading the NASA app, too.
- Read something. Wendy Mass’s Every Soul a Star is a favorite young adult novel about three kids whose paths unexpectedly cross in the days leading up to a solar eclipse. As the story opens, Allie’s family is preparing a campground that is the only US viewing area of an eclipse. Bree’s only goal is landing a modeling contract, and Jack tries to remain invisible. A story of self-discovery, transformation, and life change – the themes cross generations and connect us all.
- For other reading: NASA’s website has lots of details. If you are looking for a book about the history and science of eclipses, check out Tyler Nordgren’s Sun Moon Earth.
- Talk to someone. I have been a little disappointed how few people I know are excited about this natural phenomenon. I’m just so excited to share with others my fascination with science, nature, and space.
- Do something. Participate in NASA’s citizen science project. Collect temperature readings and cloud observations before, during, and after the eclipse. Upload them on the free app and share your data with researchers.
- Get out there and experience. Simply step outdoors around 1pm Central Daylight Time) to experience a partial eclipse. The Science Center of Iowa will host an eclipse viewing party on the capitol steps at 11:45 – 2:30pm. The sun will be 95% covered but we will not have complete darkness unless we travel to Nebraska or Missouri to the zone of totality when the moon’s shadow passes overhead. This will be my first total solar eclipse, but I have read it is something that must be experienced – words cannot describe it.
Created with GIMP
Grow Your Own
I got a taste of farm life in Kyla’s backyard the other day, even though it’s in the heart of Des Moines. The ducks waddling around remind me of my parents’ tenure on our family farm in Missouri in the late 1970s. Their ducks made great pets until the snapping turtles in the pond rendered them extinct.
Ducks are natural comedians. The way they walk. QUAck quackquackquack quACK. The way they make mudcakes and splash in their baby pool. Jefe (Boss) and Guapito (Little Handsome) stick out their chests and vie for dominance of the females and the yard. Jefe has an ongoing competition with the dog next door, and I wasn’t so sure my Tater cat could take him on.
Roosters can be really fierce too. After her sophomore year of college my daughter worked on an organic vegetable farm in Colorado. She cared for the chickens, and one night a rooster kept her captive in the barn for about 45 minutes. Though she professes not to like chickens, they’ve played prominent roles in several of Lucy’s jobs. At Scattergood Friends School her chore team took care of the poultry and egg operation. At her new position at Hershey Montessori School outside Cleveland, Ohio, she is developing a science unit about chickens to present next spring. That got me all excited about hatching chicks.
When I was about seven my Dad built an incubator for my oldest sister’s science fair project. I bugged Alice mercilessly as she dissected eggs at various stages and illustrated each stage of chicken development. A couple of the eggs hatched and grew into hens. Daddy insisted they were delicious, but none of us ate a bite.
Though she doesn’t plan to butcher her ducks or chickens, Kyla is an urban farmer. In addition to the four ducks, she has nine laying hens. The five older hens bully the four chicks she added to her flock earlier in the summer, so she has to separate them. This process takes place in a pen about the size of a small bedroom.
Farming in such a small space has added to the challenge of a difficult summer. When Kyla started digging up her front yard, the neighbors had a fit, but it was the only place in their yard sunny enough to grow much. Now it is a beautiful tapestry of strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, dill, blueberries, squash, beans and pumpkins. You can barely resist exploring more closely.
Kyla and I are hosting an Edible Urban Garden Tour to spread the word about the rewards you can reap in a small space in the city. Kyla’s garden will be one of five gardens we’ll visit on Saturday, September 29, 2012 between 11 am & 2 pm. We want to spark a conversation about growing your own tomatoes and herbs, or starting a backyard farm like Kyla’s. It’s a fundraiser for Des Moines Public Schools gardens, an we can handle a limited number of people, so sign up early!