January 21, 2010 Issue
January 15, 2010

Greenways: What's the bird word?

Source: New York Teacher

What's the bird word?

"Celebrate Urban Birds" at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology invites organizations and educators to apply for mini-grants to help fund neighborhood events in communities everywhere. The application deadline for the 2010 mini-grants is Feb.15.

Mini-grants average $250-$500.

No experience with birding is required.

Celebrate Urban Birds is a free year-round project that collects information from everyday people about 16 species of birds that may be found in urban areas. Visit www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/ to download a flier, apply online or preview the application. Web site visitors can also check out events planned by last year's mini-grant winners.

Get ready, earth

Environmental Education Week 2010 registrations can be logged on now at www.eeweek.org/register.htm.

Join millions of teachers and students from April 11-17 in a week of educational preparation for Earth Day.

Be kind to trees

K-12 schools are invited to participate in the "These Come From Trees" Education Challenge at http://these.

Teachers and students can get "These Come From Trees" stickers to put on school paper towel dispensers, photocopiers and other users of paper products.

The challenge includes ideas for the classroom, including:

  • conducting classes on ways to reduce even before recycling;
  • using math to figure out how much paper is being saved; and 
  • figuring out how those savings could be multiplied in other school buildings.

Educators on energy

The Alliance to Save Energy says schools spend more on energy than on computers and textbooks combined. Reducing energy, it says, is an effective way to help funnel more money into the classroom instead of the local utility.

The concept of energy efficiency provides multidisciplinary learning opportunities in math, science, and language arts. ASE offers educators tools and resources to bring energy efficiency into the classroom to save energy while helping students build vital real-world skills.

Visit www.ase.org for information about ASE's green schools program and green campus program.