TEEA Fall Conference and TOCS Schedules

TEEA Fall Conference and TOCS schedules

Friday, Sept. 27 8:30- 9:00 am Registration Saturday, Sept. 28 8-9 am Registration 9:00-9:30 am Great Ideas for Outdoor Classrooms, Breakfast Gina Harris For those who are new to outdoor classrooms, this will be an introduction to give you some ideas about what (in Dining Hall) kinds of learning areas to get you started and creative ideas for expanding your outdoor classroom for those who already have 9-9:50 am Workshop Course I one at your school 10-10:50 am Workshop Course II 9:30-10:00 am So How Do We Fund an Outdoor

Classroom, Mary Ball One of the biggest obstacles to building an outdoor classroom is finding funding. Dr. Ball will 11-11:50 am Workshop Course III share some grant opportunities to help schools fund outdoor learning areas. 12 Noon Lunch/Keynote Speaker Tony Geraci 10:00- 11:00 am Activities for Outdoor Classrooms, (in Pin Oak Room) Gina Harris and Charity Novick Ok, so now you have your outdoor classroom, how can you make the most of it? 1-2 pm TEEA Meeting & Participate in some sample activities to take learning outdoors. Awards Ceremony 11:00- 12:00pm Lunch with activities and Speaker about Green Ribbon Schools 2:30-5 pm Field Trips

5-6 pm Break 12:00- 3:00pm Flying Wild Workshop, Bonnie Ervin 6 pm Dinner 5-8 pm TEEA Registration Opens (in Pin Oak Room)

7 pm Silent Auction Ends Dinner on your own 8 pm Live Auction/Campfire/S’mores Bar Campfire Karaoke 6 pm Silent Auction Opens (@ Recreation Lodge)

7 pm Welcome and Sunday, Sept. 29 Announcements 8 am Breakfast (In Dining Hall)

7:30 pm Mixer & Light 8:30 am TEEA Board Meeting Hors d’Ouevres 9-10:30 am ECO-TN Meeting “Whittled” Challenge Open to All

Schedule of Presenters – Saturday Morning

9 -9:50

An Ocean of Plastic; Michelle Rogers – APSU Earth’s oceans are full of plastic waste and students have questions. What might be living on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Can you see the plastic from outer space? Does plastic float or sink, or both? We’ll address these questions and more. This is a session designed to update your content knowledge on the effects of plastic waste on our oceans. Pin Oak Room A

Sharing the Outside World with Inner City Children; Kayla Mullen – Boys and Girls Club of Rutherford County/MTSU Activities, experiments, resources, and ideas to use with inner city children to instill love and knowledge of nature. Pin Oak Room B

Nature Photography: An Educational Tool; Marty Silver – Warriors’ Path State Park Photography is a great way to preserve and share natural resources. Photography can also help students to observe nature carefully, and to grow in concern for resource protection. Learn to get the most out of your own camera, and to help your students use this nature learning tool. Natchez Room

TRPA Community Gardens & Farmers Market Project: Training, Funding, and Mapping; Candice Green –TN Recreation and Parks Association Workshop will consist of information about the most recent grant project between the State of Tennessee, Department of Health and Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association for Project Diabetes. Participants will learn about the FREE upcoming training sessions on creating community gardens and partnerships, available funding, and interactive online map for community gardens and farmers markets in TN. Back of Dining Hall

Biology in a Box; Wanda Blurton & Nancy Gronostaj – St. Ann Catholic School – Memphis Biology in a Box is a fun and challenging way for entire schools to enhance their life science curriculum at all grade levels. Each box is a different thematic unit. Each is designed to pique the interest of students on a particular biological theme. Low ability students will benefit from these hands on activities and there are more advanced activities to challenge very bright students. In this session, we will explore the boxes and do some sample hands on activities from some of them. Then you can then learn how your school can get this valuable free resource for your school. Outdoor Meeting Circle 1

Inquiring Minds Want to Know; John DiDiego - Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont Here’s a great introductory activity to get you and your students started in inquiry. See how to take advantage of kids’ natural tendency to ask questions and search for answers, using field observations, supporting their claims with data, and drawing conclusions based on data. And have fun in the process! Outdoor Meeting Circle 2 10:00-10:50

The Famous Memphis Aquifer System (Best Water in the World!); James Eason – Groundwater Institute at University of Memphis The aquifer system that supplies Memphis and Shelby County water will be covered, as will the water cycle since groundwater is a component of the water cycle. We’ll build individual aquifers (in a cup) that can be replicated in a classroom setting. There will be time for questions and discussion. I’ll also give details and show pictures of the Water on Wheels (WOW) Mobile, a portable interactive learning experience in a 24’ trailer available to teachers and others in the Mid South area fall 2013. Pin Oak Room B

Charlotte’s Website; Brian Stewart – University of Tennessee Join us for an amazing exploration of the creatures that inspire fear in 90% of the world’s population. That’s right, SPIDERS!!!! This workshop will demonstrate the incredible teaching opportunities provided by nature’s little weavers, and will incorporate games, activities and live specimens. Remember, we fear what we don’t understand, so come and LEARN the truth about these misunderstood creatures that occupy an irreplaceable spot in our ecosystem. Natchez Room

