Share Your Environmental/Sustainability Education Success Story!
Click on the image for an overview of outstanding regional EE programs.
Put your program on the map!
Recent additions:
• Solar panels in Seattle classroom
• CREST Farm-to-School Program
• Expeditionary Learning in Washington
NEW! Lessons for Teaching in the Community and Environment
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This new, regular feature by CLEARING “master teacher” Jim Martin explores how teachers can gain the confidence to go into the world outside of their classrooms for a substantial piece of their curricula.
Read series hereINTERVIEWS WITH CONSERVATIONISTS
What is the link between conservation and environmental education? Chris Gertschen, founder and former director of the Sawtooth Science Institute, talks to the leaders of conservation in the west to get their perspectives on the issue.
Read the interviews here
THE BEST OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Learn the secrets of successful environmental education programs! Read the perspectives and opinions of experienced teachers! Discover new ideas that can turn your classroom into an innovative and dynamic hub of place-based learning! The Best of Clearing is full of fresh ideas and old wisdom to help you create powerful learning experiences for your students.
Learn more and buy it today!ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY and the CLEARING COMPENDIUM
Attention: Clearing is currently compiling case studies that demonstrate what ideal school-based environmental literacy programs & activities can look like. These case studies will help teachers understand how to more effectively integrate environmental literacy into their classrooms, and will be featured in the 2011 Clearing Compendium published this fall!
Tell us about a model program that you think deserves recognition!
Read the 2010 edition here!
Teaching Resource Spotlight
Roots and Research in Urban School Gardens
©2011 Veronica Gaylie. This book explores the urban school garden as a bridge between environmental action and thought. As a small-scale response to global issues around access to food and land, urban school gardens promote practical knowledge of farming as well as help renew cultural ideals of shared space and mutual support for the organic, built environment. This book examines the practice and culture of the urban school garden as a central symbol for environmental learning. Roots and Research in Urban School Gardens can be purchased at Peter Lang Publishing.
Guest Writers: Voices of the PNW
, Eckstein Middle School,
Jessica Levine
Seattle, Washington
Gregory Smith,
Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon
Harmony Roll,
Taiga Teacher, Anchorage, Alaska
Lindsay Huettman,
Wilderness Awareness School
Jim Martin, Nov
30
The Forever Forest (Book Review)
Filed Under Biological Diversity, Children's Literature, Forests, Reviews | Leave a Comment
Kids Save a Tropical Treasure
By Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini with Rachel Crandell
Published by Dawn Publications
Reviewed by Emily Baker LeRoux
As a home schooling mother of two, I have to admit I like books. I mean REALLY like books. They seem to multiply in our house and I like to think of it as literary decoration. It works for us though; I find both kids sprawled in various rooms throughout the day with a pile of books next to them.
I first stumbled across The Forever Forest while browsing at the library on the never-ending search for books for my six-year-old animal-loving kid. Upon first glance, I thought this was just another book on the animals that live in the rainforest but I knew he’d love it so I checked it out. It turned out to be so much more. Read more
Nov
22
Review: Shadow of the Salmon
Filed Under Reviews, Sustainability, salmon | Leave a Comment
Preparing students with 21st century skills
Reviewed by Ella Inglebret and CHiXapkaid (D. Michael Pavel)
The salmon serves as an indicator species reflecting the overall health of the natural environment in the Pacific Northwest. For Native American tribal members, the salmon has played a central role in sustaining communities both historically and in contemporary daily life. Based on the importance of the salmon to all people living in this region, tribal leaders, environmental organizations, government agencies, and educators formed a partnership to create curriculum resources that bring awareness to the status of the salmon population as it interconnects with the broader ecological system. The outgrowth of these efforts is the Shadow of the Salmon curriculum, designed to prepare eighth- grade students with 21st century critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills as they address environmental issues. Read more
Jul
27
Review: Flotsametrics and the Floating World
Filed Under Marine/Aquatic Education, Reviews | Leave a Comment
How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science
Authors: Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Eric Scigliano
Publisher: Smithsonian Books/Harper Collins
ISBN 13:9780061558412
Reviewed by Orlay Johnson
If you would enjoy learning about the life and times of Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, a UW graduate and Seattle oceanographer best known for tracking ocean currents using sneakers and bath toys lost, then sit back and enjoy. Flotsametrics, is co-written by Dr. Ebbesmeyer and Eric Scigliano, a local science writer.
It is a fun read, with plenty of oceanographic insights, some very personal experiences and a glimpse into the very “way out” thinking that allowed Ebbesmeyer to champion some bizarre ideas, like using Nike sneakers and bathtub toys lost off of freighters to study massive oceanic gyres. Read more
Mar
30
Reviews by Pat Scully
With the coming of summer, opportunities abound for children to observe small creatures in the outdoors. Birds building nests and raising young, and butterflies, bees, and other insects converging in the flower garden capture children’s interest and strike their curiosity. The new titles reviewed here will supplement first-hand experiences observing outside and provide answers to children’s questions. Supplement these new titles with some field guides and a selection from the wealth of nature trade books available for young children. A particularly good source of information about children’s literature related to various science topics can be found in Science Experiences for the Early Childhood Years: An Integrated Approach (Harlan, J.D., Rivkin. M.S. (2000). Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall/Merrill). Happy summer! Read more
Mar
16
Review: How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate
Filed Under Climate change, Energy Alternatives, Reviews | Leave a Comment
Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming
by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch
Dawn Publications
ISBN 9781584691037
Reviewed by Heather Mattioli
Books about climate change typically start from the premise that students will only passively participate. Lynne Cherry’s book departs from this tradition by way of including middle –school children as part of climate change science. Throughout an extraordinary photographic and illustrative collection, she also shows students as active researchers and scientists in the study of climate change. The result is a beautiful book that engages children visually, intellectually, and inspirationally, with insight into the science of climate change. Read more
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