Fourteen teachers from throughout the Great Lakes basin embarked on the learning opportunity of a lifetime this month, taking part in a week-long workshop aboard the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s research vessel Lake Guardian. They explored first-hand Lake Huron’s geology, limnology (freshwater science), and ecology, with a special focus on the food web as it relates to Huron’s fisheries. 

 

The teachers worked side-by-side with scientists learning a great deal about what comprises research on the Great Lakes. They assisted with the collection of planktonic and benthic organisms, as well as gathering water quality data. They also explored Great Lakes curriculum and discussed how to integrate this information in their classrooms. You can see visit their blog and learn more at cossegreatlakes.net. This program is offered annually by EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office and the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network. If you are an educator, consider applying next year for the cruise on Lake Ontario!

The APEX awards are given each year to recognize outstanding publication work in a variety of fields by Communication Concepts, and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant was chosen as one of this year’s winners!

From their website:

“…(Communication) Concepts sponsors the APEX Awards, the annual Awards for Publication Excellence, an awards competition providing recognition for outstanding publishing efforts from newsletters and magazines to annual reports, campaigns, social media and websites.”

IISG’s Terri Hallesy and Robin Goettel were chosen for the “Education & Training Publications” category. Their “Fresh and Salt” project, a collaboration with Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence Great Lakes, collected activities, lessons, and other materials that joined Great Lakes and ocean topics in a cohesive way.

Designed for students in grades 5-10, the “Fresh and Salt” curriculum incorporated multiple facets of science education. Students learn about and even work on interactive mapping, investigation, experimentation, and additional concepts related to the science of both fresh and saltwater.

The curriculum’s 14 activities were structured  for effective science learning, and to prepare students as future decision-makers and leaders. Activities were carefully selected based on a distinct set of criteria that would help students apply science process skills needed for effective learning.

Aligned with Great Lakes and Ocean literacy principles, timely issues include:

•    Dominant physical features and their interconnections
•    Geological phenomena
•    Influence on weather and climate
•    Human-environment connections and impacts
•    Sustaining life on earth
•    Biodiversity, food webs, and energy flows
•    Exploration and technology innovation

“The COSEE Great Lakes Team accomplished our goal of providing educators with a science-based education resource that makes learning engaging,” said Hallesy. “It provides creative ideas to teach students about the Great Lakes and our oceans. Our intention is to educate students about ways to preserve and protect our aquatic ecosystems, while promoting environmental stewardship. ‘Fresh and Salt’ allows teachers to access relevant and timely science information leading to global awareness and environmental change.”

Teachers are encouraged to incorporate relevant activities and lessons into their planning. In addition, educators can contact Terri Hallesy or Robin Goettel to learn about other opportunities and materials for their classrooms.

Communication Concepts is a firm that works with firms to improve communications, PR, marketing, and more. They also provide reports on current trends and give annual awards to projects and organizations for their outstanding publications.

IISG education team members Robin Goettel and Terri Hallesy partnered with Angie Viands of the Field Museum’s Earth Force Program, along with students and teachers within the Calumet community to raise awareness about properly disposing of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs).

Windy City Earth Force is part of the museum’s Calumet Environmental Education Program (CEEP). Earth Force is a program that engages 7^th and 8^th grade students in action projects to address environmental issues in their community.

– Letters to stakeholders, including businesses, legislators, and environmental organizations (including National Resources Defense Council and Illinois Department of Agriculture) about contaminates in the waterways and the importance of water quality standard improvements.

– Fliers to distribute to the public, as well as family and friends about the issue of contaminants and how they can make a difference in their community.

– Posters in local businesses and churches with the message “Stop Pollution in our Water: be green, stop pollution, and save our Earth.” 

– School-wide surveys to determine the pollution tolerance index rating for various aquatic species.

 – E-mail messages to editors at Southtown Star newspaper and Treehugger.com requesting them to publish their classroom project.

Following up on our post from March 12, Caitie McCoy and Terri Hallesy visited with students in East Chicago to see how their projects studying the Roxana Marsh area were going. Terri sent along some details: 

 

On April 19, Caitie McCoy invited Education Specialist Terri Hallesy, to visit Andrea Bock’s 4^th grade science classrooms at East Chicago Lighthouse Charter School. The students have been learning about the Great Lakes Legacy Act cleanup project at Roxana Marsh and how to design a habitat. Jack Brunner, an EPA contractor whose employees work on-site at Roxana Marsh, was invited as a guest speaker to share his restoration work with the students. Caitie McCoy and colleague, Nishaat Yunus, actively engaged students in a discussion about key concepts associated with habitats and restoration projects. Students participated in a hands-on activity to design their own Roxana Marsh habitat by constructing a colorful classroom mural. Students were divided into groups and provided with photos depicting various elements contained within a habitat. Selected photos included nonliving elements, such as the sun and oxygen; above water living plants like black-eyed Susan and wild bergamot; and above water living animals such as the great blue heron and Peregrine falcon. Using various art tools, students designed and illustrated some of the components that comprise the Roxana Marsh habitat. Caitie McCoy and Terri Hallesy affixed the students’ creative illustrations onto a mural, which is now proudly displayed in their classroom. As a culminating event, Jack Brunner surprised the students by presenting a painted turtle that was found on the Roxana Marsh site and has been kept as a pet during the cleanup. The next step in this exciting restoration project will involve the students actually visiting Roxana Marsh to plant natives they’ve been cultivating in their classroom.

All of the students had a great time getting involved and learning about the marsh, and they’re looking forward to planting the native species they’ve been growing in the class.

“We had a fabulous turnout of over 5,000 classroom teachers and informal educators at the NOAA-Ecosystems booth,” said Robin Goettel, “which featured our Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant outreach and education resources on Great Lakes aquatic invasive species and marine invaders.”

 Visitors learned about how the “Nab the Aquatic Invader” website can be used as an excellent learning tool for grades 4-10, and how the GLRI “Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers” education and outreach initiative informs people what they can do to prevent the spread of aquatic “hitchhikers.” They also distributed brochures on Great Lakes Literacy principles, and CD-ROM copies of the COSEE/Sea Grant “Fresh and Salt” curriculum on important Great Lakes and marine issues.

 The “Don’t Let It Loose” poster contains helpful information for teachers about properly disposing of unwanted classroom organisms. Smaller “tip-card” versions of the poster were available too, as well as an adoption pledge containing care tips for students and their families to use when adopting a classroom organism. Some of the highlights at the IISG table were the specimens available for teachers to look at, including a zebra mussel-encrusted shoe, which was a great catalyst to engage teachers in conservation about invasive species.