How to Organize an Outdoor Educational Opportunity for Students; Tim Roberts – UT Extension and Agricenter International The importance of Environmental Education, supporting our schools and teachers, and organizing events for STEM learning outside the classroom. Back of Dining Hall

Wildlife Tracking; Marty Silver – Warriors’ Path State Park Children love to be "critter detectives" - to seek out and understand signs of nearby wildlife. And we can channel this enthusiasm to teach wildlife conservation. Share some insights into how to track schoolyard wildlife, and how to share tracking skills with young people. Outdoor Meeting Circle 1

Get on Up; Write it Down!: Nature Journaling; Cindi Smith-Walters – MTSU – and Karen Hargrove – EE Consultant Connect your classroom to the schoolyard and Common Core standards through nature journaling! This 50-minute session will empower you to use the outdoors to teach students of any age to observe, describe, compare, estimate, and analyze! Participants will each make a journal to use, explore ways to journal with students and improve their own observation skills. Outdoor Meeting Circle 2 11:00-11:50

Current EE Teaching Practices that Meet CCSS (Common Core State Standards); Patsy Vaden – Franklin High School Does Common Core State Standards translate into changing everything that you currently do in class? No. The good news is there are several practices that you probably already do when teaching environmental science that goes hand in hand with Common Core State Standards. We will share and discuss how environmental science education will have a smooth transition in meeting common core state standards. Pin Oak Room A

Great Outdoors University: Connecting Low –Income Kids to the Outdoors Through Field Trips, Team Building, and Community Service; Sonya Wood Mahler, Jeremy Childs, Jessica House, Tony Lance, Amy Colvin, Vanessa Lazon, and Dan Alexander – GOU Learn about how you can partner with Great Outdoors University (GOU), a program of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation (TWF) whose mission is to connect kids with the great outdoors in meaningful and life-changing ways. Meet three GOU kids and hear about their experiences on a variety of field trips this year. Also learn about our brand new Youth Outdoor Leadership Program (YOLP). Pin Oak Room B

Greening STEM – Community Science Bat Study; Donna Burrus – Fayette Academy Come on by and view citizen-science in action. Students from grades 5 through high school have collaborated in this multi-year, nationally recognized STEM study. Visit with students and view their studies. Learn how working with the US Forest Service, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and the Tennessee Bat Working Group can open new doors of science exploration. You will be given handouts addressing What Science IS and What Science Is NOT along with participating in a NSTA STEM Student Research Handbook lesson. We will woo you with FUN demonstration that get students excited about science and are great for your Family Night of Science. Door Prizes and More!! Natchez Room

A Great Team: Adventure Education and Environmental Education; Melissa Hutchison – Camp Wesley Woods Adventure Education has been described as a series of physical challenges with a perceived danger or risk to overcome. Data from academic studies suggest that Adventure Education promotes positive development of leadership, self-concept, and interpersonal relations. These personal qualities are essential to the actions required for most long-term stewardship goals of environmental education. Explore how Adventure Education and Environmental Education are working together at Camp Wesley Woods in East Tennessee. Back of Dining Hall

Worming Your Way Through Standards Across the Curriculum; Mary Ball – Project Learning Tree of TN Come see how a worm bin can help students meet Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards at any grade from K through 5. Take away a How-To Guide that makes worm-ranching easy and fun! Outdoor Meeting Circle 1

Hoops as a STEM Tool; Charity Novick – Memphis Botanic Garden You don’t have to know how to “hula” hoop to incorporate these inspiring instruments of outdoor learning into your curriculum. Learn how going outdoors with the hoop can creatively meet STEM and Common Core standards though different activities. At the end we’ll learn hooping skills you can pass to your students. Hooping is known to be a mentally-stimulating and stress-relieving activity – a great way to get your class focused! Handmade hoops will be available for sale. Outdoor Meeting Circle 2 Field Trips – Saturday Afternoon 2:30 – 5 pm

National Archery in the Classroom; Don Crawford - TWRA The program’s focus is to provide International Style Target Archery training in physical education classes in grades 4 – 12. The core content covers archery history, safety, technique, equipment, mental concentration, core strengthening, physical fitness and self-improvement. This is a physical education curriculum entitled, Archery ”On Target for Life”. This curriculum meets and exceeds the state and national physical education standards and can also be taught in math, history, science, health or wellness classes. At Natchez Trace SP

Parkers Crossroads History Tour; Parkers Crossroads National Battlefield Park Staff Civil War History Tour At Parkers Crossroads – offsite

Pin Oak Lake Canoe and Pin Oak Trail Tours; Natchez Trace State Park Staff Take a canoe tour around Pin Oak Lake and hike the Pin Oak Trail on an interpreter-led natural history tour. At Natchez Trace SP

Living History Program; Natchez Trace State Park Staff Join Ranger Jeff and learn about life during the frontier times before Tennessee was a state. At Natchez Trace SP

Edible Plants Tour; Sharen Bracey Go on a wild plant ramble where common plants will be identified and a cooking demo and sampling of foods will be displayed. Meet outdoors next to Pin Oak Room